Hester wins Grand Prix at Wellington Premier League

Wellington Riding welcomed a wealth of leading riders who travelled to the Hampshire venue for leg five of the 2019 Premier League season (5 – 9 June 2019).

As expected, Carl Hester drew the crowds on Saturday for each of his two starts - Hawtins Delicato in the LeMieux Grand Prix supported by Voltaire Design and Brioso II in Saturday's Saracen Horse Feeds Inter I.

Riding his 2018 WEG ride Hawtins Delicato (Diamond Hit x Regazzoni), who he co-owns with Lady Anne Evans and Ann Cory, Carl delivered a beautiful-to-watch Grand Prix earning a winning mark of 76.80% from judges Jennie Loriston-Clarke (GBR), Alban Tissot (FRA) and Jo Graham (GBR). Barring a glitch at the end of the two-tempis, the test was secure, expressive and a masterclass in test riding. Ten year old ‘Del’ has matured and gained strength over the past months and throughout his winning round looked a picture of confident, elastic energy.

Making a welcome return to competition, a mere eight weeks since giving birth to her first baby, was Lara Butler with Rubin Al Asad. Since Lara and husband Billy welcomed Jack Mark Butler into the world, Lara has been looking forward to a return to competition and enjoyed her first post-baby training sessions with Klaus Balkenhol at the beginning of the month. Rubin Al Asad was ‘fresh and keen to be out’ and despite one mistake and little spookiness, showed great quality for 72.9% and second place. Next stop for the pair, and just a few days away, is Geesteren CDI3* in the Netherlands.

Carl and his younger ride, the nine year old chestnut mare Brioso (Benetton Dream x Dimaggio), won the Saracen Horse Feeds Inter I earning a score of 74.12%.

In front of Saturday’s Gala Evening crowd, Katie Bailey and Eagle Nouvelle made the Nirvana Spa Prix St Georges Freestyle their own with a whopping personal best score of 76.333% for owner, Hannah Dovey. Katie and ‘Eddie’ are the reigning Magic Prix St Georges Freestyle Champions and certainly have a flair for the artistry of this discipline. With this victory came a wonderful first prize of £2000 generously awarded by Nirvana Spa. “Wow what a night!” said Katie on Facebook. “Eddie was awesome in the PSG Freestyle at the Wellington Gala evening to win with a huge 76.3%! He felt amazing. I would like to give a massive thank you to Nirvana Spa for sponsoring the PSG freestyle class and for the fabulous prizes!”

Nirvana Spa’s support also extended to a runner-up prize of £500 which went to the ace combination of Alice Oppenheimer and Headmore Davina (Dimaggio x Rubinstein), owned by her mother, Sarah. This combination scored 74.29%. “Davina was a superstar as ever at Wellington Riding Premier League this evening in the Nirvana Spa PSG Freestyle. Unfortunately the music ran a bit fast which meant I had to chase her so I felt she wasn’t in the best balance, but that’s riding to music! She still finished second with +74%. Congratulations to Katie Bailey on the win!”

British Dressage thanks all the class sponsors and the team at Wellington Riding for putting on a fantastic event. Congratulations to all the winners listed below and to all those who took part.

The winners:

Wednesday
Class 6: Fairfax Saddles Prix St Georges supported by Equine Rebalance Therapy Centre
Dan Greenwood with Exige M, 71.009%

Class 7: Shearwater Young Horse 4YO Qualifier supported by Equine Rebalance Therapy Centre
Jezz Palmer with King IV, 7.90

Class 8: Shearwater Young Horse 5YO Qualifier supported by Day Equestrian
Samantha Gualtieri with Femme Fatal 2, 8.22

Class 9: Shearwater Young Horse 6YO Qualifier supported by West & West
Hannah Biggs with Freeman, 8.76

Thursday
Class 15: Saracen Horse Feeds Intermediate I
Jayne Turney with Penhaligon’s Jupiter, 71.14%

Class 16: Hickstead British Young Horse National 5YO Qualifier supported by Equi-Trek Maidenhead
Dan Greenwood with SJL Baks Zacco, 8.46

Class 17: Hickstead British Young Horse National 6YO Qualifier supported by BackinAction
Hannah Biggs with Freeman, 8.30

Class 18: Hickstead British Young Horse FEI 5YO Qualifier supported by Philomena London Pet Outfitters
Jayne Turney with Fred Astaire WD, 7.70

Class 19: Hickstead British Young Horse FEI 6YO Qualifier supported by Equine America
Olivia Oakeley with Rock Diva, 7.60

Friday
Class 20: Lottie-Elizabeth Advanced Medium Freestyle
Nathalie Kayal with Graaf Lincom CL, 74.722%

Class 21: Equine Construction Advanced Medium supported by Haygain
Kate Cowell with Rayban, 73.465%

Class 22: Fairfax Saddles Prix St Georges supported by Lotus Romeo UK
Sophie Wells with C Fatal Attraction, 73.333%

Class 23: Cavalor Intermediate II supported by Andrews Bowen Ltd
Gareth Hughes with KK Dominant, 71.316%

Saturday
Class 24: Highfield Park Hotel Pony Team Test
Bonnie Bourne with Fin C WE, 69.701%

Class 25: Nirvana Spa Prix St Georges Freestyle
Katie Bailey with Eagle Nouvelle, 76.333%

Class 26: LeMieux Grand Prix supported by Voltaire Design
Carl Hester with Hawtins Delicato, 76.800%

Class 27: Wellington Farm Shop British Dressage Young Pony 4YO Qualifier
Alice Peternell with Hillgarth Nixon, 8.10

Class 28: Wellington Country Park British Dressage Young Pony 5YO Qualifier
Bryony Goodwin with RSC The Ogopogo, 7.76

Class 29: Daneshill School British Dressage Young Pony 6YO Qualifier
Jayne Turney with Hilkens Showgirl, 8.76

Class 30: Saracen Horse Feeds Intermediate I
Carl Hester with Brioso II, 74.123%

Sunday
Class 31: Equestival Pony Individual Test
Myles Graham with Harnells Erasmus, 67.439%

Class 32: Fairfax Saddles Prix St Georges supported by Equine Rebalance Therapy Centre
Calum Whitworth with Fernando, 71.491%

Class 33: Equine Construction Advanced Medium supported by FMBs Therapy Systems
Abigail Lyle with Suspension Giraldo, 72.393%

Class 34: Saracen Horse Feeds Intermediate I
Zoe Sleigh with Finero, 70.351%