Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro picked up their second FEI World Cup win of the season, claiming victory on Saturday in Amsterdam. It was the second year in a row that the pair have won the Dutch leg of the World Cup series.
Jet lag
Despite not feeling her best, having only returned from a trip to New Zealand a few days before the show, Charlotte once again swept to an easy victory.
Her score of 86.140% in Friday’s Grand Prix saw the pair take a clear 6% lead ahead of Dutch rider Danielle Heijkoop and Siro NOP (78.320%).
However, 29-year-old Charlotte was unhappy with her performance in the first test. “I was really jet-lagged and I was terrible, I was so angry with myself for the way I rode,” she said.
Dominant
Yet Charlotte and her 13-year-old gelding were even more dominant in the Freestyle, scoring 93.900% to finish just 0.4% shy of the record they set in December at Olympia, and a massive 11% ahead of their nearest rival.
She paid tribute to her trainer Carl Hester, part-owner of Valegro, who had exercised the gelding in his rider’s absence.
“Carl kept ‘Blueberry’ ticking over while I was away in New Zealand, I’m always so grateful to him,” said Charlotte.
Rising stars
Danielle Heijkoop and Siro NOP once again took the runner-up spot in the Freestyle, ahead of Germany’s Jessica von Bredow-Werndl (Unee BB) in third.Danielle trains with former Olympic champion Anky van Grunsven.
“We think alike,” said Danielle about her trainer. “Our attitude is that things can always be better, but for me the most important thing right now is that you can see our score is getting a little higher everywhere from last year, it’s all improving.”
Viva Las Vegas
Charlotte’s next competition will be the FEI World Cup Dressage Final in Las Vegas, where she will be aiming to defend the title she first won last year. The atmosphere in the Thomas & Mack Arena is known to be lively, but Charlotte is confident that Valegro will be his usual calm and confident self.
“I’m so excited about it, I know the crowd starts clapping before the finish, and the place is buzzing all the time, but hopefully Blueberry will be okay with all that and will put on a great show,” she said.
The next leg of the FEI World Cup Dressage series will take place Neumuenster, Germany on Sunday 15 February. There are two further qualifying legs – Gothenburg and ‘s-Hertogenbosch – before the series final takes place in Las Vegas from 15-19 April.
Result
1 Valegro (Charlotte Dujardin) GBR 93.900
2 Siro NOP (Danielle Heijkoop) NED 82.375
3 Unee BB (Jessica von Bredow-Werndl) GER 80.900
4 Arlando NH NOP (Diederik van Silfhout) NED 79.950
5 Glock’s Flirt (Hans Peter Minderhoud) NED 79.250
Full resulthere