British dressage riders have dominated all three weeks of competition at the 2007 Sunshine Tour CDI show circuit in Vejer de la Frontera, Spain. British Dressage summarized the Brits' most important FEI wins the past three weeks down south in sunny Spain.
Senior selector, judge and trainer Judy Harvey clocked up three wins and two runner-up slots not to mention the horses’ biggest wins to date in the final week of the Spanish Sunshine Tour, 13-18 March 2007.
Judy won the Prix St Georges (71.917%) and intermediaire I (70.583%) as well as finishing second in the intermediaire I freestyle (69.65%) with Fitzcerraldo in their first foreign international dressage competition. Judy bought the now nine-year-old gelding as a three-year-old at the Brightwells auction and sold him 12hrs later to the owner of her yard, Richard Heley.
The pair had a successful season last year when Judy won her first national title, the intermediaire I, after competing at the national championships for some 25 years.
Judy said: “He was affected by the long journey in the first week of the tour, but really got going in the second week and I am thrilled to bits with him.”
She has had the ride on her other winner, Lou Wega, since he was a three-year-old. Now nine, the Westfalian gelding is another Brightwells purchase owned by Richard. They headed the owners class junior riders freestyle (69.5%) and took second in the owners class junior team test (68.333%).
Anna Ross-Davies broke Carl Hester’s stranglehold when she won her first international grand prix. She rode Donald McTaggart’s 10-year-old 16.2hh bay gelding Liebling II to a 68% victory in his first season at the level.
Carl Hester regained his exceptional form of the tour to win the grand prix special with Lecantos and finished third in his first freestyle with Sasha Stewart’s 11-year-old gelding.
Judy said: They are a new partnership and made a few little mistakes, but they are going to develop into something special. This horse has enormous talent and no weaknesses.”
Carl continued his invincible form with TMovistar, heading the owners class junior and team tests for the third consecutive week in a row.
Steph Croxford’s Mr President scored his personal best in the grand prix freestyle with Richard Davison, who has taken over the ride for the remainder of Steph’s pregnancy. The 13-year-old Dutch-bred gelding took second place with 72.35% after finishing third in the grand prix special.
Week 2: Hester’s tally of wins reaches 10
Carl Hester’s tally of wins during the 2007 Spanish Sunshine Tour has now reached 10 after he won the CDI grand prix and grand prix special with Lecantos, the CDN grand prix with Pro-Set and the owners junior team and prelim test with TMovistar.
Carl said: “Lecantos is fantastic and I’m learning something different about him from every test. He has now won five classes with 70% or more except one, which he won with 69%. With my trainer Anna van Olst being here as well, it really is a double whammy - competition experience and training.”
Carl was also delighted with Pro-Set’s grand prix win: “He is only rising ten and this is helping to build his confidence.”
Anna Ross-Davies, who has been training with Ulla Salzgeber, was on good form with Liebling II. They were runners-up to Carl in both the grand prix and grand prix special.
Judy Harvey repeated her success of the first week of the tour with another win, this time in the CDI prix st georges with Fitzerraldo, as well as several other good placings.
Week 1: Hester has high hopes for new ride
Carl Hester dominated the first of the three competitions that make up the Spanish Sunshine Tour in Vejer de la Frontera, 28 February to 4 March 2007, with five wins on two horses. He won the intermediaire II (70.78%), grand prix (69.667%) and grand prix special (71%) with his new ride and team hope, Lecantos.
Lecantos is an 11-year-old 16hh Oldenburg gelding by Levantos I and is owned by one of Carl’s pupils, Irish international event rider Sasha Stewart. It was Carl’s first competitive outing with the former Polish World Equestrian Games team horse he has been riding for just four months.
Carl said: “Lecantos gives me the same feeling as my previous top horse Escapado. He has all the qualities you need to make a great horse; he’s really special. We brought him here to decide whether he is good enough and ready to try for the British team this year and this weekend has proved he is a 70% horse.”
With the seven-year-old 16.1hh Dutch-bred stallion T.Movistar by Jazz, Carl headed two owners class junior team tests. Carl has ridden the stallion, who is owned by Sarah Tyler-Evans, since he was four.
Nicky Barrett rode her own 16.1hh stallion Faberge 50 in the small tour and won two prix st georges classes as well as an intermediaire I.
Nicola Cooper and her six-year-old gelding Falcao impressed the judges in the six-year-old young horse class and final, which they won with impressive percentages, 79.8 and 78.8. As a 5-year old, Falcao competed for Germany at the 2006 World Championships for Young Dressage Horses.
Judy Harvey and her 16.3hh gelding Sir Real won the first class of the show, the owners class junior prelim test.
Source: British Dressage
Photo copyrighted: Astrid Appels / Eurodressage
Related Links
Scores 2007 Sunshine Tour CDI - Week One - Week Two - Week Three
On the Scene at the 2005 Sunshine Tour CDI
Escapado's Spanish Reign Puts Carl Hester Back on Top