Carl Hester and Donnersong win the grand prix special at The College EC Premier League Show
Carl Hester dominated The College EC’s Premier League show, winning the grand prix specialon Donnersong and two small tour classes on Escapado.
Two of the judges saved their top marks for the second-placed new combination of Nicola McGivern and Active Walero but Nick Williams, judge at C, had Carl in the lead by almost 30 marks, to take the win.
Nicola and Active Walero celebrated their first grand prix win with 67.3% when they headed the 19-strong class that included several consistent partnerships.
Carl Hester and Escapado won both the prix st georges and intermediaire I by comfortable margins on scores of more than 72%.
Vicki Thompson and the 10-year-old Ferro stallion Jazz Dancer won the intermediaire II with Liz Diegutis and Giorgio relegated to second place on collective marks. Vicki and Jazz Dancer also took second place in the grand prix.
Freestyle
Daniel Sherriff and Bayford Hall Borris took the grand prix freestyle with a toe-tapping compilation of Latin American music that was well-suited to the combination.
Pammy Hutton and Amanti, who took third place in both big tour classes, rode a polished test to stand a close second to Dan in the freestyle.
Andrew Gould’s brave, spectator-friendly test on Koffee Break was not well-received by the judges despite capturing the audience. The pair had to be content with third place.
Andrew made up for a disappointing start to the three-day show when Koffee Break went unlevel in the grand prix after losing a shoe, with a fluent, mistake-free grand prix special to take third.
Both small tour freestyle classes went to Joss Edwards and Norbury Niki.
Young horse classes
The popular young horse classes resulted in a double win in the six-year-old sections for Virginia Peters and Donnerblack, who gained the decision in both the national and international classes.
Darryl Thickett rode Jane Wilson’s home-bred Honor’s Valour by Va Tout to win the five-year-old international class and came second to Ruth Hurst and Latin Lover in the national section.
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