Wayne Channon has proved unbeatable so far this month, winning two major classes at Lipica CDI-W in Slovenia last weekend.
Partnering his 13-year-old Dutch-bred stallion Lorenzo CH, Channon scored an incredible 70.125% to win the Grand Prix. The pair then went on to win the World Cup qualifier with a score of 75%. “Lorenzo was superb,” said Channon afterwards, “I took it easy to start with in both tests and then started asking for more. He responded really well and did everything effortlessly. It was great to finish the tests knowing there were still reserves in the tank.”
Channon’s Italian operatic freestyle music “Il Passeggiato” was compiled by the Dutch duo Cees Slings and Victor Kerkhof, who also compose the music for the queen of freestyle, Anky van Grunsven.
Meanwhile Britain’s number one ranked rider, Emma Hindle, was demonstrating her mastery at the fiercely competitive Wiesbaden CDI in Germany.
Hindle, who is based at Brookhouse Stud, Germany took her two stallions Lancet and Diamond Hit to the competition. Playing the music she used with her former European bronze-medal winning ride Wie Weltmeyer, Hindle performed an impressive test on Lancet, the 13-year-old Hanoverian, to finish fourth in the grand prix free style on a score of 71.75%. Denmark’s Andreas Helgstrand and Blue Hors Cavan won both classes.
With the nine-year-old Oldenburg stallion Diamond Hit, Hindle finished second in the Prix St Georges as well as clinching third place in the intermediaire I on a score of 69.55%.
“I am chuffed with both horses,” said Hindle, “They did exactly what I asked. I had a good feeling in the grand prix with Lancet, but the judges didn’t feel I rode him forward enough, so I rode him more forward in the kűr and got better scores.”
Charlotte Heal was 10th in the Prix St Georges and ninth in the Intermediaire I with Clinten, a horse she had ridden for just 10 days.
