Carl Hester’s multiple grand prix winner Barolo has been sold to Japan.
Details on the FEI website show the horse’s ownership changed to the Japan Racing Association on 5 February.
Tokyo 2020 hopeful Kazuki Sado, of Japan, has taken over the ride.
“He rode him beautifully and it was a great match —I wish him loads of luck with the horse,” said Carl.
The 12-year-old, by Breitling W, won the grand prix and the freestyle at Windsor DCI4* and Bolesworth CDI3* under Carl in 2017.
Prior to this Barolo was competed by Charlotte Dujardin. The pair took the national champion title at the 2015 Lemieux National Dressage Championships.
They never finished out of the top-three at international level and won the CDI3* freestyle at Keysoe in 2016.
The chestnut gelding was also one of Charlotte’s longlisted rides for the Rio 2016 Olympics.
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“Rolo”, who was co-owned by Anne Seifert-Cohn prior to his sale, joined Carl and Charlotte’s stable as a six-year-old.
Kazuki trains with Imke Schellekens-Bartels in The Netherlands and has had numerous top-10 placings at international grands prix.
The 33-year-old took the ride on Bellissimo, formerly partnered by Britain’s Andrew Gould, in 2015.
He has also had placings on the international circuit with Ziroco, who is also competed by Dutch rider Janneke Van Riet, and recently added the 10-year-old mare Djuice to his string.
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