Britain’s Gareth Hughes has taken the lead with one horse to go in the third session of the grand prix special, as the Blue Hors FEI World Dressage Championships results continue to roll in.
Gareth and the 16-year-old mare Classic Briolinca – who he co-owns with his wife Rebecca, daughter Ruby and Julia Hornig – put in a neat, rhythmic test. Their only real mistake was a break in the rhythm at the end of one of the extended trots, for which the average marks dropped to 6.1.
“She was great. The other day [in the grand prix on Saturday] we did a really good test, but there was a little bit of tension there, but today she felt really calm and relaxed and I could ride a lot more positively,” said Gareth.
“She doesn’t have huge natural scope to her basic paces, but in all the collected work she’s got such good mechanics and she’s so regular and you can really ride on the marker.
“I feel I can ride nice as well and I think that’s really important these days because even though we want to do as well as we can, I think that nice riding should always be in the forefront of my mind. If I come out and I feel like I’ve ridden nice and we’ve done mistake-free tests, then I don’t care where we finish.”
Gareth Hughes and Classic Briolinca in the grand prix special at the World Championships in Herning in August 2022. Credit: Peter Nixon
The highlights of their performance included the passage and first piaffe and the canter pirouettes, for which the marks averaged 8.9 – the crowd applauded as the scores were displayed for these. Although the spectators were starting to clap at the end of the test too, Classic Briolinca managed to hold it together and show a halt, unlike in Saturday’s grand prix.
The pair scored 77.28% to hold second in the World Dressage Championships results at this stage, behind Germany’s Benjamin Werndl and Famoso OLD.
Gareth added: “When I turned the corner and I set her up a particular way, wherever it is, she knows she’s going to lock onto a pirouette and we always smack out six to eight steps and come out and wave at the judge and carry on.
“She’s always done good pirouettes, but they have got better and better and better. But she’s one of those now who in the passage, the tempi changes and the pirouette, she sort of locks onto a rhythm and in the canter piroutte, separates behind and holds the rhythm so each step’s the same and she doesn’t knock herself out. You’re looking for that separation in the hind leg and she does it beautifully.”
Gareth tested positive for Covid-19 after arriving in Denmark but still rode in the grand prix and helped Britain to the team silver, which is within the rules. He confirmed today that he has now had two negative tests, the first last night, but is still being cautious.
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