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Sophie Wells’ rising star impresses on prix st georges gala night

Dressage videos 28 Videos Amy Woodhead: how to ride a canter half pass to wow the judges 02:58 Amy Woodhead: how working for Carl Hester has set her up for success 06:14 Watch Carl Hester at home: 'I can't wait to get out of bed and train horses towards grand prix' 02:31 Tales from Hartpury: the nine-year-old rising star with an Olympic dream 02:35 Winter Dressage Championships day four: one-two for Dujardin 03:43 Sophie Wells' rising star impresses on prix st georges gala night 01:22 Winter Dressage Championships day three: former runaway horse shows what she's made of for championship first-timer 03:30 Tales from Hartpury: the event horse making waves in her new career 01:56 Tales from Hartpury: Five horses and 13 tests — but did this rider remember where to go? 01:04 Tales from Hartpury: the horse with a rare skin condition that travelled in first gear for six miles 02:02 Winter Dressage Championships day two: Dujardin wants her rising star's foal for Easter 03:35 Tales from Hartpury: meet the family pony rubbing shoulders with dressage's big guns 01:08 Winter Dressage Championships day one: a shock victory and a horse defies the odds to do a double 04:43 H&H dressage editor’s Area Festival video diary: Disbelieving the results of my small and fairly average horse 05:03 Watch Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro's European freestyle dressage test 07:13 Watch Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro wow the crowds at Hartpury 09:37 What is 'breath energy' and could it help your riding? 03:48 Watch Charlotte Dujardin riding Valegro's freestyle on a catch ride 06:38 Ruth Edge: How to ride the perfect 10m circle 01:18 Exclusive: watch Valegro work out on a water treadmill 02:46 'Squat to exhaustion': meet Alice Oppenheimer 02:43 Carl Hester and Charlotte Dujardin: A bit of banter 03:15 Maria Eilberg: How to improve your horse's walk 02:03 Maria Eilberg: how to improve your horse’s trot 01:21 Michael Eilberg: How to ride a square halt 03:35 Michael Eilberg: introducing collection in canter 05:01 Michael Eilberg: teaching your horse to rein back 05:03 Watch Farouche's winning test at the BD nationals 05:44

  • There was no stopping para dressage star Sophie Wells and her exciting prospect C Fatal Attraction as they ran away with victory in the prix st georges (PSG) freestyle gold championship on gala night at the NAF Five Star British Dressage Winter Championships at Hartpury (12-16 April).

    Her Rio Olympic reserve horse finished on 75.75%, 2.71% ahead of their nearest rivals.

    Riding to atmospheric Tom Hunt compiled music, their test was a joy to watch with their extended trot being a particular highlight.

    “‘Jorge’ has just become strong enough to perform the test properly,” explained Sophie of the 10-year-old owned by Charlotte Hogg. “I’m so pleased with him as he’s usually quite spooky, but he went in there and focussed.”

    Trained by Angela Weiss, this win comes off the back of a very successful time at the CPEDI3* in Deauville where they won the Grade V competition on almost 80%.

    “Jorge didn’t quite do all of his best work in there tonight, but he pulled it off to a certain extent,” said Sophie. “He’s still quite new to PSG so I can only be happy.”

    Second place went to 19-year-old Joanna Thurman-Baker, which marks one of her best career results to date.

    Riding her own 15-year-old Highcliffe Apollo, this is Joanna’s first attempt at the winter championships, and she did it in style, finishing on a score of 73.04%.

    “‘Apollo’ really tries — he’s naturally built downhill and he’s quite spooky but he really tries for me,” Joanna said of the horse she has produced since a youngster with the help of her mother and sister. “The only mistake we really made was when the judge at C coughed which spooked him, but it didn’t put us off track.”

    Joanna will aim for young rider internationals and hopefully the young rider European squad this year.

    “I keep thinking he’s reached his maximum potential, but then we ask him another question and he answers it,” said Joanna who rides full-time.

    Continued below…

    Third place went to amateur rider Gemma Maddocks riding her own 12-year-old El Paso Van Overis who was competing here after getting a wild card.

    The estate agent, who lives on the Isle of Wight was chuffed with her result.

    “This horse has never been in this atmosphere before so it’s great to finish in the top three. I thought he would be tense but he got on with the job.”

    They finished on a score of 72.46%.

    For a full report from the British Dressage NAF Five Star Winter Championships and the Petplan Equine Area Festival Final pick up a copy of Horse & Hound on Thursday, 20 April

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