Denmark’s Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour and Mount St John Freestyle have delivered another personal best, as the world number ones continue to go from strength to strength.
On Sunday (26 April) the Olympic and European medallists won the Hagen CDI4* grand prix special on 83.09%, more than 8% ahead of runners-up Ingrid Klimke and Vayron, who scored 74.92%.
“We unlocked a new level together and it brought tears to my eyes feeling how much we’re just one unit now,” said Cathrine, who also won the CDI4* grand prix with Freestyle on Friday.
“It literally felt like flying in our grand prix special, and with a personal best 83%. I’m left speechless. Humble and thankful for how generous Freestyle is to our little family.”
Cathrine and Freestyle are continuing their brilliant run this spring; their success in Hagen follows a double victory in the Herning CDI5* in March, where they scored a personal best grand prix of 84.17%.
On 1 April Cathrine set a new record when she climbed 24 places to take the number one spot in the dressage rider world rankings – while Freestyle moved up 22 places to top the horse rankings.
Emma Blundell of Mount St John, who co-owns Freestyle with Cathrine and the Zinglersen family, said “what a start to the outdoor show season”.
“I can’t believe in this next chapter of life, at 17 years young, how fit, well and happy she’s looking. Achieving new personal bests and loving her show time more than ever, with her relaxed but ultimate showman style shining through and their partnership and trust in each other strengthening with every outing,” she said.
Emma added that she could not have imagined, when Freestyle missed the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, that she would “return to this pinnacle again”.
“But after a couple of years’ nurturing I knew she was ready, and all the stars aligned when Cathrine came into the picture,” she said.
“I truly couldn’t have wished for a better partner for Free and I am eternally grateful for the care, love and compassion Cathrine implements throughout her training and management everyday, and the full support team around her, which has opened a whole new level of magic with Free who continues to amaze us in how exceptionally generous she is to all of us.”
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