New US rider for former British Nations Cup horse revealed

Young US showjumper Katie Dinan has revealed she is the new rider for former British star Dougie Douglas.

The gelding sold for a record €1.4m (£990,000) in November and has now arrived at his new home in Florida. The son of Ard VDL Douglas was purchased untried at the Goresbridge supreme sale of showjumpers through Irish agent Barry O’Connor. Following the sale, he made the long journey to Katie’s Wellington yard.

The 10-year-old competed successfully under Leicestershire-based showjumper Holly Gillott. Together they made numerous Nations Cup appearances and won the Bunn Leisure Derby Trial at the Hickstead Derby meeting in June this year.

Twenty-two-year-old Katie, who is the daughter of billionaire Jamie Dinan, will compete the Irish Sports Horse in the forthcoming Winter Equestrian Festival, in a bid to build a relationship with him.

Katie told US magazine The Chronicle of the Horse that she had admired Dougie Douglas for “a long time” and had been watching him at shows in Europe this summer.

“We noticed he was going into an auction last month and that piqued our interest. So we went for it and it was very exciting,” she said.

“We have a good idea of what he can do. He rides a little bit hot and is strong to the jumps, but he has a really good attitude and he’s very brave. He’s a horse that I think has been to a lot of different places and jumped in a lot of classes, which I think is great.”

Katie, who is also studying at Harvard, has competed in three FEI World Cup finals riding Nougat du Vallet. She also took individual gold and team bronze at the FEI North American young riders championships in 2011.

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