Becky Moody and Jagerbomb (Dante Weltino x Jazz) took their chance and didn’t show an ounce of nerves as they finished first in Group C in the Paris 2024Olympic dressage grand prix on 74.94% – ahead of World Cup winners Patrik Kittel and Touchdown who scored 74.32%.
With teammates Carl Hester and Lottie Fry watching on, the combination looked born for this stage, producing a mistake-free test with their piaffe and passage work a highlight.
“That was insane,” beamed Becky, who barely stopped smiling throughout her test. “What a stadium, what a crowd – it was an amazing experience.
“And what a horse! He’s so special to me, we’ve done everything together, and I think we both went in there a little nervous and apprehensive, but we helped each other out and I’m just so proud of him.
“He loves to be out there – the more people watching him the better.”
The pair had, of course, originally been selected as the travelling reserves but were promoted to the three-person team following the withdrawal and subsequent suspension of Charlotte Dujardin.
“We’ve got an amazing team around us, not only the guys in the team itself, but also our larger support team,” added Becky. “They couldn’t have been more helpful and to be part of it is amazing.”
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Competing at her first championships, Becky has always been a crowd-favourite in Britain, but it was heartwarming to see how much the wider international press took to her during her post-test interviews.
The most-asked questions related to Jagerbomb’s enigmatic name.
“I bred him 10 years ago and at that point in my life, I might have been partial to a jagerbomb,” Becky laughed. “But also my grandad, who was called Norman, we’d all call ‘Bomb’ so it was a little bit of a homage to him as well as the alcoholic beverage.”
Carl had been almost lamenting earlier in the day that the team couldn’t pick their own order of go in the grand prix so Becky could ride earlier to take the pressure off.
But in the end, being in the comparatively low-scoring Group C meant Becky’s now safely through to the freestyle where the individual medals will be decided and doesn’t have to keep refreshing the leaderboard tomorrow to see if she’d be among the six highest-scoring combinations outside the top two in each group to qualify.
Her test was perfectly measured and should be an enormous confidence boost, with Jagerbomb straight, uphill and open in the frame. Encouragingly, despite not having any mistakes, you can see where the combination can pick up more marks in the later tests – such as in the walk.
Britain is now in a very strong position to make it into the special on Saturday, which will decide the team medals. Lottie and Glamourdale will be the last British combination to go, competing tomorrow at 10am local time (9am British time).
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Oscar joined Horse & Hound in October 2023 and is the magazine’s dressage editor and sports manager, overseeing coverage of equestrian sport. After studying equine science at Myerscough College, he spent four years working for leading dressage rider Emile Faurie, competing at the 2015 National Dressage Championships and travelling with the yard to CDIs including Aachen and Saumur. He holds a master’s degree in Literature from York St John University (2021).
