Charlotte Dujardin GBR winner of the gold medal during the Grand Prix Freestyle for the individual Dressage competition at the Olympic Equestrian Centre in Deodoro near Rio, Brazil on 15th August 2016 kisses kiss valegro
Rio legends Valegro, Chilli Morning and Big Star together with their long-serving grooms will parade in front of their fans at Cheltenham.
The trio will be joined by charismatic chaser Sprinter Sacre, who retired from his stellar racing career last year.
The one-off parade will take place on day two of Cheltenham’s April meeting (20 April).
Alongside the equine heroes will be those who have cared for them.
These are: Alan Davies, who has travelled all across the world with Valegro; Mark Beever, who has been at the heart of Nick Skelton’s team for 35 years; William Fox-Pitt’s head girl of 25 years, Jackie Potts; and head lad Corky Browne, who has been at Nicky Henderson’s yard for 40 years.
Rio was also the final competition for dressage superstar Valegro, who successfully defended his London 2012 Olympic gold with Charlotte Dujardin. He officially retired in an emotional send-off at Olympia in December.
Meanwhile, Big Star is the only one of the four still competing. Described by Nick as the “best horse he has ever ridden”, the combination won team gold at London 2012 and took top individual honours at last year’s Olympics.
Meanwhile, Sprinter Sacre won an amazing 18 out of 24 races during his career on the track, including a 19-length victory in the Queen Mother Champion Chase at the 2013 Cheltenham Festival.
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Lucy is an experienced news journalist, reporter and presenter. Since joining the Horse & Hound team in 2015, Lucy has reported from major global sporting events including the Tokyo Paralympic Games and multiple European Championships, as well as Badminton, Burghley and London, to name a few. She has covered current affairs and sports news across the full spectrum of equestrian disciplines and racing, as well as human and equine welfare, industry news and court cases.
