World gold again after dressage star Lottie Fry’s ‘test of a lifetime’
North Yorkshire-raised dressage star Lottie Fry said she produced the “test of a lifetime” to claim the first double-double in 60 years of the Dressage World Championship.
In front of a capacity 40,000 crowd under floodlights at the Aachen Main Stadium, the 30-year-old won the Grand Prix Freestyle gold for the second year in succession after overcoming challenges from Belgium’s Justin Verboomen aboard Zonik Plus and South Yorkshire’s Becky Moody with Jagerbomb, who finished in third.
The title was just the finale of four days of competition which saw Lottie and Becky help the British team clinch silver, just 3.618 points behind Germany and Lottie retain her individual World Championship crown in the Grand Prix Special.
Speaking after retaining her individual title, Lottie said: “I cried my eyes out the whole way out of the test because I was in such shock at how amazing that horse is, and I’ve just been shaking for the last 10 minutes waiting for the final score to go up.
“I knew what amazing competition we have and how much the sport is improving all the time. There are so many incredible horses and riders now. I knew it was going to be really tough, so we’ve just focused on ourselves and didn’t think too much about anyone else. I knew that if it was going to be my time, it was going to be now.”
Becky achieved fifth position in the individual, despite Jagerbomb having to compete without a front shoe he pulled off in the final warm up.
The finale saw the pair put behind a tricky Grand Prix on day one, where she had suffered a loss of balance, firmly behind them with an exceptional performance of their Beatles medley. The ride earned the pair a standing ovation, all artistic scores above 90 per cent and the technical ones exceeding 80 per cent.
Onlookers described the degree of difficulty for the test as “incredible”, with the first centre line cramming in almost a whole test’s worth of moves, mistake-free.
Becky said: “He’s done a lot of big shows and he coped with Paris, but that’s another level. I wasn’t sure how he was going to go in there, but he was just amazing. He stayed super-chilled and really with me. I could have had a little bit more and sometimes my piaffe was a bit quiet, but I haven’t actually ridden that test since Texas, so it’s a little while since I’ve done it. He was just so with me that it was a pleasure to ride.
“It’s another level – it’s crazy in there. The crowd is phenomenal and you could feel it building through the test. You’re not even aware of them visually because they’re quite far back, but you can still feel the atmosphere building as you’re doing it,” she said.
Van Olst Horses’ black stallion Glamourdale and Lottie delivered. their flying-themed freestyle programme, which they have refined over the last 12 months, and won praise for their canter work, particularly the tempi changes and their trademark extended canter.
The combination completed the final centre line to a slow handclap before the crowd erupted and scores ranging from 84 to 86 per cent for the technical work and 99 per cent for artistic presentation were announced. Their final score was 91.907 per cent, just a shade of the pair’s personal best.
Lottie said: “It was my test of a lifetime – it couldn’t be better for me. He was completely relaxed, he was super-happy and we both enjoyed every second.
"I kept smiling in the test, then reminding myself to concentrate because we’re at a World Championship. It was just the most amazing feeling in the world – this was the best test of our lives so far. I hope we continue to improve but, for now, this is incredible.
“It’s been an amazing week. Glammy’s performed beyond all expectations and he’s been a complete dream to ride from the stable to the arena.
"He’s so happy here – he loves it. I was in the warm-up arena and he kept looking over every time there was clapping, like ‘can we go yet?’ and I was like ‘no, it’s not our time, we have to wait’.
"He’s whinnying the whole way because he’s excited to get in, then as soon as he’s in there, he’s quiet, calm and relaxed. This is his place. It’s just been the most incredible week for us.
“The crowd was amazing. To be honest, when you go in, you know there’s a huge atmosphere, but you don’t really look up to see what’s going on around you because you’re so focused, but you can just feel everyone there, especially when he does an extended canter – I can hear them, which is really good and I think Glammy likes it as well. It’s the most amazing atmosphere to ride in – I don’t think I’ve ever ridden in quite an arena like that,” she reflected."