Sport: dressage
Record holder? Dujardin set a dressage world record in Hagen, Germany yesterday just 15 months after competing in her first grand prix competition. The Gloucestershire-based rider and her horse Valegro scored 88.022 per cent, smashing the previous best by three per cent.
Off the record: Dujardin’s fortunes changed after she linked up with trainer Carl Hester in 2007 and for that she has parent power to thank. She said: “I had always really admired Carl but I was too frightened to ask so I got my mum to ask him if he would give me a lesson.”
Chance of an Olympic record? Great Britain has never won an Olympic dressage medal but that could end at Greenwich Park where Dujardin will be going for individual and team honours. She was part of the Britain squad that won European gold in Rotterdam last summer.
