Carl and Charlotte to join Lottie Fry in Tokyo 2020 individual final

Photo caption: Charlotte Dujardin and Gio are through to the individual dressage final © BEF / Jon Stroud Media

Charlotte Dujardin and Gio book their place in the Tokyo 2020 individual dressage final, and Carl Hester’s placing confirmed to join them.

After yesterday’s (Saturday 24 July) exciting competition saw Lottie Fry safely into the individual final (Wednesday 28 July), at the conclusion of today’s (Sunday 25 July) dressage Grand Prix, we learned that not only would Charlotte Dujardin and Gio be joining them after a fantastic performance that put them second in their group behind Isabell Werth, but that Carl Hester and En Vogue’s placing was plenty to put the pair through as individuals, too. Plus, Great Britain did enough to earn its place in the team final (Tuesday 27 July).

The only rider for Team GB to compete on the second day of the Grand Prix heats, British viewers had to wait until the last group (Group F) to go but, as we all knew she would, Charlotte Dujardin made sure the wait was worthwhile as she scored an incredible 80.963% on her own, Renai Hart and Carl Hester’s Gio to take provisional first place in the group – over 10 points clear of the provisional second placed Florian Bacher on Fidertraum for Austria.

Very young for this level at 10 years old, Gio was expertly piloted by Charlotte, whose characteristic poise allowed them to showcased their harmonious partnership to the fullest, boasting expression aplenty. Scoring highly for his passages and piaffes, it’s fair to say the powerhouse of a pocket rocket made light of the test.

However, with stiff competition from Germany and USA still to come, this could have been far from the final placing. Penultimate pairing USA’s Steffen Peters and Suppenkasper performed a pleasing test to score 76.196% but this wasn’t enough to nudge Charlotte out of the top two. He ultimately finished in third after Germany’s Isabell Werth and Bella Rose concluded proceedings with a whopping 82.500% – the best score of the day and second best of weekend behind teammate Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and TSF Dalera (84.379%).

After a weekend of nail-biting qualifiers, it’s fair to say Team GB supporters breathed a huge collective sigh of relief.

Also through to the individual final from today’s competition are…

• Denmark’s Carina Cassoe Kruth riding Heiline’s Danciera who won Group D on a score of 76.677%
• USA’s Adrienne Lyle riding Salvino, who took second in Group D on a score of 74.876%
• Germany’s Dorothee Schneider riding Showtime FRH, who won Group E on a score of 78.820%
• Sweden’s Juliette Ramel riding Buriel KH, who came second in Group E on a score of 73.369%

What next?

60 riders have gone head-to-head this weekend in a bid to secure one of 18 places in Wednesday’s individual final. We’re delighted to confirm that the combinations going through will be…

1. Great Britain’s Lottie Fry and Everdale
2. Sweden’s Therese Nilshagen and Dante Weltino OLD
3. Denmark’s Cathrine Dufour and Bohemian
4. Netherlands’ Edward Gal and Total US
5. Germany’s Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and TSF Dalera
6. USA’s Sabine Schut-Kery and Sanceo
7. Denmark’s Carina Cassoe Kruth and Heiline’s Danciera
8. USA’s Adrienne Lyle and Salvino
9. Germany’s Dorothee Schneider and Showtime FRH
10. Sweden’s Juliette Ramel and Buriel KH
11. Germany’s Isabell Werth and Bella Rose
12. Great Britain’s Charlotte Dujardin and Gio
13. Netherlands’ Hans Peter Minderhous riding Dream Boy – 76.817%
14. USA’s Steffen Peters and Suppenkasper 76.196%
15. Great Britain’s Carl Hester and En Vogue – 75.124%
16. Denmark’s Nanna Skodborg Merrald and Zack – 73.168%
17. Portugal’s Rodrigo Torres and Fogoso – 72.624%
18. Spain’s Beatriz Ferrer-Salat and Elegance – 72.096%

We’re also pleased to announce that the eight teams going through to Tuesday’s team final will be…

1. Germany
2. Great Britain
3. Denmark
4. United States
5. Netherlands
6. Sweden
7. Portugal
8. Spain