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Becky Moody and Jagerbomb. Credit: British Equestrian/Jon Stroud Media
Carl Hester and Becky Moody have done Team Great Britain proud on day one of the dressage Grand Prix qualifier
Day one of the dressage Grand Prix team and individual qualifier saw riders split into six groups, with the top two athletes from each group and the six athletes with the next best scores (including ties) qualifying for the individual final (Grand Prix Freestyle on 4 August). The best 10 teams (including all tied for 10th place) will qualify for the team final (Grand Prix Special on 3 August).
Last to go in Group A and first up for Great Britain was Carl Hester, riding Fiona and Penny Bigwood’s 14-year-old Fame. This combination got Great Britain off to a great start finishing on a score of 77.345% to put him in third place and in a good position to go through to Sunday’s individual final. He lies closely behind Denmark’s Nanna Skodborg Merrald (78.028%) and Dinja van Liere from The Netherlands (77.764%) who will both automatically qualify for the freestyle. “I hope to go through to Sunday’s final with a score like that, and the horse went really well,” said Carl. “I haven’t competed for a few months so there are a few tweaks to make, but Saturday is the team test and he’s normally better in that. I have a horse I absolutely love riding and he’s one of the most fun horses of my career.”
The penultimate rider on day one was Britain’s Becky Moody and Jagerbomb, a horse she bred herself. Riding at her first Olympics, Becky certainly didn’t disappoint finishing top of her group on a score of 74.938% and overall sixth after day one of the competition. Becky finished just ahead of Patrick Kittel and Touchdown and both riders will automatically qualify for Sunday’s final. Becky commented: “That was insane. What a stadium and what a crowd. It was just an amazing experience and what a horse Jagerbomb is. I bred him so we’ve done everything together and he’s so special to me. We both went in there a little nervous and apprehensive, but we helped each other out. I’m so proud of him.”

Image credit: British Equestrian/Jon Stroud Media
The other two riders automatically qualifying for the freestyle on Sunday are Denmark’s Daniel Bachmann Andersen and Frederic Wandres from Germany.
The final placing after day one are…
1st – Nanna Skodborg Merrald (Denmark) 78.028
2nd – Dinja van Liere (Netherlands) 77.764
3rd – Carl Hester (Great Britain) 77.345
4th – Daniel Bachmann Andersen (Denmark) 76.910
5th – Frederic Wandres (Germany) – 76.118
6th – Becky Moody (Great Britain) – 74.938
7th – Patrik Kittel (Sweden) – 74.317
8th – Emma Kanerva (Finland) – 73.680
9th – Flore de Winne (Belgium) – 73.028
10th – Adrienne Lyle (USA) – 72.593
Great Britain’s third combination Lottie Fry and Glamourdale are first to go tomorrow, starting at 9am British time.