• Post published:December 15, 2016

Irish Dressage star Judy Reynolds and Vancouver K have moved to the top of the Western European Dressage World Cup league table, after a superb fourth place finish in tonight’s Grand Prix Freestyle to Music at the London International Horse Show at Olympia.

Performing a test with a huge level of difficulty and fantastic Christmas themed music, Kildare-born Reynolds and Vancouver K (pictured) were a huge hit with the sell-out London audience, producing an excellent score of 78.269%. It was an incredible score for the Irish pair considering they only recently made the difficult transition to a new Freestyle routine and was just a fraction short of their Irish record of 79.70% set at Al Shaqab in Doha in March 2016.

Britain’s Carl Hester and Nip Tuck took the winners prize on a score of 84.669%, with the Netherlands Hans Peter Minderhoud finishing second aboard Glock’s Flirt (81.880%) and another Dutch rider, Edward Gal, taking third spot on the podium with Glock’s Voice (80.467%).

Judy Reynolds’ fourth place finish in London means she moves to the summit of the World Cup table on a total of 45 points after five of the nine rounds of the Western European league. The result crowns an incredible year for Reynolds and Vancouver K who are the first Irish combination to top the Western European Dressage World Cup league table – which is by far the most competitive region in world Dressage. Following a hugely impressive performance at the Olympic Games in Rio, Reynolds and Vancouver K, who is owned by Judy’s parents Joe and Kathleen Reynolds, scored a World Cup win at Devon, USA in October, and a top seven finish in another World Cup show at in Stuttgart in Germany. During the past 12 months the pair have also scored Grand Prix wins at Achleiten in Austria and also at the Central Park Horse Show in New York.

Article via Horse Sport Ireland