Dujardin produces world record display

Double Olympic dressage champion Charlotte Dujardin delivered a stunning world record display to win last night’s Reem Acra FEI World Cup qualifier at the London International Horse Show.

The 27-year-old British star guided her brilliant London 2012 horse Valegro to an emphatic grand prix victory at Olympia. Their score of 84.447 per cent broke the previous world-best (84.08 per cent) set by Dutchman Edward Gal and black stallion Totilas at the 2009 European Championships in Windsor.

It means she now holds world records in two of dressage’s three disciplines – grand prix and grand prix special. It was their first competitive outing since the Olympics more than four months ago, and once again they proved a class apart despite Dujardin being treated by a doctor for bronchitis earlier yesterday. “The horse is amazing, I am just so lucky to have him,” she said. “I had the worst headache this morning. I rode a bit safer than I would normally.”

Dujardin won by a landslide margin of more than eight per cent from Germany’s Isabell Werth (Don Johnson FRH), with Gal (Glock’s Undercover) third. Hester and his Olympic horse Uthopia finished sixth. Dujardin and 14 other qualifiers will now contest the World Cup freestyle to music class in front of a capacity crowd tonight.

Her routine will be a repeat of the London 2012 showcase that featured strains of Land of Hope and Glory, interspersed with Big Ben chimes, on what could prove an emotional occasion.

Gal’s world record of 92.30 per cent might come under serious threat from Dujardin, whose personal best on Valegro is 90.65 per cent set just before the London Olympics. Dujardin said last week that attempts are being made to form an owners’ syndicate aimed at buying Valegro and keeping it in Britain.

The horse, co-owned by Hester and Roly Luard, would comfortably command a seven-figure sum, and speculation has been abound about a potential sale since the Olympics. Dujardin hopes she can keep the ride.