In a thrillingly close finish to the feature class of the day at the NAF Five Star Winter Dressage Championships, Davy Harvey and Judy Peploe’s Diamond Blue clinched the Superflex inter I freestyle on 74.58% – narrowly edging out Thursday’s Magic PSG freestyle winners, Matt Frost and Kerouac, who finished just behind on 74.54%. Sara-Jane Lanning and Hawtins Lirica rounded out the podium with 72.29%.
Davy and Diamond Blue delivered a smooth, expressive test, working in a soft, consistent outline. They were rewarded with eights across the board and a nine for their extended trot, while the changes on a half circle into steep half passes were a standout highlight.
“It feels pretty surreal – I didn’t think we’d win today,” said Davy. “He’s not the bravest, and he’s been struggling a bit with show nerves this week.”
“I saw Matt’s score and honestly thought, ‘We’re never going to get close to that.’ So I decided not to push him – we’d just go in, have a nice time, and keep it positive.
“But he surprised me. Once we were in the arena, he grew in confidence with every movement, and I just went with it. I was so pleased with him.”
Davy admitted he couldn’t bring himself to check the leaderboard immediately afterwards.
“I can never look at scores after the test – I’m terrible with that. But all the people supporting me were grinning, so I thought, ‘Alright, it must’ve gone okay!’”
He rode to a bold, upbeat freestyle set to tracks by Cardi B, SZA, and Kendrick Lamar.
“I had such a nice time out there,” he said, lighting up when asked about the music. “We’ve tried doing something more ‘grown-up’ before, but it never quite worked for us. So I had the wild idea to try something more fun.
“I sent Tom Hunt a playlist of the music I actually like and said, ‘Can you do anything with this?’ And it snowballed from there.”
The win marked Diamond Blue’s fourth national title, adding to a string of Premier League and international small tour victories. But Davy admitted the gelding’s rise was anything but expected.
“It sounds bad, but none of us were terribly excited about him as a youngster. We just thought we’d see where he went. It wasn’t until advanced medium that he really started to grow into himself, and he’s gone from strength to strength since.
“It’s lucky Judy already owned him, because if we’d gone out shopping, we probably wouldn’t have looked at him twice as a young horse.”
Reflecting on the week, Davy added: “I get a bit crazy about the music – I revise like mad. I sat and watched it on repeat for an hour and a half this morning. We recorded it over a year ago, and we’ve come so far since then.
“You forget where you came from sometimes, don’t you? It’s easy to want more and more – but I think it’s important to remember how far you’ve come.”
Winter dressage championships: Back-to-basics approach pays off
In another closely contested class, Ellen Glover and Morricone’s Love MFS won the Prestige novice silver on 70.97%. Georgie Wheeler and Newton Frank followed in second with 70.38%, while Imogen Swann and SJL Bueno were just behind in third on 70.32%.
Ellen Glover and Morricone’s Love MFS win the Prestige novice silver. Credit: Kevin Sparrow
“It feels mega,” said Ellen. “Really, really cool – I have no words!”
She and Morricone’s Love had also competed earlier in the week on Wednesday (16 April), but things hadn’t gone to plan.
“I knew he was capable of this. Wednesday was the complete opposite – it didn’t go the way we’d hoped, so I took a different tactic today, and it changed everything.”
Rather than adjusting their warm-up to suit the occasion, as she had midweek, Ellen and her trainer Alice Peternell went back to basics, approaching the test like any normal show. That, along with staying overnight instead of travelling on the day, made all the difference.
“He came in so much more confident,” Ellen said. “It’s been such a useful show because I’ve learnt so much about him, and about myself, and what works for both of us to get the best result.”
The win marked their first-ever championship title, and a particularly emotional one.
“He’s qualified twice before, but something always seems to go wrong about 10 days before, so we’ve never actually made it here. That made it even more special. He’s obviously just been waiting for his moment!”
“I’ve had him since he was a foal, broke him in myself, and done everything with him – so I’m just super proud.”
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