Harry Charles is the new Young Rider European Champion
Sunday 15 July 2018
Harry Charles capped a fantastic European Championships when he won the Young Rider Individual Gold medal this afternoon in Fontainebleau, France. Having already done Great Britain proud on Friday as part of the Gold medal winning Young Rider Team, Harry produced two immaculate rounds today to become the Young Rider European Champion.
Riding under the title sponsor banner of Team NAF, Harry, who turned 19 today, from Alton, Hampshire achieved his double gold with Vivaldi Du Dom, a 13 year-old chestnut gelding owned by Peter Charles MBE and in doing so, he brought the British medal haul from these Championships to four.
This year saw Harry make the step up into Young Riders after having been a successful campaigner as a Junior and from the outset, Harry was focused on returning to Great Britain with these two Gold medals. After his first three rounds, Harry headed the Young Rider standings on 6.72 penalties and he came into the arena today focused on topping the podium.
Today’s competition proved to be tough with many of the horses and riders picking up faults all over the course, but Harry rode superbly to deliver a double clear on Vivaldi du Dom and he was one of only two riders able to keep a clean sheet today. When crossing that finish line for the second time today with all of the fences still standing, Harry punched the air with delight as he knew he was about to take his place on the podium as the new Young Rider European Champion. Harry finished ahead of Cedric Wolf on Cho Chang J who took Silver on 13.65 penalties and Felix Koller and Captain Future who took Bronze on 15.06 penalties.
Harry and Vivaldi du Dom are seasoned European Championship campaigners and this week’s medals brings their total to six. Previously, they won Team Silver and Individual Silver at the 2017 European Championships in Samorin, Slovakia and Team Bronze and Individual Silver at the 2015 European Championships in Wiener Neustadt, Austria.
Amy Inglis finished in 5th today on Claire Inglis’ Wishes whilst William Fletcher and Graham Fletcher’s Persimmon took 9th. Graham Babes was also in action today on George Babes’ Boucheron and they finished in 22nd.
For further information on the show and full results, visit https://fontainebleau2018.com.
British Showjumping would like to thank NAF, title sponsors of the Senior Nations Cup Teams along with the Children, Junior, Young Rider and Veteran teams.
NAF’s premium range of Five Star brands include Superflex, Superflex Senior, PROFEET, Optimum, Magic, Oestress and Respirator Boost with quality at the heart of everything they do. They are a UFAS (Universal Feed Assurance Scheme), GMP+ (International Feed Assurance Scheme) and BETA NOPS (Naturally Occuring Prohibited Substances) accredited company and this enables them to guarantee full traceability on all the natural ingredients they utilise in their formulations, which are also selected in compliance with the FEI guidelines for Clean Sport. For further information, visit www.naf-equine.eu/uk/index.jsp.
The GBR showjumping teams are supported by the British Equestrian Federation’s World Class Programme, funded by UK Sport through the National Lottery. The Programme focuses on identifying talent, developing potential and maximising medal-winning performances on the world stage.
11dtw0hmsttk0.jpg "NAF Five Star Bronze and Silver League Qualifiers get underway at Speetley Equestrian Centre")
