Carl Hester's protegee Charlotte Dujardin looks set to follow in her boss' successful footsteps as she rode Hester's horse Winston Bond to victory at the Shearwater Young Dressage Horse Supreme Championship at Hartpury College in Gloucestershire on Saturday night. Winston Bond, a six-year-old gelding by 007, had come second in his qualifying round which was held in the outside arena earlier that day, so it was a bit of a surprise when he beat Peter Storr and Royal Concert to take the Championship indoors that evening.

“I was in shock,” Charlotte told British Dressage afterwards. “It was a massive surprise when they came walking towards me with the rug and the sash. I was really pleased with him because he’s never been in that kind of situation or an environment like that before and he handled it really well.”

Christophe Hess was the judge for the six-year-old class in the morning and for the overall supreme championship in the evening and he explained why Royal Concert was beaten by Winston Bond in the end: “Peter was the favourite for the night, but it was a different atmosphere inside in the evening and the horse was a bit tense, he tried three or four times to show lengthening and it just didn’t work. As for Winston Bond – this horse has a perfect canter and a very good trot, that’s why he came first.”

The winners of the Shearwater Young Dressage Horse classes were as follows:
Champion 2009: Winston Bond, ridden by Charlotte Dujardin
Six Year Old Champion 2009: Royal Concert, ridden by Peter Storr
Five Year Old Champion 2009: Zolansky, ridden by Gemma Green
Four Year Old Champion 2009: Romano Ruinart, ridden by Tim Sillevis.