An event within the event: the record for points in a Dressage Grand Prix was broken this afternoon in Lyon: 87.129%. And by whom? Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro, of course! The Olympic Champion's win in the first stage of the World Cup Final is not really a surprise. The surprise was more the gap between her and her challenger, Helen Langehanenberg and Damon Hill, and the fact that she broke the points record in a Grand Prix: "I didn't come out to break a record. Yesterday, I was a bit worried because my horse was a little hot in this big space. But he's a great horse and I'm lucky to have him, because I always want to do well and today I particularly set out to enjoy myself. I felt my test was going well, even though I had two little blips with the piaffe. I found out about the world record when I left the arena and it was a wonderful surprise." Tomorrow, Charlotte will be presenting a new routine with a little surprise, she says, "But you'll have to wait till tomorrow." Helen Langenhanenberg faces a real challenge if she wants to worry her English rival. However, her test seemed to go like a dream with Damon Hill: "Damy loves competing and when he feels the presence of the public it brings out the best in him. So yes, I can understand the ease that you could sense watching from the side of the arena. He's an easy horse to ride." For the duel tomorrow, the German rider will be keeping her usual freestyle-to-music routine. In third place, the World Champion Edward Gal knows that it will be difficult to challenge these two stars of dressage tomorrow, since his horse is less experienced: "Undercover was a bit difficult to ride today, a bit excited and I wasn't able to do everything I wanted. Having said that, in other circumstances, he has proved what a great horse he is, so hopefully tomorrow he'll do better." Happy to find himself in the same group as these three exceptional riders, Marc Boblet will also be competing in the final showdown tomorrow after the great performance of Noble Dream Concept Sol: "Yes, I got close here, but it's still too far from these champions. But it's in this kind of competition that I can improve, because they make me lift my level.
