Reynolds on roll after latest dressage record

Judy Reynolds (37) sent another ripple of excitement through the sport of dressage yesterday when scoring 82.75 on Vancouver K for third place and yet another Irish record at the FEI World Cup qualifier at Neumünster in Germany.

At 17 years old her Dutch-bred gelding would normally be coming towards the end of his career, but he has a spring in his step and has been producing sensational performances with a new ‘Lord of the Dance’ freestyle programme.

Yesterday they finished just over four percentage points behind winner Isabel Werth (Weihegold), the defending series champion and the equestrian athlete with the biggest medal collection of all time.

Werth’s German compatriot Helen Langehanenberg (Damsey) finished second, just over a single point ahead of Kildare-born Reynolds who also set a new Irish record score in Saturday’s Grand Prix.

Reynolds now looks set to qualify for the World Cup final in Gothenburg in April and is a contender for a podium placing at this summer’s European Championships ahead of Tokyo 2020.

At the Longines Masters in Hong, Denis Lynch (Chablis) won yesterday’s Grand Prix and Bertram Allen (Christy Jr) won Saturday’s Speed event. On Friday, Paul O’Shea (Imerald van’t Voorhof) won the Palm Beach Masters in Florida.