Carl Hester on Damon Hill

DAMON HILL was at his zenith during Valegro’s reign, so Carl saw a lot of him.

“He was one of Valegro’s big rivals,” he says. “It was also the time I was riding Uthopia [pictured], so Helen and I were both on slightly lazy little stallions trying to get them to do everything on command in the ring, and not just when they felt like it in the warm-up.

“Helen and Damon Hill had an incredible relationship. He was very athletic and it was interesting to see him grow from almost a pony-type stallion into a charismatic performance stallion. He was a great influence on the sport as he was always very correctly ridden. He was a great benchmark for Valegro as he had to keep improving to stay above Damon Hill.”