Sienna Charles claims victory in Children’s Grand Prix at Hagen
Saturday 11 June 2016
13 year-old Sienna Charles from Alton, Hants put in yet another incredible performance today to claim the Children’s Grand Prix title in Hagen with her father’s (Peter) 9 year-old grey mare Chaitanya. The Children’s Grand Prix in Hagen is renowned for the being the biggest in the world and for Sienna to dominate it in the way that she did clearly reflects the incredible talent that she is.
The 1.25m course consisting of thirteen obstacles and sixteen jumping efforts saw eighteen of the just over seventy starters jump clear in the first round. Joining Sienna were fellow team riders Lily Freeman-Atwood (14 years) from Shrewsbury with Banana D’Ive Z, a 15 year-old chestnut mare owned by Mark McCourt and Olliver Fletcher (13 years) from Woolstone, Oxon with Temple Rebus, a 9 year-old chestnut gelding owned by Graham Fletcher.
Lily had the unfortunate position of being first to go in the jump off which is never the most ideal position to be drawn in. Deciding she needed to put her foot on the accelerator to try and force others into making a mistake behind her, she posted the fastest time of the jump-off however a fence down saw them pick up 4 penalties to finish in eventual 11th place. Oliver also incurred 4 penalties in the jump off and their slower time of 40.12 seconds saw them finish behind Lily in 16th position.
For Sienna though it was an exceptional performance that saw her fight off incredibly strong opposition to come through the finish clear within a time of 34.43 seconds, just over a second faster than Hungarian rider Aliz Alastics with Charneval who was the only other rider to break the 36 seconds barrier.
This marked an incredible start to the season for Sienna, daughter of London 2012 Team Gold medal winner Peter Charles. Just two weeks ago she travelled to her first Nations Cup of the year in Opglabbeek where she posted clear rounds the opening competition in addition to the Nations Cup where she delivered three faultess performances. She then went on to post another two brilliant clears in the Grand Prix which saw her finish in 2nd position. Yesterday, in Hagen, she produced yet another three clears in the Nations Cup playing a pivotal role in terms of the team finishing in 1st place position. These followed the faultless rounds she had executed in the opening competition of the show. With just 24 hours between the Nations Cup competition and today’s Grand Prix, Sienna came out and did it all again; to say her performance was outstanding would be an understatement and she has, without doubt, shown the world that she is in a class of her own on the international stage within her groupl
Talking afterwards father Peter commented “Obviously I’m biased, but she has ridden so many clear rounds for team. Not only clear but she has also jumped in important positions which also shows how she takes on responsibility and pressure. For her to win the Grand Prix is fantastic for her on a personal level. We all know that this is the biggest one in the world within her group and it was a hard ask for the Children to come out and jump just 24 hours after their Nations Cup. She has jumped 12 clear rounds within two weeks, she has been phenomenal and both myself, Tara and the rest of the family are so proud of her and what she has achieved”.
Further information on the show, and full results can be found by visiting www.psi-sporthorses.de
British Showjumping would like to thank their consortium of Business Partners who assist support the Youth Squads.
The British Jumping teams are also supported by the Equestrian World Class Programme. The programme, which encompasses both Podium and Podium Potential squads, focuses on identifying talent, developing potential and maximising medal winning performances on the world stage. The Programme has been funded by the National Lottery via UK Sport since 1998 and is a portfolio within the British Equestrian Federation.
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