Ireland’s Judy Reynolds has scored a double triumph at the four-star show in Fritzens-Schindlhof, Austria with her 15-year-old Jazz gelding Vancouver K.

Reynolds this morning won the Grand Prix Special on a score of 72.255% while on Friday she won the the Grand Prix on an overall score of 75.58%, also with Vancouver K.

Today was Reynolds’s first ever international Grand Prix Special win. The Grand Prix Special test, which consists of Grand Prix movements arranged in a different pattern, is considered to be technically more difficult than the Grand Prix.

“This was an important part of our plan for the Europeans as the Grand Prix Special is the second individual qualifier for the Grand Prix Kür (Freestyle to Music) individual European dressage championship final,” said Reynolds this morning.

“Today was our first Special since Rio last August and JP (Vancouver K) needs the practice runs in advance of the European championships.  There were a couple of glitches today but I felt the piaffe (stationary trot) was better than the Grand Prix on Friday and we finished the test very well.

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Judy Reynolds and Vancouver K pictured just after their win this morning in Austria.

“It was great to win both the Grand Prix and the Grand Prix Special on our first outing in three months and I’m planning to compete in Aachen and Verden in advance of the European dressage championships in Gothenburg next month.”

Vancouver K is owned by Reynolds’s parents, Joe and Kathleen.

Jack Burns