Hi °C | Lo °C Northern Ireland-owned horse Uthopia brought home gold as he helped Team GB seize victory in the grand prix dressage event.
The black stallion — famed for his love of funky music and Facebook page — is owned by Sasha Stewart of Richhill and has a large following among equine fans.
Horse lovers throughout Northern Ireland were glued to their televisions for yesterday’s final.
Sasha and her family were in the crowd at the Greenwich venue to cheer their beloved horse — rumoured to be valued at £7m — to victory.
In the grand prix, horse and rider must execute a pre-set series of precise and demanding movements, including the lofty trot called the passage, and the pirouette. Uthopia took it all in his sizeable stride despite the noisy surroundings.
Uthopia — ridden by Carl Hester — and Hester’s team- mates Laura Bechtolsheimer and Charlotte Dujardin took team gold ahead of Germany.
Hester, from Newent, Gloucestershire, actually set a new Olympic record on Uthopia, only to have it beaten by Dujardin, his protegé.
He said: “We've done what we've wanted to do.”
The Princess Royal was among the throng of supporters who turned out to see the trio ride to glory.
Dujardin embraced Hester in front of more than 20,000 people before she held her medal aloft as more applause rippled through Greenwich.
Ahead of the final, rider Hester (45) said of Uthopia, who revels in thumping funky music when performing, “he’s the coolest horse around. If I say walk, he walks; if I say stop, he stops.
“He's a bit like a computer with a furry body,” added Hester, who made his Olympic debut 20 years ago.
Fans took to Uthopia’s Facebook page minutes after the win to congratulate him.
One said: “Amazing, amazing. You showed the world!”
Another said: “Sending you lots of carrots and sugar lumps!”
Britain's dressage team have been an up-and-coming force in the equestrian discipline which tests understanding between horse and rider during manoeuvres inside the arena.
They finished fifth at Beijing but confirmed their potential for London 2012 with victory in last year's European Championships.
Hester's Uthopia, Bechtolsheimer's Mistral Hojris, better-known as Alf, and Dujardin's Valegro have now proved on the biggest stage that they are three of the best.
Uthopia and Hester will go for another gold in the individual dressage event tomorrow.
Factfile
- Team GB’s dressage win — and the defeat of arch-rivals Germany and Holland — surpasses everything that has gone before.
- The previous best Olympic team performance was a sixth place finish at the Beijing Games.
- The gold medal is the third triumph for Team GB's riders, who also took silver at the eventing last week.
