Fry and Glamourdale Repeat Champions at Aachen
Great Britain’s Charlotte Fry and Glamourdale were once again the winners of the Grand Prix Special gold medal at the FEI Dressage World Championship 2026. The 2022 Herning title holders put a score of 82.295 percent on the board at Aachen on Friday in a performance that elicited a roar from the enthusiastic audience at Allianz Park.
Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour of Denmark, who finished second to Fry at Herning, repeated her silver medal position with Mount St John Freestyle, earning 80.927 percent from the seven judges.
Germany’s Katharina Hemmer beat her compatriot Isabell Werth (Wendy de Fontaine) to claim the bronze medal. Hemmer and Denoix PCH scored 80.866 percent to pin Werth, a previous world champion, into fourth as the final ride of a thrilling day on home soil. European champions Justin Verboomen and Zonik Plus also missed out on a podium place.
Hester overtakes teammate Moody
Before the last rotation of the highest scoring athletes from Wednesday’s Team competition, Becky Moody of Great Britain — the current World Cup champion — was in the lead on 77.660 percent with Jagerbomb.
But her countryman Carl Hester bumped her down a notch with a nearly pristine test aboard Fame that won marks of 78.298 percent.
Not long after that, two-time Herning silver medalist Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour was the first to break the 80 percent barrier, posting 80.927 percent with Mount St John Freestyle. The Dane, ranked No.1 in the world, gave the 17-year-old Hanoverian a harmonious ride, but it wasn’t free of errors, opening the door to some heavy hitters yet to come.
Verboomen's errors in the tempi
It seemed like small mistakes were contagious as the afternoon unrolled. Reigning European champion Justin Verboomen of Belgium picked up 9s and 10s for his pirouettes with Zonik Plus. But errors in the tempi were costly, and he ended on a score of 79.362 percent.
Verboomen’s second-place status was changed moments later when Isabell Werth — who has won more medals than any other Dressage athlete — earned 79.544 percent with Wendy. As always, Werth turned in a gorgeous final centre line, however it couldn’t make up for bobbles in the changes and extended trot earlier.
That left quite an opening for Charlotte Fry and Glamourdale if they could perform a clean test.
Crowd salutes Fry and Glamourdale
The British champion showcased the Dutch Warmblood stallion’s amazing extended canter and huge changes in a forward, fluent test. The crowd were clapping in unison as she rode the last line to her salute. And it looked like the gold was sewn up when the pair’s score of 82.295 percent was revealed.
As the ultimate ride of the day, Katharina Hemmer had everything to gain by pulling out all the stops in the ring. A stellar test with fewer errors than her predecessors ended with a lovely piaffe. The world number 10, fresh off a Team gold medal on Wednesday, earned 80.866 percent for her performance to take home the bronze for a fairy tale World Championship debut.
Behind Werth in fourth, Verboomen finished fifth, followed by Hester, Moody, Marieke von der Putten of the Netherlands with a promising new partner Zantana RS2 Old N.O.P., Maria von Essen of Sweden (Invoice), and Germany’s Raphael Netz (Great Escape Camelot) in the top 10.
The top 18 finishers from Friday will contest the Grand Prix Freestyle on the final day of Dressage at Aachen on Saturday evening. The music for the dancing horses starts playing at 19:00 local time. Will Charlotte Fry make it a double gold like she did at Herning?