Veteran grand prix rider Belinda Trussell enjoyed a career highlight at the CDI Ottawa Dressage Festival (ODF), held May 19-22 at Wesley Clover Parks in Ottawa, ON.
Trussell, a Stouffville, ON native, achieved a personal best score on her way to breaking the Canadian record for the highest score in the Grand Prix during the ODF, which acted as one of the final Canadian Dressage Team qualifying competitions for the 2016 Rio Olympics coming up in August.
Aboard Anton (Antaeus x Shirley), her 2015 Pan American Games mount, she captured the judges’ attention to earn the record breaking score of 73.780% and the victory in the CDI 3* FEI Grand Prix on May 20. Trussell and the 16-year-old Sachsen-Anhaltiner gelding owned by her mother, Robyn Eames, also emerged atop the leaderboard in the CDI Grand Prix Special on May 21 with a score of 74.882%.