In front of an electric crowd in Willinga Covered Arena, Mary Hanna and her 13-year- old KWPN mare Calanta made history, setting a new Australian Kur record score in the Grand Prix Freestyle at the 2020 CDI Bawley Point. Mary, a veteran of five Olympics, gave a powerful performance, scoring 80.145% and breaking Kristy Oatley and Du Soleil’s 2018 record of 79.330%. Mary’s score is the first time an Australian has ever scored in the 80 percentile for Grand Prix Freestyle. “I never thought it would happen” ‘I always dreamed I would score 80% but to be honest, I never thought it would happen. I waited long enough,’ laughs the 65-year-old. Mary has had a dream run during the two weeks of back to back competition at Bawley Point – the show is called Dressage by the Sea 2020 – winning all six Grand Prix classes, bringing her one step closer to Tokyo and what could be her sixth Olympic games. Hanna has shipped all her two Grand Prix horses – Syriana and Calanta – home to Australia instead of keeping them in training at Patrik Kittel’s in Germany over the winter. Mary’s daughter Gitte Donvig got seriously injured in a riding accident, sustaining head trauma, in October 2019 and Mary wanted to stay close to her in Gitte’s time of recovery. Hanna made more big changes to her life and also sold her equestrian property Statene Park on the Bellarine Peninsula. Read more on Eurodressage
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