Uthopia… gold medal winner & dressage elite, faces an unknown future at auction…
Hoping he finds a way to keep Uthopia in the family…
The Grand Prix dressage horse, who competed for Great Britain in the 2012 Olympic games and won the team gold medal, is set to be sold at auction in the UK on 27th April with no reserve – this essentially means that he could go for any amount to any home.
In 2012 Uthopia was owned on paper by Irish Sasha Stewart with Carl having a 50% share, but disputes with the bank revealed that the black stallion sold to an anonymous investor a few years ago. Stewart dealt with a bankruptcy in 2010 and creditors are still pursuing the matter legally which already led to an injunction on Uthopia two years ago.
The stallion hasn’t competed since 2014, says Eurodressage, but the KWPN (Dutch bred) stallion has kept up with his breeding duties in the interim to “pay his way”. Carl is looking for a solution to this dispute that will hopefully mean the 14yo stallion can retire with his long-time rider at home.
At the 2011 European Championships, Carl rode Uthopia to team gold with a first place finish in the Grand Prix and also won two individual silver medals. The pair were members of the “80 per cent club” as one of only a handful of combinations to score 80 per cent or better at Grand Prix in the history of the sport.
