G-Star, Ville Vallio’s Finnish team horse and 2023 Finnish Grand Prix champion, has been sold to Belgium. The Fairchild family acquired him as a candidate for Alexa Fairchild’s Paris Olympic team.
He is a 13 year old Dutch Warmblood by Delatio of Revanche (Krack C x Zeoliet) and produced by H. Rongen in the Netherlands.
Ville Vario
Finnish professional dressage rider Ville Vallio found G-Star in the spring of 2019 for owner Sanna Suominen through his previous employer, Henri Luoste. G-Star was relocated to Finland where it was ridden and competed for the first time by its owner under the watchful eye of Vaurio. Sanna also trained with Luoste in Germany, for example in the winter of 2019-2020.
Sanna, an orthodontist by profession, decided to give Vario the G-Star ride in order to further establish himself at the Grand Prix level. In October 2022, the horse competed in the National Grand Prix class for the first time, and in March 2023, he made his debut at the International Grand Prix level at CDI Ipaya, where he finished second in the Grand Prix with a score of 70.022%. From there they progressed to the CDI in Pärnu (EST), where they won the Grand Prix, followed by the 2023 Nordic-Baltic Championships in Drammen (NOR), where they placed second in the Grand Prix and won the Freestyle .
Barrio and G-Star have been named team reserve pair for the 2023 European Championships in Riesenbeck after winning the Finnish Grand Prix Championship undefeated in Grand Prix (70.696%) and Freestyle (74.895%). Reserve rider Baurio was able to make his championship debut when the Finnish team selected Henri Luosti and dropped Campari from the European team. At the 2023 European Championships in Riesenbeck, he finished 50th in the Grand Prix with 67.981%.
Sold to Belgium as fair play
Finland appear to have secured a spot at the 2024 Paris Olympics with their combined team, but G-Star remains in Germany with Henri Luoste due to the sale. The horse found a new owner in Belgian Grand Prix rider Alexa Fairchild and was renamed Fairplay.
Fairchild is an experienced Belgian team rider. From ponies to young riders, she represented Belgium in nine (!) European Championships. In 2020, they acquired Grand Prix principal Davanos D’O4 and guided her from the under-25s to the senior ranks. In 2021, the Belgian Equestrian Federation named Fairchild and Dabanos as reserve athletes for the Tokyo traveling team. This experience ignited Alexa’s passion for her second Olympics in Paris. They represented Belgium at the 2021 European Dressage Championships in Hagen and placed 62nd in the Grand Prix with 65.047%. From 2020 to 2022, they finished 5th, 4th and 8th in the Belgian Grand Prix Championship. Davanos retired from top-level sport in 2023 at the age of 20.
Over the past two years, the Fairchild family has invested heavily in young dressage horses.they bought nacho (by Secret x Tango) won the 2022 Belgian Young Horse Championship under trainer Larissa Pauluis and the 2023 Championship with Alexa in the saddle. He was ridden by assistant rider Margaux Nicolai. odin 4-year-old challenger for the 2023 World Young Horse Championship (by First Toto x United). Also acquired a KWPN certified stallion. Ladignac (From Zonik x Apache) Horses gelded to focus on sports and up-and-coming Grand Prix horses Hermes of Mala Scala A work by Alizee Froment (originally named Habil MT, by Assírio d’Atela x Quarteto da Brôa), where she twice scored over 70% in the Belgian national show. They made their CDI debut at Le Mans in October, scoring 65.261% in the Grand Prix.
Fairchild trains with Larissa Pauluis and Norbert van Laak.
olympic fire
Along with Hermès and Fairplay, Alexa will receive two irons as a candidate for the Paris Olympics.
“Alexa has been looking for a second GP horse for two years now and the results have been fantastic,” the Fairchild family told Eurodressage. “Alexa will be competing in tandem with Fairplay and Hermès at Mala Scala this season. She is very excited and excited about this season.”
Professional fashion designer Alexa Fairchild has won a pitch from the Belgian Olympic Committee (BOIC) to design the costumes for the Belgian team for the 2024 Paris Olympics. She premiered her collection at a major fashion show at Zaventem Airport in December.
Photo © Astrid Appels
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