Breaking
News, August 11th, 2004: 
Due
to a training injury, in Greece, to The Wexford Lady, Sarah Cutteridge will be
replaced by the Travelling Spare, Mary King, who is already at Markopoulo Equestrian
Center, with her ride, King Solomon. Mary
King is 43 years old and has vast experience at the top level of  Eventing.
With King Solomon: 2003: 5th European Championships Punchestown
CCI***: 4th Mitsubishni Motors Badminton CCI****. 2002: 4th Burghley CCI****.
She has won the Badminton CCI**** twice - in 1992, with King William and in 2000,
with Star Appeal and the Burghley CCI**** once, in 1996, with Star Appeal. At
the 1996 Olympic Games, in Atlanta, GA, Mary had the highest score in the Dressage
Phase. (Mary is pictured at the left at the Burghley CCI****, in 2003. The
horse she rides in this photograph is King Richard, not her Athens Olympic mount,
King Solomon.) The
2003 Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing (the Rolex-Kentucky CCI****, the Mitsubishi
Motors Badminton CCI****, and the Burghley Masterfoods CCI****) winner Pippa
Funnell, most recently the winner of the Chatsworth CIC***; and William
Fox-Pitt, the 2004 Mitsubishi Motors Badminton  CCI****
winner, who finished fourth at the Rolex-Kentucky CCI**** earlier this spring,
and most recently won the Saumur CCI***, will lead the British Olympic Eventing
Team in Athens in August. (William is pictured at the right, at The Jetty,
at Badminton, riding Tamarillo.)
Great Britain won the Team Silver Medal at the Sydney Olympic Games, in 2000. A
squad of eight horse and rider combinations has been named by the Selection Committee,
to form a team of five with three reserves. Two
other members of the Sydney Team Leslie Law (Shear L’Eau) and Jeanette
Brakewell (Over To You), 7th at Badninton, 2004: will join Fox-Pitt and Funnell,
on the Team.
These four will be joined by Sarah Cutteridge (The  Wexford
Lady), who will be heading to her first Olympic Games. (Sarah and The Wexford
Lady are pictured at the left, jumping out of The Lake, at Badminton.) Mary
King (King Solomon
III), who chose not to run at Badminton, placed 4th at Badminton, 2003, and 5th
at Punchestown, 2003; Polly Stockton (Tangleman), who fell at the 2004
Badminton; and Bumble Thomas (The Psephologist), who finished fourth at
the 2004 Badminton; will be the three reserves. One of these three will be chosen
as the Travelling Reserve for Athens. In
addition to the squad of eight, another eight combinations have been named as
a second group of reserves. The
second group of reserves are Kristina Cook (Captain Christy), 39th at Badminton,
2004, after a slipping fall for Tina at the second last fence; Polly Jackson
(Limestone Rise), who finished 6th at Rolex-Kentucky, 2004; James Robinson
(Commanche),, 4th place at Badminton, 2004; Daisy Dick (Spring Along),
who was 11th at Badminton, 2004; Antoinette McKeowen (Two-O-Two), 12th
at Badminton, 2004; Leslie Law (Shear H20), who fell in the Lake at Badminton,
2004: and Sarah Cutteridge (Future Perfect and Exclusive Imp), Future Perfect
placed 12th at Rolex-Kentucky, 2004, while Exclusive Imp finished 10th at Badminton,
2004. Funnell,
ranked the number one rider in the world last year following her unique achievement
of winning the eventing Grand Slam, will ride Primmore’s Pride, on
which she won Lexington and Burghley last year. Despite a disappointing performance
at Badminton she will be one of the favourites to win individual gold and has
two reserve horses, Cornerman and Supreme Rock, should anything
rule out Primmore’s Pride. Fox-Pitt,
who won his first Badminton title on Tamarillo earlier this month, has
three other horses to fall back on, Ballincoola, 4th at Rolex-Kentucky,
and Coastal Ties, 10th at Rolex-Kentucky, in April, and Tom Cruise
II, who won both Luhmuhlen and Boekelo international three day events last
year, and the Saumur CCI***, on 2004.. Leslie
Law has been a stalwart of the British team since 2000 and clinched his place
in the squad for Athens with a superb path finding performance with Shear L’Eau
in last year’s European Championships, at Punchestown, Ireland.
Jeanette Brakewell and Over To You have won three European team
gold  medals
and won individual silver at the World Equestrian Games, in Jerez, Spain, in 2002.
This pair finished 7th at Badminton this year, after placing 12th in the Dressage,
from 80 starters, and will be one of the most experienced combinations in the
Olympic competition. (Jeanette and Over To You are pictured at the right, at
Badminton.) 30
year old Sarah Cutteridge, will be making her debut in a major international
championship although she has successfully represented Britain at junior and young
rider level. The former National junior and young rider champion has shown impressive
form over the past 12 months, most notably with The Wexford Lady, including
sixth place in the British Open Championship at Gatcombe and fifth place at Burghley
in 2003 and eighth at Badminton this year. All
five riders will compete in the team and individual competitions in Athens, which
will run concurrently. The best three scores count towards the team competition
and the top 25 individuals after the three phases of dressage, cross country and
show jumping will then compete over a second show jumping course to decide the
individual medals. However, a maximum of only three from each nation will go forward
to the individual competition. For the first time in Olympic competition, the
cross-country phase will be in the new format without roads and tracks and steeplechase.
The Olympic
eventing competition will take place at the Markopoulo Olympic Equestrian Centre
from August 15-18, 2004. Informatiom
supplied by British Eventing. |
