Fifty-four riders and eight teams go forward to the final show jumping phase at Blenheim today, with some surprises at the final trot-up
Fifth-placed French combination Jean Lou Bigot and Derby d’Estruval suffered at the hands of the vets on Sunday morning and were eliminated at the final trot-up. They were riding as an individual combination and therefore this does not affect the team placings.
The British team were less fortunate after their cross-country success. Leslie Law was forced to withdraw Shear L’eau before the final trot-up. The gelding lost a shoe early on during yesterday’s exertions, and looked reluctant throughout his cross-country run, although the reason for his withdrawal had not been confirmed.
His score of 54.2pen, as the lowest of the British team, was in any case being discounted at this stage, but the combination were decently placed in 15th, and would have provided a useful fall back for any eventuality.
Portugal and Austria were no longer able to scrape a team together after Saturday’s phase, with just one out of the four Portuguese riders going forward to the show-jumping. Austria, which started the competition with just three riders, could not afford to lose any during the competition, but Christopher Heiden and Ballyscartan Hero were eliminated across country, pushing Austria out of the team competition.
With the exception of Law, and Kitty Boggis, who retired before the water during Saturday’s cross country, all the British riders presented their horses at the final trot-up, and are preparing to show jump later today. With eight Brits currently placed in the top 16, Chef d’Equipe Yogi Breisner will undoubtably be looking forward to some good results on home turf.
