One horse spun and another withdrawn at final Pau Horse Trials trot-up

Hi Tech, the mount of British rider Xanthe Goldsack, was not accepted at the final Pau Horse Trials trot-up this afternoon (30 October).

The 13-year-old, who Xanthe owns, had been in 34th place after their clear cross-country round yesterday. After the gelding was sent to the holding box, he was re-presented, but the ground jury of Sue Baxter (Great Britain), Anne-Mette Binder (Denmark) and Xavier Le Sauce (France) eliminated him as he did not look quite level.

Xanthe, who is 23 and works full-time as a brand manager for Pfizer, specifically on the rheumatoid arthritis drug Xeljanz, was tackling her first five-star.

Fellow Brit Max Gordon is another rider who will not take any further part in the five-star competition. He was in 35th after cross-country with Marisa and Richard Gordon’s Redwood Clover, but the gelding was sent to the holding box and Max then withdrew him rather than re-presenting to the ground jury.

Two other horses went to the holding box, but were accepted when they re-presented. The first was Italy’s Rubis De Prere, who is ridden by Pietro Sandei and goes into the showjumping phase in 28th place. The other horse held was the USA’s sole representative here this week, Wizzerd. The 13-year-old gelding is ridden by Matthew Flynn and they are in 30th place after the cross-country.

Two horses were particularly sprightly at the final Pau Horse Trials trot-up, and so were asked to trot-up twice: Triton Fontaine, who is in third place with France’s Karim Florent Laghouag, and Tenareze, who is the mount of Britain’s Harry Meade.

The showjumping gets underway at 3pm (2pm British time) and 36 horses are expected to forward for the final phase.

You might also be interested in:

‘I’m very lucky to ride such a special horse’: British rider leads Pau Horse Trials after cross-country

‘She didn’t let me down’: Pau five-star leaderboard undergoes huge shake up after cross-country

‘We would jump 1,000 ditches a month from walk’: meet Harry Meade’s Pau five-star mount, who’s had a long road to top level

‘I’ve never really thought of him as a five-star horse’: meet Piggy March’s sister, who is taking on her first five-star since 2004

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