Find out which horses were sent to the holding box and which top-10 contender was withdrawn overnight after a clear in the time across country…
One horse was eliminated at the Pau Horse Trials 2020 final trot-up this afternoon (25 October), with six others withdrawn before the inspection.
Austin O’Connor’s ride Colorado Blue, owned by his rider and The Salty Syndicate, was sent to the holding box and then eliminated when he came before the ground jury – New Zealand’s Andrew Bennie, France’s Xavier Le Sauce and Britain’s Nikki Herbert – for a second time. The Irish pair had been in 11th place overnight after a clear inside the time during yesterday’s cross-country test.
Oliver Townend’s ride MHS King Joules, who belongs to Tom Joule, was also assigned to the holding box, but he passed on re-inspection.
There was also a tense moment for British fans when Mollie Summerland, fifth overnight with Charly Van Ter Heiden, did not appear at her allocated place in the running order. But she trotted up a few horses later and passed without drama.
Pau Horse Trials 2020 final trot-up: overnight withdrawals
The best-placed of the withdrawn horses is Jean Lou Bigot’s ride Utrillo Du Halage, owned by Florence Assar. He was eighth after cross-country having put in a penalty-free performance yesterday.
Three British horses will also take no further part in the competition having been withdrawn. They are Maria Doel’s Gortfadda Diamond, ridden by Emilie Chandler (20th after 9.6 time-faults yesterday), Rehy DJ, ridden by Yasmin Ingham and owned by the Davies and Janette Chinn (39th after 40 jumping and 27.6 time-penalties across country), and Conpierre, ridden Sarah Bullimore and owned by her husband Brett, Anna Ross and Christopher Gillespie (40th after 40 jumping and 42 time-faults yesterday).
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Emilie reported on Facebook that Gortfadda Diamond has an overreach, adding: “I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved this week, and I’m very excited about what five-star adventures may lie ahead!”
A second Frenchman is also out of the running with Karim Florent Laghouag withdrawing Triton Fontaine, who had 20 jumping penalties and 16.4 time-penalties on the cross-country.
And Sweden’s only representative, Anna Freskgård on Sophia Ericsson’s Techno, has also been pulled out ahead of today’s jumping phase. Techno lay 24th after cross-country with 9.2 time-faults to add to his dressage score.
With seven of the 41 cross-country finishers no longer in the running, 34 pairs will start in the final showjumping phase, which starts at 3.15pm French time (2.15pm British time). A 13-fence course has been laid out for the riders to tackle, including a triple at fence 9abc and a double at fence 11ab.
Three other riders – Alex Bragg (Zabreb), Tim Price (Wesko) and Piggy French (Brookfield Inocent) – are within one fence of overnight leader Laura Collett on London 52, so it will be a nerve-racking finale to the season’s only five-star eventing competition.
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Pippa is a true eventing geek and has been H&H’s eventing editor since 2005. She has first-hand experience of competing up to British Eventing intermediate and international CCI2*-L level, and has worked in the industry on a top event yard. Pippa enjoys nothing more than immersing herself in the sport at the highest level, reporting from the five-stars and international championships, including the Olympics.
