We won’t be seeing Oliver Townend’s 5* winner and Olympic team gold medal partner (Tokyo) Ballagmor Class lining up for the defending champion British this summer in Paris as the 17-year-old Irish gelding has been withdrawn from the nominated list.
“In full collaboration with British Equestrian Eventing Performance Manager Richard Waygood, Oliver Townend and owners Karyn Shuter, Angela Hislop and Val Ryan have made the difficult decision to withdraw Ballaghmor Class from the eventing nominated list for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games,” a press release from British Eventing states.
There is still a strong chase we will yet see Oliver in Paris, though, as he’s also nominated for the team with Kentucky 5* winner Cooley Rosalent, though the British are flush with depth ahead of a difficult decision to pick the eventual team of three combinations plus one traveling reserve.
We expect the final British team to be named next week, following some final runs from some pairs at Luhmühlen’s CCI4*-S this weekend.
“We are disheartened to withdraw Ballaghmor Class from Team GB Olympic selection,” Oliver’s team stated. “As his preparation for a long-format event in the first half of the season was interrupted, we could not secure the final qualification for the Olympics without compromising his best interests. This is so disappointing for the whole team, but Thomas means the world for us and at the end of the day, his welfare and happiness is more important than everything else.
“He is one of few special horses that has an Olympic gold to his name and while he will be aiming for an autumn 5*, we hope that stablemate Cooley Rosalent will fly the flag in our bid to be selected for the Games. Huge thanks to British Equestrian, Thomas’s owners, our sponsors and the team around us who have showed unwavering support in making this decision.”
View more of EN’s coverage of the Paris Olympics here.
