Well, the two big US spring 3-days are over, and we’ve learned a lot about our high-performance athletes as they all look ahead to the Olympics. It’s now officially time to start chattering and predicting about who will actually make up our Team heading to London. Of course, a lot can happen between now and then — but let’s go with what we know so far.
As we’ve dissected before, a number of horses and riders had good outings at Rolex– read all about it here. Olympic dreams got a lot brighter for Arthur/Allison, Mr. Medicott/Karen, Twizzel/Will Coleman, Otis/Boyd, and Marilyn Little Meredith. They all put in fantastic performances in all three phases, and have a legitimate shot for Team consideration. Peter Barry and Kilrodan Abbott improved their chances for the Canadian Team with an 11th place finish. [Rolex Results]
With Jersey finishing up last weekend, we gained a little more insight into other potential candidates, and concluded that if nothing else, Mystery Whisper is truly the real deal. Michael Pollard made a good case for himself with Jude’s Law, as did Will Faudree with Pawlow, and Buck proved the collarbone is no issue with Ballynoe Castle RM. Neville dipped his toes back in the FEI pool with a little dressage and show jumping romp, while Sinead and Manoir de Carneville proved that they’re coming along just fine with a 2nd place finish in the CIC***. [Jersey Results]
The Canadians had a competitive weekend at Jersey as well, with four 2010 WEG team members looking the part. Selena and Columbo finished 3rd in the CCI***, Rebecca Howard and Riddle Master won the CIC***, followed by Hawley/Gin N Juice (5th) and Jessica/Exponential (6th). The Canadians may not have a very deep list of candidates, but their top combinations are pretty strong. [Note: please let me know if I should add anyone to the Canadian poll… I admit to being less-than-informed on Canadian choices!]
So… who would be your team so far? We’ll let you select your top 6, to allow for your choice of an alternate (so you may select Boyd or Phillip twice, if you like).
