Unfortunately not the official US Team gear for London 2012
Four pairs took one step closer to selection for the US Olympic team this morning by being asked by the selectors to stay at Jersey Fresh for Monday morning team vet inspections. As with the Rolex Monday morning vet inspections, the vets evaluate how the horses are feeling after the weekend as an assessment of their soundness for team competitions. The lucky Monday four:
Phillip Dutton and Mystery Whisper — 1st Jersey CCI3*
Michael Pollard and Jude’s Law — 2nd Jersey CCI3*
Buck Davidson and Ballynoecastle RM – 4th Jersey CCI3*
Sinead Halpin and Manoir De Carneville — 2nd Jersey CIC3*
As with Rolex, invitation to the inspection looks like it was based on results. The top CIC3* horse and the top three US CCI3* horses were invited. I felt that, based on their great results, Veronica (5th in the CCI3* with Karen) and Pawlow (3rd in the CCI3* with Will Faudree) deserved to be part of the inspections this morning. A few ridiculous thoughts on the four horses who were invited:
Phillip and Whisper: As Abby said on Sunday, bubble wrap this horse and get him ready for a plane ride. Phillip and Whisper have dominated three straight 3 star competitions. They won the Red Hills CIC3* by 13.6 points, The Fork CIC3* by 2 points, and the Jersey CCI3* by 8.8 points. This horse has all the tools and, with Phillip as his rider, is as close to being a lock to make the Olympic team as any horse could ever be.
Michael and Jude: Jude’s Law has been Michael’s top Olympic prospect all spring and Michael put together the right weekend with the right horse. Since Michael and Jude have not done a four-star together I still think they have some work to do to make the team. If they get sent to England with the short list I wouldn’t put it past Michael and Jude to come through with a big performance at Barbury and make it hard to leave them off of the team.
Buck and Ballynoecastle RM: After Buck withdrew two horses from Rolex due to his collar bone, he needed a good performance at Jersey to impress the selectors. Reggie has completed just four events this year with one prelim and two intermediates before Jersey. This is the type of spring path we would expect from a four-star veteran horse, but it put all of the pressure on this weekend. Buck and Reggie delivered and they find themselves right back in the team picture.
Sinead and Manoir De Carneville: We have been saying all along that this pair gets a ticket to London with a solid spring and they didn’t do anything to change that this weekend by placing second behind Canada’s Rebecca Howard and Riddle Master (speaking of tickets to London).
The Rolex Monday morning inspection list:
Will Coleman and Twizzle
Phillip Dutton with Mighty Nice and Fernhill Eagle
Boyd Martin with Remington and Otis Barbotiere
Becky Holder with Can’t Fire Me
Allison Springer with Arthur
Karen O’Connor with Mr. Medicott
Marilyn Little-Meredith with RF Demeter
I’m a big believer that the two major criteria for team selection are: latest performance and past team experience/performance. Right now, Phillip with Whisper, Boyd with Neville, and Sinead with Manoir De Carneville stand a cut above the rest in terms of US Olympic selection. The remaining two spots are wide open, but we are seeing a shrinking list of possibilities to fill those spots with the completion of eachselection trials.
Remember that some pairs who had a tough weekend at Rolex will get a shot to redeem themselves at Bromont. Just three more US Eventing Team selection trials remain–Bromont (CAN), Tattersalls (UK), and Saumur (FRA), plus a mandatory outing at Barbury Castle (UK)–before the US short list is named for London.
Canada’s high performance situation deserves its own post, but it is definitely worth noting that Canada had a great weekend at Jersey. Their 4 remaining WEG 2010 horses in the Olympic hunt performed great–Colombo and Selena were 3rd in the CCI3*, Riddle Master and Rebecca won the CIC3*, Gin N Juice and Hawley placed 5th in the CIC3*, and Jessie was 6th with Exponential. There’s no doubt in my mind that those four are good enough to bring home a medal. My concern about Canada right now is that, after those four, Canada doesn’t have a ton of four-star horses. Kilrodan Abbott and High Society rocked around Rolex and I’ll be interested to see the Canadian options entered at Bromont as the Canadian team starts to take shape.
Go eventing.
[Updated: Updated to add Jessica Phoenix and Exponential’s 6th place at Jersey and obvious Canadian Team Olympic contention, how could I forget Tucker?!?]
[Updated: Since Will Faudree could not stay in Jersey until Monday the US Team vets performed an abbreviated inspection on Pawlow on Sunday morning right after the CIC3* jog.]
