In a story that really illustrates the changes of fortune in eventing, Oliver Townend has withdrawn Ashdale Cruise Master from the British WEG team reserve list. Oliver cited his goals to focus on the Olympics as the reason for withdrawing ACM, and he gave a pretty interesting quote that “I was going to take Ashdale Cruise Master [to Burghley] as well but decided against that.” I have written before about the potential dilemma for the reserve riders about missing Burghley and then having to wait for Adelaide or Pau in November to get a CCI4* in this year, but it sounds like Oliver was just planning on running Burghley with Ashdale despite being on the WEG reserve list. I don’t like speculating, but in an attempt to inject some honesty into this story, if I was a betting man, I would bet that Ashdale Cruise Master pulled out of his four-star track for the same reason that most horses pull out of their four-star tracks.
The good news for Oliver is that he will return to Burghley next weekend with Carousel Quest to defend his title from last year. Many people would consider going to one Autumn four-star on Carousel Quest as a good year, but Oliver Townend entered 2010 with at least three 4* horses and looked like a lock to go to the WEGs. After his crushing fall at Rolex, Oliver now faces the possibility of completing just one four-star in 2010 (Luhmuhlen on ACM).
Between Oliver’s announcement today and Daisy Berkeley’s withdraw because she is expecting a child, the British team is left with just two reserve horses for the WEGs. Team Great Britain now consists of Sharon Hunt and Lucy Wiegersma to back-up Pippa, WFP, Mary King, Tina Cook, Piggy French, and Nicola Wilson. Could three out of eight horses go lame in the last month before the WEGs? Absolutely, which makes the USEF look pretty smart for naming such a long short list. Go eventing.
