CHINA’s Alex Hua Tian successfully defended his 2023 individual gold medal at the Asian Games when again topping the podium in Tokyo, Japan last month, this time riding the nine-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Manjushri.

The Sligo Candy Boy bay was bred by Michael Burke out of the Ramiro B mare Ramiro in the Air. The pair led from the start when scoring 26.9 penalties in dressage. After adding nothing in jumping, they completed cross-country in 6:49, 11 seconds inside the optimum time, to finish the entire competition on their dressage score.

The victory gave Hua Tian a second consecutive individual Asian Games title after his 2023 success in Hangzhou with Poseidons Admiral.

“I’m just very relieved, mainly,” said England-based Hua Tian. “Obviously, there’s some pressure coming into a championship, defending a gold medal, but also bringing such a good horse like Manjushri. My main feeling was I just didn’t want to let him or his owners down. They’re such amazing supporters. I’ve had a good year, now I can just relax and be happy.”