HEIKE Holstein’s home-bred Olympic mount Sambuca was among the first group of horses to arrive in Japan this week, ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games which kick off next Saturday at the Baji Koen Equestrian Park.

Holstein’s mare flew from Liege in Belgium, via Dubai, in an Emirates SkyCargo Boeing 777-F and landed safe and sound after the 18-hour flight. “Sambuca looks great, she’s eating and she is really relaxed so that is a great peace of mind,” Holstein told The Irish Field as she boarded her own flight to Tokyo on Thursday morning.

It was the 12-year-old mare’s first time flying and Holstein had a nervous wait. “I had a friend who was tracking the flight on an app and she was keeping me updated. Pedens [Bloodstock] were excellent. They were really professional and very nice. There was some precious cargo on that flight!”

Among the 10 personnel on the flight were two vets, a number of grooms and German dressage legend Isabell Werth who always flies with her horse. A convoy of 11 state-of-the-art air-conditioned horse trucks, owned by the Japanese Racing Association, transported the horses – and 13,500 kilograms of equipment – on the final transfer from Haneda Airport to Baji Koen, owned by the Japanese Racing Association, where all the stables are air conditioned to combat the intense heat.

“Fraser Kirby is my groom and he said the facilities are amazing. He travelled a day earlier to get everything ready and he met Sambuca there. It was all about teamwork on the flight, everyone was looking out for every horse,” said Holstein, who will be joined in Tokyo by her husband, William Bell, before the competition starts.

Quarantine

Meanwhile, heavy floods and rain are lashing western Germany, where the eventing horses are preparing to leave their quarantine in Aachen tomorrow (Sunday) for Tokyo.

News channels are reporting over 60 people have died and more are missing following unusually heavy rain which has washed away and destroyed houses.

On the EquiRatings Eventing Podcast, Carlow event rider Sam Watson said he’s “never felt so well prepared for a championship. I have to give our team manager Sally Corscadden a lot of credit for that. She has had us doing a lot of cross-country, building a lot of complex lines. So I have to say I am feeling good, I am feeling ready for what Derek di Grazia [cross-country designer] throws at us.”

The show jumping horses start their quarantine in Aachen today (Saturday) and fly to Tokyo at midnight on Friday July 23rd.

Some 14 flights will take a total number of 247 horses to Tokyo for the Olympic Games, as well as 78 for the Paralympics in five flights.

Dressage kicks off next Saturday, July 24th, with the first of two days of Grand Prix action, which counts as the team and individual qualifiers.

See page 84 for a full dressage preview.