Susan Finnerty

ALL three British Olympic equestrian teams were announced this week and the final choice sees a mixture of experience and Olympic first-timers selected for Rio.

Expectations will be high after Great Britain’s best Olympic result four years ago when its dressage and show jumping teams delivered team gold at Greenwich, while their silver medal eventing team were denied a home ground treble by the all-conquering Germans.

With Scott Brash and Hello Sanctos ruled out, two other members of the victorious 2012 team have made the cut for Rio. These are Nick Skelton with his London horse Big Star and Ben Maher with Tic Tac, plus the hugely experienced Whitakers, John and Michael.

Both veteran brothers were on the silver medal winning team in Los Angeles where John rode Ryans Son and eight Games later, the 60-year-old will line out with Ornellaia, whose sire, For Pleasure, was on Germany’s Atlanta and Sydney gold medal teams. Michael takes Cassionata, his 2015 European championship horse, but there was disappointment for his Aachen teammate Joe Clee.

The last Nations Cup outing at Rotterdam, where the British team finished last, has proven to be highly influential as the travelling reserve place has gone to Jessica Mendoza and Spirit T. The announcement of the British dressage squad again sees 50% of its London golden team, Charlotte Dujardin and Carl Hester make the 2016 team.

As expected, Dujardin is named with Valegro and the reigning Olympic, world and European champions will have another gold medal firmly in sight. Hester’s good week, which started with the news that an anonymous buyer secured his London horse Uthopia for him, continued with his and Nip Tuck’s selection. Fiona Bigwood (Orthilia) and Spencer Wilton (Super Nova II), plus travelling reserve Lara Griffith (Rubin Al Asad) complete the team.

REMARKABLE RECOVERY

The British eventing team sees William Fox-Pitt, who has made a remarkable recovery from his fall at Le Lion d’Angers last autumn, as the sole member of the 2012 silver team selected this time around. He takes Chilli Morning and, having won team medals at the last three Games (Hong Kong, bronze; Athens, silver), will be aiming for another.

Kitty King (Ceylor LAN) and Izzy Taylor (Allercombe Ellie), both part of the silver medal winning team at last years European Championships at Blair Castle, plus Gemma Tattersall (Chico Bella P) will make their Olympic debut at Rio. Dual team silver medallist at Sydney and Athens, Pippa Funnell (Billy The Biz) is the travelling reserve.

From a breeding perspective, the best chance of another Irish-bred horse being selected for Rio in the latest team announcements lay with the British eventing squad, however neither One Two Many (Nicola Wilson) nor Gemma Tattersall’s other short-listed horse, Arctic Soul, made the cut.

This sees the number of Irish Sport Horses on British Olympic event teams drop from 80% in Hong Kong, (where Call Again Cavalier, Parkmore Ed, Spring Along and Tankers Town competed together with Tina Cook’s thoroughbred Miners Frolic), to zero within two Games.