One horse eliminated at Olympic eventing final trot-up, plus two teams substitute horses

Polish team horse Fantastic Frieda, ridden by Joanna Pawlak, was sent to the holding box at the Olympic eventing final trot-up this morning at the Tokyo Games and then eliminated on re-inspection.

The Polish team only had three horses forward, because Pawel Spisak’s ride Banderas was eliminated at the Tokyo Olympics first trot-up. The Polish team will therefore only have two horses showjumping and will have to include a score of 100 for their third team member in this final phase.

The horses from all the major nations in medal contention were presented and accepted, including the British contenders.

Karyn Schuter, Angela Hislop and Val Ryan’s Ballaghmor Class (ridden by Oliver Townend), Karen Bartlett, Keith Scott’s and Laura Collett’s London 52 (ridden by Laura) and Fred and Penny Barker, Jane Inns and Ali McEwen’s Toledo De Kerser (ridden by Tom McEwen) looked well and will go forward to the showjumping this afternoon.

British alternate Ros Canter presented her own and Carolline Moore’s Allstar B, but is not expected to take part in the competition now.

With the new Olympic rules around substitutions coming into play, the Olympic eventing final trot-up was fairly confusing.

Thailand’s first rider across country yesterday, Arinadtha Chavatanont, was eliminated for a horse fall so she could not present Boleybawn Prince to continue today. However her two team-mates, Weerapat Pitakanonda (Carnival March) and Korntawat Samran (Bonero K), could have come forward after being eliminated for a rider fall and three refusals, but chose to withdraw. The Thai team will carry 100 penalties for each of the three riders in the showjumping in the final team standings.

Swiss alternate rider Eveline Bodenmüller (Violine De La Brasserie) will jump in place of Jet Set, the ride of Robin Godel who was sadly put down after the cross-country. The Swiss team will therefore add 20 penalties to their score for a substitution.

Sweden chose to substitute Sara Algotsson-Ostholt (Chicuelo) into their team yesterday to run instead of Ludwig Svennerstål (Balham Mist) but she then withdrew before her starting time, by which time the Swedish team was out of contention because the first two riders failed to finish the course. However, it does look like Sara intends to showjump today as she trotted up Chicuelo. The Swedish team score already carries the 20 penalties for Sara’s substitution.

Two Brazilian horses were withdrawn overnight – Marcelo Tosi’s Glenfly, who jumped clear with 8.8 time-faults, and Rafael Losano’s Fuiloda G, who was pulled up after tiring on course. Brazilian alternate Marcio Appel Cheuiche trotted up Iberon Jmen and has stated he intends to showjump and then retire the 19-year-old horse from competition. The Brazilian team will take 20 penalties for a substitution, plus as they will only field two in the showjumping (Carlos Paro on Goliath, plus Marcio), they will have 100 penalties on their score for the third rider in this phase.

Individual riders from Belarus and South Africa also withdrew before the inspection, with Alexandre Zelenko pulling out Carlo Grande and Victoria Scott-Legendre taking no further part with Valtho Des Peupliers.

You might also be interested in:

Britain holds team gold and two individual medals after Olympic eventing cross-country

Olympic eventing first trot-up pictures: all the British horses plus orange jumpsuits, a straw hat and more

‘It was fast and furious’: top riders share their thoughts on the Tokyo cross-country course

‘The bottom line is that he wants to do his job more than most horses’: Oliver Townend rides fabulous cross-country clear in Tokyo

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Pippa Roome

H&H magazine editor and eventing editor

Pippa is a true eventing geek and has been H&H’s eventing editor since 2005. She has first-hand experience of competing up to British Eventing intermediate and international CCI2*-L level, and has worked in the industry on a top event yard. Pippa enjoys nothing more than immersing herself in the sport at the highest level, reporting from the five-stars and international championships, including the Olympics.