One horse eliminated and British horse among five held at Paris Olympic eventing first trot-up

Five horses were held, including Britain’s Banzai Du Loir, and one eliminated at the Olympic eventing first trot-up.

Austrian individual rider Lea Siegl will take no further part in the competition after Marianne Mühlböck’s DSP Fighting Line was spun when re-presented, having been sent to the holding box on first inspection.

The ground jury – president Christina Klingspor (Sweden), plus Xavier Le Sauce (France) and Robert Stevenson (USA) – did a thorough job and asked a number of horses to trot again, as well as sending five to the holding box.

The first horse to be held was Cash In Hand, ridden by Morocco’s individual Noor Slaoui and owned by her and Moulay Hafi d El Alamy. The second was Toubleau De Rueire, piloted for the Swiss team by Mélody Johner and owned by Peter Thuerler and Heinz-Günter Wickenhäuser. These two were passed on re-inspection, then the third horse to be held, DSP Fighting Line, was eliminated.

Swedish alternate, Malin Asai, was the next rider to find herself in the holding box, with Karin Berglund’s Golden Midnight. Tense moments followed for British onlookers when alternate Yasmin Ingham was asked to trot up Janette Chinn and The Sue Davies Fund’s Banzai Du Loir again and then held. Both Golden Midnight and Banzai were passed on re-inspection.

Yasmin Ingham and Banzai Du Loir at the Olympic eventing first trot-up. Credit: Peter Nixon

The British team horses – Karen Bartlett, Keith Scott and Laura Collett’s London 52 (ridden by Laura), Michele and Archie Saul’s Lordships Graffalo (ridden by Ros Canter) and Jo and James Lambert and Deirdre Johnston’s JL Dublin (ridden by Tom McEwen) – all sailed through the Olympic eventing first trot-up.

The other horses who had to trot again but were then passed were Don Quidam (Australia’s Kevin McNab), Figaro Des Premices (South Africa’s Alexander Peternell) and Bryjamolga VH Marienshof (Sweden’s Sofia Sjoborg).

The US made a late change to their team shortly before the trot-up, with Liz Halliday promoted from the alternate spot to replace Will Coleman’s Diabolo.

There was a late change to the Polish squad yesterday, with original team members Pawel Warszawski and Lucinda Ex Ani 4 dropping out. They are replaced by Jan Kaminski and Jard, who have moved directly into the team, with the alternate spot still held by Wiktoria Knap and Quintus 134. Jan also represented the nation at the Tokyo Olympics on the same horse.

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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.