Chris Burton and TS Jamaimo fulfilled the criteria for squad selection with the win in Adelaide
Following the Australian International 3 Day Event in Adelaide, a few new names have become eligible for consideration under Equestrian Australia’s ‘2014 Normandy’ and ‘2016 Rio’ eventing squad policy.
Under the new squad selection policy announced in January 2013, combinations are required to fulfil the following requirements for consideration by the Eventing selectors. For the full interim selection criteria – click here.
2014 WEG Squad
Minimum performance criteria (but does not mean automatic selection):
CCI4* 50 penalties or less
CCI3* 48 penalties of less
2016 Rio Squad
Minimum performance criteria (but does not mean automatic selection):
CCI2* 50 penalties or less
CCI3* 55 penalties or less
CCI4* 60 penalties or less
Age restriction of horse 6-13 years
Veterinary assessment compulsory before inclusion on a National Squad
According to our calculations, the combinations that achieved this in Adelaide (and are not already listed on the squads as per the squads named in July) are;
- Chris Burton and TS Jamaimo CCI4* score 49.7
- Shane Rose and Taurus (age 11) CCI4* score 54.1
- Seumas Marwood and Wild Oats (age 12) CCI4* score 55.6
- Cassie Lowe and Koko Doro (age 6) CCI2* score 48.1
- Stuart Tinney and Annapurna (age 9) CCI2* score 49.3
The fact that TS Jamaimo is not usually ridden by Chris Burton makes for an interesting situation and we’ll have to wait and see what the selectors make of this when they next update the National Squads.
Shane and Taurus (above) are certainly no strangers to Australian squads, having been chosen to compete at London 2012 but were unfortunately unable to participate due to injury. Their result in Adelaide certainly puts them in contention for the Rio squad (and, as Shane said in our book An Eventful Life, he is certainly looking forward to competing in Rio, not to mention the parties!). However, if Shane's luck improves we wouldn't be surprised to see this pair in Normandy if things go their way in the next few months
Will ex-selector Seumas Marwood (above) wear the shoe on the other foot and now join the ranks of the selected? Seumas has been strategically campaigning the talented mare Wild Oats towards Rio 2016 and this result could potentially put them on the Rio squad but they could also pull the cat out of the bag in the next six months with their results steadily and consistently improving all the time at top level
Cassie Lowe may be a new face to national squads (and a very pretty one at that) but she has certainly been a strong performer in Victoria and has some very talented young horses including the three that were in Adelaide - Koko Doro (above) who won the CCI2*, Fairview Metallica and the Koko Black, who is usually ridden by her fiancé Rob Palm.
The six year-old warmblood Koko Doro is by the coloured stallion Jaybee Apache who in turn is by one of Australia’s most successful sire of dressage horses, Aachimedes. This stallion also passes on some great jumping lines through his sire Argentinus, while Koko Doro’s dam sire line of Chico D’Oro again provides strong jumping lines (and maybe the name), having won many Grand Prix and was long listed for the Montreal Olympics in 1976. It looks as if Koko Doro could be the perfect blend of these qualities, creating a top level eventing horse
Stuart Tinney however is certainly not a new face on Australian squads and was the best placed Australian at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky. After the cross country phase in Adelaide Stuart was in the enviable position of having two horses lead the CCI4* and CCI2*; at the end of the day, it was not to be but Tinney Eventing still pulled off a fifth in the 4* with Pluto Mio and second in the 2* with Annapurna. We’ll be bringing you more about these two horses – who are half-brother and sister – in a coming article but Annapurna certainly looks like a real star of the future, especially with Stuart on board.
