Another gold for Britain?

FEI EVENTING EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS PREVIEW

THE unique situation set up by having both the Tokyo Olympic Games and this Europeans at Avenches, Switzerland, within nine weeks has led to interesting selection decisions.

A few horses will contest both events – notably Dutch riders Merel Blom’s The Quizmaster and Janneke Boonzaaijer’s ACSI Champ De Tailleur – who were both eliminated for errors of course on the Tokyo cross-country. But most countries are using the Europeans to give experience to up-and-coming riders or horses or both.

Nations can send squads of six, with four making the team and two riding as individuals, and in most cases will declare that split the week of the event.

Britain could have fielded a second team in Tokyo capable of winning gold, and one assumes the formidable trio of Piggy March (Brookfield Inocent), Ros Canter (Allstar B) and Kitty King (Vendredi Biats) will be at the forefront of Britain’s team effort here.

It’s anybody’s guess who out of Sarah Bullimore (Corouet), Izzy