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Australian Equestrian Jumping Team takes shape

Jun 4, 2012

Australia's Equestrian team which will compete in London is starting to take shapewith another two horse and rider combinations gaining automatic nomination to the Jumping team overnight.

The combinations of Julia Hargreaves and Vedor and James Paterson-Robinson and Lanosso were the top two performing Australian combinations after two nominationevents and as such will be automatically nominated to the AOC for a position on the four member Jumping team. Already occupying a position is Edwina Tops-Alexander, who is the sixth ranked Jumping rider in the world and a member of the Australian team which finished seventh at the Beijing Olympic Games. The fourth combination will be decided by Australian selectors who face a difficult decision when they meet to finalise the team in the coming days.On his way to gaining automatic nomination, James-Paterson Robinson and his 13 yearold gelding Lanosso, also won the Bourg-en-Bresse CSI4* Grand Prix in France last night. The victory is among the best of the 32 year old's career and he won it convincingly after an emphatic display in a four strong jump off. After Friday's leader Amy Graham finished the Grand Prix round with three rails down, Paterson-Robinson knew he had to produce a clear round to gain automatic nomination.

The third member of the Jumping team, 26 year old Hargreaves, has learnt from the best in the business and is a former student of two time Olympian George Sanna and her now Olympic Games team-mate Edwina Tops-Alexander.

Six of the seven combinations contesting nomination were in action in last night's Grand Prix. One combination that didn't make the trip to the French alpine town was Wendy Schaeffer and Koyuna Sun Set. Schaeffer, an Olympic gold medallist in Eventing, withdrew from the nomination process on veterinary advice after her mare sustained a suspensory ligament type injury at the first nomination event.

Press release www.equestrian.org.au