Grieving rider makesgames cut
Caroline Powell’s joy at being named when the New Zealand eventing team for the London Olympics is revealed tonight will be tempered by sadness following the death of her mother.
The Scottish-based eventer will be one of the five names read out when the team is announced in Berkshire, England, tonight, alongside Andrew Nicholson, Mark Todd, Jock Paget and Clarke Johnstone, providing their horses all come through a final vet check.
Powell will not be in attendance at the press conference as she wings her way home from Christchurch following the funeral of her mother, Ailsa Turner, who lost a long battle with cancer.
Her mother was a big supporter of Powell’s career and there will be plenty of people hoping the Christchurch expatriate and her star horse Lenamore can pull off an emotional win at the Olympics later this month.
Powell was the best of the Kiwis in Beijing four years ago, finishing 14th.
The 2010 Burghley-winning combination will be joined by inform world No 2 Nicholson, who will ride his top mount Nero, double Olympic champion Todd and Campino, rising star Paget and 2011 World Cup series champion Johnstone and Orient Express.
Nicholson yesterday served notice of his intentions with a dominant performance at Barbury Castle in Wiltshire, becoming the first New Zealander to win the CIC three-star title.
He not only claimed a runaway victory on his Olympic reserve mount Avebury, collecting the $8000 winner’s cheque in the process, but also finished second of the 110 starters on Quimbo.
Both horses finished on their dressage scores, 41.6 for Avebury and 49.8 for Quimbo, while Britain’s Lucy Wiegersma was third on Simon Porloe.
Nicholson has been a model of consistency this season and has been in contention in almost every big event he’s entered.
He’ll be delighted with his form, though a month is a long time in the world of equestrian.
Lucy Jackson and Animator II held on to finish in ninth place in the star-studded field.
Jackson should be among the Olympic team reserves.
Todd and Campino were in the mix but were eliminated in the cross-country after Todd missed a fence that was added after he had walked the course.