Oliver Townend and Ballaghmor Class lead after day 1 of the eventing dressage phase at Tokyo.

© FEI/Libby Law Photography

Day 1 of the eventing dressage phase is now complete at Tokyo

By Equestrian Life

Australians Kevin McNab riding Don Quidam and Shane Rose riding Virgil have produced lovely tests on the first day of the eventing dressage phase at Tokyo.

With two thirds of the competitors having now completed the dressage phase, Shane Rose is currently in 17th place and Kevin McNab holds provisional 18th place in the individual standings, while the Australian team is currently in 10th position. The third rider for the Australian team, Andrew Hoy will ride down the centre line at his 8th Olympics on Saturday morning in Session 3 of the eventing dressage phase.

Riding in Session 2 this evening, the elegant combination of Kevin McNab and Don Quidam received the following scores from the three judges to score 32.10 penalties:

E   67.05% (18)
C   69.09% (15)
M  67.73% (20)

Earlier today during Session 1, Shane Rose and Virgil showed their experience, receiving the following scores from the three judges to score 31.70 penalties:

E   65.23% (27)
C   70.23% (10)
M  69.55% (13)

Shane Rose and Virgil.

© FEI - Libby Law Photography

World number 1 Oliver Townend has retained his early lead heading into the second day of the dressage phase, riding Ballaghmor Class for Great Britain to score 23.60 penalties. China’s Alex Hua Tin is hot on his heels riding Don Geniro on 23.90 penalties, while Germany’s Julia Krajewski and Amande De b’Neville are in third place on 25.20 penalties.

Alex Hua Tian and Don Geniro are in second place after the 1st day of dressage. 

© FEI/Libby Law Photography

Going second in the first of today’s two sessions, with a further 20 horse-and-rider combinations to go tomorrow morning, 38-year-old Townend, who is a triple European team gold medallist, produced what he described as “a very safe test” for a score of 23.6 with the Irish-bred grey, Ballaghmor Class.

Oliver Townend and Ballaghmor Class

© FEI/Christophe Taniere

Team-mate, Laura Collett, then backed that up with a score of 25.80 for overnight fourth place individually with London 52, but she wasn’t overly pleased with her own performance. “He’s been phenomenal all year and I was aiming for (a score of) 21/22. This year he’s been very close to Ballaghmor Class, but unfortunately it didn’t come off today”, said the rider who, with the same horse, won the CCI5*-L at Pau, France last October.

The short action-packed dressage test, specially created for these Olympic Games, takes just 3.5 minutes to complete and, underlining the quality of the field, a total of seven combinations scored below 30 during this morning’s first session. Three more joined that elite group as the day progressed and amongst them was India’s Fouad Mirza riding the experienced 15-year-old gelding Seigneur that competed so successfully for Germany’s Bettina Hoy. “I’m so lucky to ride such a great horse, he’s a gentleman in every sense, kind and honest”, said the athlete who is only the third rider from his country to compete in Olympic Eventing.

Great Britain are clear leaders in the team combination after Day 1 of the dressage phase scoring just 49.40 penalties. Second placed Sweden are 6.70 penalties behind on 56.10 penalties and Japan are currently in third on 58.60 penalties, ahead of China in fourth on 59.10 penalties. Sweden, Japan and China are perhaps not the nations eventing enthusiasts expected to see ahead of Germany (provisional 5th), New Zealand (provisional 6th) or United States of America (provisional 9th)!

With the final representative for each nation to perform their dressage tests on Saturday morning, further changes to the team and individual leaderboards are expected. All Australian eyes will be on Andrew Hoy and Vassily de Lassos, as the stalwart of the Australian eventing team enters the arena at his 8th Olympics. At 62 years old, Hoy is the oldest rider in the field.

Session 3 commences at 9:30am AEST, with Andrew Hoy and Vassily de Lassos in action at 10:46am AEST.

 
View the results here.

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