Andrew Nicholson and Nereo at London 2012
The CIC 2* dressage kicked off yesterday with several horses re-rerouted from the Mondial du Lion taking part. Michael Jung’s 2011 Six Year Old champion Fischer Rocana FST leads after the first day on a score of 41, Australia’s Bill Levett on Alexander NJ is in 11th place while New Zealand’s Caroline Powell riding riding The Earl of Belvedere is in 7th place. Another New Zealander and the world number one rider, Andrew Nicholson is in 12th place on Teseo but has his sights firmly set on the CCI 4* honours too.
Andrew has both Mr Cruise Control and Nereo entered at Pau, and he’s picking his bronze medal-winning World Champs and Olympic mount Nereo to finish at the front of the field – just ahead of Mr Cruise Control.
“Nereo is my best bet,” says Andrew, who was a key part of New Zealand’s Olympic bronze medal-winning team.
However, it is Nereo’s first start at Pau, and Mr Cruise Control was second in the event last year. The world number one ranked rider also gets the nod from Kiwi high performance coach Erik Duvander.
“He’s world class and could easily win on either horse,” he says.
Also competing at Pau will be Jonathan Paget on Clifton Promise, Caroline Powell aboard Onwards and Upwards and Mark Todd on Major Milestone.
“Promise has come back after the Olympics looking a million dollars and is keen to run again,” says Duvander. Promise It is not the only Clifton horse running at Pau as Australian Kevin McNab is riding Francis Stead’s Clifton Pinot in the CCI 4*.
The 4* first horse inspection takes place this morning as the CIC 2* dressage continues. Live scoring can be found at http://www.worldsporttiming.com/results/timing-650.html
For the PHOTO GALLERY from Wednesday CLICK HERE
FEI TV will be covering the event
