Scott Brash withdraws
WORLD number 1 Jumping partnership Scott Brash and Hello Sanctos have withdrawn from the individual competition at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.
Brash and his incredible jumper Hello Sanctos were the best of a luckless British squad which failed to qualify yesterday for today’s team medal contest.
GB, the reigning Olympic and European Champions, finished 18th out of the 31 teams here, but Brash, lying in 34th place, had qualified for the individual contest.
Team GB released a statement that ran: “The decision has been taken in consultation with the rider, Hello Sanctos’s owners, Lord and Lady Harris and Lady Kirkham, the Great Britain Chef d’Equipe and Chef de Mission.
“There is a lot of jumping still to do in the individual qualifying competition; a lot of ground to make up on the leaderboard and the likelihood of qualifying for the individual final, with the standard of jumping here this week, is not likely. With the horse in mind and looking ahead to the forthcoming Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup in Barcelona, next year’s European Championships and beyond, the decision has been made to withdraw the horse from further competition this week.”
The British Jumping squad has been beset with injuries to its horses over the last few months, with its London Olympic superstar Big Star, the ride of Nick Skelton, injured, while Ben Mayer’s Cella incurred an overreach just 24 hours before commencing her journey to WEG.