World number one eventer Oliver Townend and the owners of Ballaghmor Class have withdrawn the horse from Britain’s eventing nominated list for the Paris Olympic Games.
“As his preparation for a long-format event in the first half of the season was interrupted, we could not secure the final qualification for the Olympics without compromising his best interests,” Oliver and his team stated.
“This is so disappointing for the whole team, but Thomas (the horse’s barn name) means the world for us and at the end of the day, his welfare and happiness is more important than everything else.
“He is one of few special horses that has an Olympic gold to his name and while he will be aiming for an autumn 5-star, we hope that stablemate Cooley Rosalent (winner of the Defender Kentucky 5-star in April) will fly the flag in our bid to be selected for the Games. Huge thanks to British Equestrian, Thomas’s owners, our sponsors and the team around us who have showed unwavering support in making this decision.”
The British Eventing selectors will work with Richard Waygood to name a replacement combination to the nominated list sometime next week.