KEY POINTS:
Taranaki rider Heelan Tompkins will be looking to impress selectors at this weekend's World Cup eventing qualifier being held with the international horse trial at Kihikihi, near Te Awamutu.
Tompkins is one of eight riders shortlisted for Olympics selection and has opted to base her campaign on New Zealand soil. She hopes to prove that she and her mount, Sugoi, have what it takes to go to Beijing.
"It is certainly a new challenge to us both, but it will be an ideal competition to see how Sugoi copes with a tough international level track which is not too dissimilar from what I would expect to see at the Olympics," Tompkins said.
Tompkins, the best performed New Zealander at the 2004 Olympics and the 2006 world equestrian games, hopes that a good showing at Kihikihi will save her from having to travel to England to further her Olympic campaign.
