Blyth Tait's win at the Kentucky horse trials yesterday, only four months after he resuming riding after breaking a leg, has left him with a strong team of horses in form for the Sydney Olympics.
Tait now has four horses which could command an Olympic berth after his young mount Welton Envoy won the Kentucky horse trials in the United States.
Tait, the world and Olympic champion, picked up $US50,000 for winning and was delighted at Welton Envoy's performance at his first four-star-level championship.
"Obviously I'm thrilled to bits," he said. "He certainly went very well on the first couple of days, but today he was a little jaded. He wasn't very enthusiastic about the job.
"But he got in the ring and got a bit of inspiration from somewhere - I think I might have been doing a bit of kicking. Both of us were trying to the max."
Tait was second after the dressage and endurance tests, and rode clear around the showjumping ring to put the pressure on the overnight leader, Kimberly Vinoski, of the United States, on Over The Limit.
She knocked one rail to slip to fourth and leave Tait on top.
Tait said he was happy to pick up such a major win, just four months after getting back in the saddle after badly breaking a leg in a fall at the Burghley horse trials in England last year.
Tait now has Ready Teddy, Chesterfield, Aspyring and Welton Envoy qualified and in line for Olympic selection.
Tait could ride individually, and on another horse in the teams event. Ready Teddy and Chesterfield remain his first choices for Sydney.
Welton Envoy is not a full thoroughbred, and Tait had been worried about the horse's stamina over the long, undulating track.
However, he said the horse would have learned a lot from competing at Kentucky.
"This was his first four-star and sometimes they're not experienced enough to appreciate what's ahead of them. He used himself up a bit the first couple of days through enthusiasm," he said.
"But he really tried and I think he will have benefited enormously from the event."
Fellow New Zealand riders also finished well. Mark Todd, the early leader after the dressage, was eighth on Just A Mission, also competing at its first major championship, while Silence completed the showjumping clear for Daniel Jocelyn, who finished 16th.
American riders dominated the leaderboard as the event doubled as their Olympic trial.
The chairman of the New Zealand selectors, Jim Wright, said the American horses had been particularly impressive and would provide stiff competition for New Zealand, the reigning world team champions, at Sydney.
New Zealand will need at least seven horses for Sydney, four in the team and three in the individual competition, as well as reserves.
Wright indicated that extra horses might be taken to Australia as back-ups.
He said no decisions had yet been made on how many horses would be taken to Australia, and whether riders like Tait, Todd and Andrew Nicholson might be allowed to have extra reserve horses.
Although English-based New Zealand riders are expected to dominate the Olympic team, Wright said there was still scope for riders here to force their way into the squad.
He said an outstanding ride at next month's Taupo horse trials would ensure a combination was considered by the selectors.
Tait and Todd will now return to England for this week's Badminton horse trials. Tait is riding Chesterfield, while Todd rides another newcomer, Eyespy II.
- NZPA
