Equestrian: Olympic star is top rider for Puhinui international

New Zealand's best performer at the Athens Olympics leads the field for next week's international Puhinui three-day event in Manukau.

Taranaki's Heelan Tompkins has two rides in the premier three-star competition, the English-owned Steele River and Bozton, owned by New Zealand's Olympic team vet, Tony Parsons.

Tompkins, who finished seventh on her 18-year-old veteran Glengarrick in Athens in August, represents the future for New Zealand eventing.

Former world and Olympic champion Blyth Tait retired after the Olympics, and longtime national team member Andrew Nicholson is less of a force than he has been.

Glengarrick will be at Puhinui, as part of a New Zealand team, and Tompkins has other entries in the lesser competitions.

The most experienced rider in the three-star field is former international Andrew Scott of Feilding, whose international career started in the mid-80s and who was in the gold medal world championship team in 1990.

Scott has two horses in the three-star, Mitavite Westella and Clifton Mitavite X-Factor.

The travelling and non-travelling Olympic reserves, Christchurch's Jonelle Richards and Kate Hewlett from the Bay of Islands, will compete.

Richards will ride The Straussman and Hewlett, second in the three-star class last year on the strongly performed stallion Internet, has a ride at every level.

Whangarei's Kate Wood, who was on the Olympic shortlist, has her first three-star start.

A cluster of European riders will be confirmed early next week.

A New Zealand team, made up of Tait and his Olympic and world games-winning mount Ready Teddy - competing together for possibly the last time - Athens Olympians Matthew Grayling, Dan Jocelyn and Tompkins will compete against an international combination.

There will be one and two-star competition for the less experienced combinations.

Other events will include polocross, endurance and pony club showjumping events and a new "showcross" competition in which horses and riders jump fences in the arena, do a small portion of crosscountry, and finish with more arena jumping.

With the Trans Tasman Trophy due for competition next year and the world equestrian games in Germany in 2006, the leading New Zealand riders have plenty of incentive to impress the selectors.

The event begins on Thursday with dressage for the one and two-star classes.

The three-star is on Friday, crosscountry on Saturday and showjumping on Sunday.