Horse and Hound Show Jumping Recap Also, Check out the definition of positive "spin." Oliver: "I am absolutely thrilled with winning the HSBC series."
10/25: Final Results are here, Dirk Schrade and King Artus wins with 48.5, and Townend has 31 SJ faults and finishes in 8th. Jan Byyny had 3 rails to finish the weekend on 113.3.
10/24 XC Recap: Oliver Towned leads Pau by 4.2 after Cross-Country. USA's problems continue at Pau, with Jan Byyny and Waterfront in 26th after 40 jumping penalties. After 20 jumping for WIlliam Fox Pitt, Oliver Townend has wrapped up the HSBC FEI Classic, winning about $140,000. With a rail in hand, Townend also looks extremely strong to win Pau itself, if Carousel Quest jogs well enough tomorrow. Full Cross Country Results. Horse and Hound XC Recap, Townend Wins HSBC Classic
10/23 Dressage Results: After the Dressage at Pau, Oliver Townend leads on 42.5, Jan Byyny is in 9th with a 49.7, and Alison Springer was "Elimne apres Dressage" for Destination Known looking unsound in and after the Dressage test. Alison writes in her blog. Dressage Recap and XC Preview from H&H
10/21 Preview: One big storyline is Oliver Townend's decision to run Carousel Quest after the horse finished 8th at 2009 Rolex, and 1st at 2009 Burghley. Pau is Carousel Quest's 3rd CCI4* in just over 5 months. This certainly runs against conventional Eventing wisdom, and perhaps just general common sense. Townend stands to win nearly $200,000 US dollars by winning the HSBC FEI Classic, and Pau itself. However, Townend risks considerable harm to the reputaiton of himself and his sponsors with a bad experience.
This is an article that talks about the amount of money Townend stands to win with a good performance at Pau and Rolex 2010. For reference, the conversion rate is currently about 1 Pound=1.6 US Dollars.
My take on Oliver Townend and Carousel Quest: the FEI might want to consider a rule against running in too many CCI's within a certain time period, perhaps no more than two completed CCI's within 6 months of each other.