In a letter sent out to all Rolex 2009 volunteers, Rolex's fantastic Eventing Director, Jane Atkinson says:
"While we've been thinking that we'd have no riders from "accross the pond" next year [at Rolex] because of the WEG Eventing World Championships, it's definite that Ollie, considered a strong contender for the British Team, will be here. He has already asked how many horses he may ride (4 was my answer)."Townend stands to win the $350,000 Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing with a win at Rolex.
Ridiculous commentary: I can't imagine why anyone would anticipate that Ollie would skip Rolex. Heck, with Badminton the next week, he will probably just take the same horses to Badders just to make sure they are properly prepped for the WEGs. Because, you know, the modern event horse is trained differently than the long-format horse and peaks more frequently, right? Ollie can use his winnings to buy horses that are not broken down anyhow so who cares? Pretty soon they will have to add a 4 star to the schedule just to make sure Ollie can get enough runs in on all of his horses.
Note: Please consider volunteering at Rolex or the WEGs. Ms. Atkinson mentions in the letter that anyone interested in volunteering for the WEGs should go to the WEG site.
Are Ollie and Zara an item????