Just as France’s Nicolas Touzaint was scheduled to ride, at 9:23 this evening, Brian O’Connor announced that he had withdrawn Galan de Sauvagère, considered one of the favorites of the event after nearly winning the Olympic Games in Athens.

Team coach and Touzaint’s father, Thiery Touzaint, said the horse had been frightened during a thunderstorm the previous morning and fell in his stall. Since the horse seemed fine, the groom did not report the incident until today, when the horse didn’t seem right.

“It seems to be his stifle and is probably a ligament or tendon,” said Thiery. “It will require more tests, but I don’t think it’s too serious or that his life is in danger.

“I find it difficult to believe,” said Nicolas, who rode into the warm-up and made the decision to withdraw 10 minutes before he was due to ride. “All the conditions were there for us to achieve a favorable result. I did give it another try tonight, but it seemed to worsen.”

Touzaint’s team was already mourning the loss of Galan de Sauvagère’s owner, Girard Claudon, who died the day before the horse shipped to Hong Kong. “He put his heart and soul into the sport of three-day eventing,” said Thiery.

For the French team, the news comes on the heels of Jean Teulère’s withdrawal of Espoir de la Mare two days earlier, following an injury incurred while galloping. Espoir de la Mare’s injury is a fetlock problem, said Thiery. “It’s not serious, but he’s lame enough not to compete,” he said. “This is really a nightmare. We came in with great expectations and fabulous horses in great shape. This has never happened to me in my life.

“We still have horses to compete, but we lack a leader,” he added. “Our ambitions have changed, but we still hope to finish.”

Holder Stands Fourth

Meanwhile, Karin Donckers of Belgium took to the ring with the elegant Gazelle de la Brasserie and rode into a close second on a score of 31.7, just behind Lucinda Fredericks, who took the lead this morning on a score of 30.4.

“It was a very nice feeling; I felt I could do everything I wanted,” said Donckers. “She was 100 percent focused on me. I had a lot of confidence, and everything was smooth and easy.”

For the U.S. team, Becky Holder produced a brilliant test on Courageous Comet in her Olympic debut, scoring solid 8s and a few 9s, including on rider position, to stand fourth on a score of 35.7. Her flying changes were especially good, as were her half pass at both trot and canter, her canter serpentine and counter canter.

The action has drawn far more spectators than were in the stands at 6:30 this morning, and the atmosphere feels more electric, with the Olympic flame at one end of the arena and the large Jumbotron far more noticeable in the dark sky. Comet spooked a bit at the camera as he circled the arena but quickly got to work.

“I’m so, so excited for the rest of the weekend and pleased to be able to put in a solid performance,” said Holder. “Normally he’s a show-off, and I’d hoped [the atmosphere] would work to our advantage.”

She said she had a 10-minute ride early this morning, then mostly left him alone in his stall to keep him happy. “He was in a wonderful mood today,” she said with a smile.

Just after Holder took over the headlines, Megan Jones of Australia just edged ahead of her with a score of 35.4. “He’s been trying so hard, and while he’s been here he hasn’t put a foot wrong,” Jones said. She largely attributed her score to help from top German dressage trainer Harry Boldt, who has been helping the Australian team, but she usually trains alone and largely relies on videotaping. She bred the horse in her south Australian farm and has been his only rider.

“He’s unique, and I like to work him on my own,” she said.

Jones said living with a speech impediment has given her an advantage in terms of blocking things out and learning to focus, which helped her tonight.

Germany And Britain Advance
Hinrich Romeike thinks he may have inspired the Germans with his test, scoring 37.4 for sixth place. “The best part of my score is that it motivates them,” he said, after pulling the team up to third place.

The atmosphere seemed to help Romeike by giving Marius even more brilliance. “He’s never trotted like he did just now,” Romeike added.

Tina Cook was thrilled with Miner’s Frolic, scoring 40.2 for the British. “He’s only 10 and never seen an atmosphere like this, so what an exciting horse,” she said.

Cook prepared by putting marquis lights (her husband is in the marquis business) and riding around her arena at 11:00 one night.  “But it’s not quite the same as here,” she said.

She was moved to tears by the end of her test, in her first Olympics after two decades at the top of the sport. “I was welling up, actually,” she said. “It’s very special, and I’ve only dreamt about this.”
   
Riding For China
The sole Chinese rider, Alex Hua Tin, rode into 18th place on a score of 49.6. His mount, Chico, was only competing at the three-star level last year, so Hua Tin was thrilled with how he handled such a big event, despite a spook in his test when he first saw the TV camera.

“At the beginning of the week when we were allowed to ride in the ring, he was very nervous, so I knew I was going to have issues,” he said. “One big spook and then being able to go on is not bad.”

The gorgeous gray had lovely changes, and Hua Tin, who trains with Lucinda and Clayton Fredericks, said their work has rubbed off on him.

A protestor in the stands politely waited until the end of Hua Tin’s test before causing commotion, just as Andrew Nicholson of New Zealand was preparing to enter the ring.

Nicholson’s Lord Killinghurst was tense throughout his test and scored 44.6 to stand 12th.  Nicholson wasn’t sure if the protester set his horse on edge or if it was just the atmosphere.

“I heard the noise in the stands and thought they were going to call me to give them a hand,” he said. “They seemed to be having a bit of trouble. It looked like it was more fun up there than where I was.”

Hua Tin, who lives in England, said he didn’t know enough about the political situation to comment. “I’m hugely proud to ride for my country,” he said. “I don’t have the full picture of any political situation so I can’t speculate about that.”