The U.S Equestrian Federation Ad Hoc Committee on Selection has approved naming McLain Ward with both Antares F and Sapphire to the Show Jumping Long List for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Due to the fact that Ward will not be able to compete in the selection trials because of an injury he sustained in January, the USEF selectors, in consultation with chef d’equipe George Morris and team veterinarian Dr. Tim Ober, voted unanimously to name Ward on both Grant Road Partners, LLC’s Antares F and Blue Chip Bloodstock’s Sapphire to the Show Jumping Long List for the 2012 Olympic Games at this time.

Per the USEF Selection Procedure for the U.S. Show Jumping Team, the selectors have the discretion to recommend up to five athlete/horse combinations for the long list before the conclusion of the Selection Trials. The USEF Selection Procedure for the 2012 Olympic Games Show Jumping Team provides the following language for Discretionary Selection:

An athlete/horse combination named subjectively to the long list may or may not have completed one or more of the selection trials. The selectors will subjectively rank any discretionary positions within the final overall standings of the selection trials.

At the conclusion of the selection trials, athlete/horse combinations will be named to the long list according to their ranking in the trials, in addition to athlete/horse combinations named through discretionary selection. The selection trials run March 21-24 at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, Fla., in conjunction with the USEF National Show Jumping Championship.