Blenheim winner picked for Olympic team

The current Fidelity Blenheim Palace Horse Trials title holder – Piggy French with DHI Topper W – has been selected for one of the five places on the British Eventing team for London 2012.

31 year old Piggy French, from Leicestershire won the Olympic Test Event last year at Greenwich with ‘Topper’,  before going on to take Blenheim’s top CCI*** title.  She joins William Fox-Pitt who has three Blenheim victories under his hat and rides Lionheart on the team.  Lionheart finished a close third in Blenheim’s 8/9 year old (CIC***) horse Championships last year (and in the top 20, as an 8 year old the previous year).

The Queen’s grand-daughter, Zara Phillips,  who took the European Championships at Blenheim back in 2005, is also on the team with High Kingdom, another to have used Blenheim as a stepping stone to the top (finishing 7th in the CIC class in 2010).  Fourth team member, Tina Cook, rides Miners Frolic who was runner up at Blenheim in 2007 and Mary King’s Olympic ride, Imperial Cavalier finished in the top 40 placings as a relative youngster, in 2006 with Vicky Brake on board.

“We are delighted to see how the high performers at Blenheim have gone on to excel at the very top of the sport and wish them all every success at Greenwich.  It just goes to show how significant Blenheim is in the development of these equine stars,” comments Event Director, Mandy Hervieu.

You can see top riders from across the world and the potential Olympic equine stars of the future at this year’s running of The Fidelity Blenheim Palace Horse Trials from 6-9 September at Blenheim Palace, near Woodstock, Oxon.  For further information and advance discounted tickets, visit www.blenheim-horse.co.uk