Tops-Alexander and Kermond through to round of 50

Aside from a single time penalty, four time WEG representative Tops-Alexander and her horse Ego Van-Orti produced a faultless round on the second day of competition. Their clear round in Tuesday’s speed class combined with today’s result has pair currently ranked 27th in the individual placings.

For the two time Global Champions Tour series champion, the results are in line with her main goal for these Games.  

“My goal is only to jump clear rounds.

“He jumped amazing (today). I know where I lost the time. I did one too many (strides) after the wall.

“He takes a lot of time in the air, that’s always my weakness with him. It’s a conscious thing that I’ve always had to think about with this horse.

“We just have to keep doing the same thing tomorrow.

Kermond, who is competing at his second WEG, had one rail down which combined with his one rail from yesterday’s round gives him a ranking of 48th.  

“I was very pleased with the horse,” said Kermond. “The course was an amazing course, really fun to ride. The jumps looked incredible.  

“I got a little excited after the wall because he was jumping so good. He’s got a really big stride this horse so I met the next oxer front on and cut my corner a little bit and then got a little close and he just touched the rail on the way back down.

“The horse is only a 10 year old and he’s done all his younger preparation in New Zealand and Australia and you don’t get many atmospheres like this at home."

For fellow Australians Amy Graham (Bella Baloubet) and James Paterson-Robinson (Boris III) 12 jumping penalties apiece in today’s second round saw them each finish outside the top 50, which means the end of their 2014 World Equestrian Games campaign.

With mixed results for the Australians it also means the end of the team’s event for the Aussies who will finish in 17th position overall.

“While it’s disappointing the team doesn’t get an opportunity to progress further in this competition, it’s pleasing to have two riders continuing on to the round of 50,” said Australian Equestrian Team Chef d’Mission Chris Webb.  

“Each of our riders has shown good form leading into this event. The platform we have developed both on and off the horse has been very pleasing under the new structure and I’m confident that the team can build on this as we work towards our next major competitions and Rio 2016,” he said.  

The third round of individual competition continues on Thursday.