London in Rose’s Grasp after Win at Sydney International 3DE

Shane Rose and Taurus (photo: John Lechner)

Beijing silver medallist Shane Rose has the London Olympic Games within his grasp after winning the Sydney International Three-Day Event (3DE) today and he has one thing on his mind – gold!

After leading all three phases of the eventing, Rose today clenched the win with an impressive jumping phase on his number one horse Taurus.

With only five spots up for grabs on the Australian Eventing Team bound for London, selection is set to be tough, with today’s top five places separated by only two penalty points.

But Rose is hoping that his stand out performance this weekend has all but secured his spot on the team with his goal to go one better than Beijing and secure the gold medal.

“Getting on the team is not going to be enough - for me the most important thing is trying to do the best I can to get the gold medal individually at London.  If everyone (Eventing team) has that goal then we’re going to have the best team score at the end of the day and hopefully get a gold medal,” said Rose.

“There has certainly been a transition of horses in the last four years and there is a new batch of horses coming into form at the right time. I think we’ll have a competitive team come London,” said Rose.

Rose has been specifically preparing Taurus for the London Games, purchasing him prior to Beijing and making all the right moves to ensure he’s ready for 2012.

“This was my final selection event and my aim was to come in and win - I’m happy with that.

“I will give him (Taurus) a break now for three to four weeks and then he’ll come back in and do a specific program for London,” said Rose. 

Rose finished on 48.60 ahead of fellow Australian squad riders Tim Boland and GV Billy Elliott (50.20)and Emma Scott and Mustang (50.40).

Both Boland and Scott are looking to secure their first Olympic birth and pulled out all stops this weekend to finish on strong scores.

From here Australian team selectors head to the UK to see the Aussie based riders over there compete in the prestigious Badminton Horse Trials CCI4* next weekend. The Melbourne International 3DE CCI3* from 7-11 June will be the final chance for any of the Australians at home to impress selectors, with the Eventing team to be announced mid-June.

Final ten placings1 Rose, Shane (Taurus) 48.60_2 Boland, Tim (GV Billy Elliot) 50.20_ 3 Scott, Emma (Mustang) 50.40_4 Mason, Emma (F1 Pharinelli) 50.40_5 Jones, Megan (Kirby Park Allofasudden) 50.60_6 Johnson, Sonja (Parkiarrup Illicit Liaison) 51.60_7 Bates, Christine (Adelaide Hill) 52.60_8 Blundell, Natalie (Algebra) 57.20_9 Tinney, Stuart (Pluto Mio) 59.40_10 Barrett, Craig (Sandhills Brillaire) 64.00

Story: Michelle Cook/EA