The Australian Olympic Eventing Team Has Been Named as Follows:

(Where possible, qualifiers or recent placings will be listed.)

In pursuit of a record-extending 4th consecutive Tteam Gold Medal, the Equestrian Federation of Australia is pleased to announce the names of the riders and horses that will be nominated to the Australian Olympic Committee for selection in the 2004 team. Selection to the Olympic Team will be conducted solely by the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC).

The five riders and horses that will be nominated are (in alphabetical order):

Olivia Bunn and GV Top of the Line

Phillip Dutton and Nova Top (2nd, Rolex-Kentucky CCI****, 2004)

Andrew Hoy and Mr. Pracatan (1st, CIC-W*** Luhnuhlen (GER), June, 2004; 5th, Mitsubishi Motors Badminton CCI****, May, 2004) (Andrew and Mr. Pracatan are pictured at the right jumping out of The Lake at the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton CCI****, 2004.)

Rebel Morrow and Oaklea Groover (1st, Athens Format Class, Sydney International Horse Show, 2004 and Member Trans Tasman Team Taupo, NZ, 2004 and 4th Adelaide CCI****, 2003)

Stuart Tinney and Jeepster

(Pictured at left are three member of the Australian Team: Stuart Tinney, Rebel Morrow and Olivia Bunn. Photo courtesy of the Equestrian Federation of Australia.)

Reserve Riders and Horses:

Sam Griffiths and Private Colin (6th Mitsubishi Motors Badminton CCI****, 2004)

Matt Ryan and Bonza Puzzle (Qualified at the Strzegom, Poland CCI*** 24 to 27 June (Not the CIC-W at Strzegom) after placing 26th, Mitsubishi Motors Badminton CCI****, 2004)

Claudia Graham and Diamond B Vogue

Sammi McLeod and Enchanted (16th, Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials, 2004)

Stuart Tinney and Carrera

Andrew Hoy and Moonfleet or Master Monarch (6th Punchestown CICOG***, 2004, and 4th Saumur CCI***, 2004)

Andrew Hoy (45 yrs) will be competing at his 6th Olympic Games, which would have been 7 if it were not for the Moscow boycott in 1980. Hoy, who hails from Culcairn (NSW) but who is based in England, will be looking to set an Olympic record of his own with a 4th consecutive (Team) Gold Medal in the same event.

Phillip Dutton (40 years) from Nyngan (NSW) but based in USA, is aiming for a 3rd consecutive (Team) Gold Medal in the same event. A father of twin girls (born after the Sydney Olympic Games), Phillip has been a regular member of the Australian team since the 1994 World Equestrian Games. (Phillip and Nova Top are pictured at the left above jumping off the Island at The Head of The Lake, at the Rolex-Kentucky CCI****, 2004.)

Rebel Morrow (27 years) from Kilcoy (Qld) has made her first Australian team with her selection for Athens. A rising star in the Eventing world Rebel and her chestnut gelding Oaklea Groover signalled their talent with a 5th placing at the Adelaide 4-star event in 2003. Her selection was sealed with victory in the final selection trial at the Sydney Athens Format event held last weekend. (Rebel is pictured at the right, competing at the Trans Tasman at Taupo, NZ. Photo courtesy of Horse Magazine of Australia.)

Olivia Bunn (25 years) from Eurongilly (NSW) makes her Olympic debut having been a reserve at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Olivia was the highest placed member of the Australian team at the 1998 World Equestrian Games (Pratoni del Vivaro, Italy) as a 19 year old, placing 7th, a feat she repeated at the 2002 World Games (Jerez, Spain).

Stuart Tinney (39 years) from Maraylya (NSW) will be competing at his second Olympic Games having anchored the Three Day Event team to Gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, and ended up the highest placed horse and rider combination in the team event. Stuart’s horse Jeepster is the only horse from the 2000 team to be selected in the team for 2004. Stuart and Jeepster competed at the 1998 (Pratoni del Vivaro, Italy) and 2002 World Games (Jerez, Spain) where they placed 9th and 16th respectively.

The Australian-based horses and riders travel to England on 17 July and will be joined by the UK (Andrew Hoy and Matt Ryan) and USA (Phillip Dutton) based team and reserve horse and riders in a final team camp in Marlborough on 01 August. The horses and riders fly to Athens on a special horse charter flight on 10 August. The competition starts on 15 and concludes 18 August. A reserve combination will be flown to Athens along with the team horses. The reserve combination will be determined during the training camp in England. Team riders are only permitted to ride one horse at the Games and the reserve combination and any substitutions required will be based on the best available horse and rider combination eligible to compete in the team. Substitutions on veterinary grounds are permitted up to one hour before the first veterinary horse inspection scheduled for 14 August.

Australia has won the Team Gold Medal at the past three Olympic Games, which is an Olympic record. A gold medal in Athens will extend the record that the team created when it won Gold in front of home supporters at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. The Australian Eventing team is one of the most successful Australian Olympic teams having won 4 team gold medals (Rome 1960, Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000), 2 Individual Gold medals (Lawrie Morgan 1960 and Matt Ryan 1992), 2 Individual Silver medals (Neale Lavis 1960, Andrew Hoy 2000) and 2 Team Bronze medals (Mexico 1968, Montreal 1976)

The format for the Athens event includes all five team riders completing the dressage, cross-country and showjumping tests. The Team medals are determined by the scores of the best three riders from each nation. All five riders will, however, receive a medal. The top 25 individuals progress through to complete an extra showjumping round to determine the Individual medals. A maximum of three riders per nation are permitted to progress into the individual showjumping round.

Team Management:

Wayne Roycroft – Head Coach:
Coach of Australian team since 1988
Coach of the three gold medal winning Olympic teams 1992, 1996, 2000
Olympic rider at Mexico 1968 (Bronze); Montreal 1976: Los Angeles 1984: (Bronze)
Carried flag for Australian team at Los Angeles Olympic Games
Associate member Sport Australia Hall of Fame.

Jim Dunn OAM – Chef d’Equipe
Chef d’Equipe for Atlanta and Sydney Olympic Games
Chef d’Equipe for World Equestrian Games 1994, 1998, 2002
Chairman of Selectors since 1989
National Eventing Selector since 1985

Denis Goulding - Veterinarian
Team Veterinarian at Barcelona (1992), Atlanta (1996) and Sydney (200) Olympic Games
Team Veterinarian at World Equestrian Games 1994, 1998, 2002
Member of the International Veterinary Commission (FEI)
Associate member Sport Australia Hall of Fame

Heath Ryan – Assistant Eventing Coach
Assistant Eventing coach at Atlanta (1996) and Sydney (2000) Olympic Games
Assistant Eventing coach at World Equestrian Games 1994, 1998
Australian representative rider in Eventing and Dressage at World Equestrian Games