Equestrian Trio Continue Gold Medal Form

The Australian eventing team continued their good form in the cross country section of the three day event, remaining in a great position to challenge for the gold medal tomorrow.

West Australians Clayton Fredericks, Lucinda Fredricks and Sonja Johnson all contributed to the team’s performance which after the dressage and cross country sees the Australian team in second place overall, behind Germany.

The Australian combination currently sits on 162 penalty points, with the Germans just 3.9 penalty points ahead in the provisional gold medal position. 3.9 points translates into just one four point rail penalty in tomorrow’s show jumping which will ensure a pressure cooker atmosphere at the Hong Kong course.

Great Britain sits third 11.7 penalty points behind Australia.

Johnson was the best performer of the West Australians on the course today, with the Albany farmer posting Australia’s second best run with a time penalty of 13.6.

Clayton Fredricks was fourth of the Australians on the cross country with 16.40 but is second of the Australians on the combined score. He is also in medal contention in the individual event, currently sitting in fourth position overall with the show jumping tomorrow considered his strong point.

Lucinda Fredricks did an outstanding ride for the team, dropping time but going through the course without knocking over any jumps. She recorded 27.20 time penalties to be Australia’s third best rider on the combined dressage and cross country score.

The final section of the three day event will be held tomorrow night, with the show jumping taking place under lights in Hong Kong. It is expected to be broadcast on Channel 7 tomorrow night from 7pm.