Champion Townend misses out on selection

Oliver Townend – last year's Badminton and Burghley champion – has failed to gain a place in the Great Britain eventing squad for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.
By The Newsroom
Published 13th Jul 2010, 20:23 BST
Updated 13th Jul 2010, 20:23 BST

But a "completely speechless" Pippa Funnell has been recalled among a six-strong contingent packed with experience.

Funnell will join her fellow Olympians William Fox-Pitt, Mary King and Tina Cook in Kentucky this autumn, with 2009 European individual silver medalist Piggy French and European team gold medal winner Nicola Wilson completing the group.

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Yorkshireman Townend and Ashdale Cruise Master though, are non-travelling reserves alongside Lucy Wiegersma (Woodfalls Inigo Jones), Sharon Hunt (Tankers Town) and Daisy Berkeley (Spring Along).

This year's World Equestrian Games take place in Kentucky during late September and early October. The individual champion on its last running in 2006 was Zara Phillips.

Townend began the current season aiming to become only the second rider after Funnell to win eventing's richest prize – the 230,000 Rolex Grand Slam – which is awarded for landing successive Badminton, Burghley and Kentucky four-star titles.

But a crashing fall from new ride Ashdale during the cross-country phase in Kentucky almost three months ago saw him airlifted to hospital after being knocked out and suffering seven broken bones.

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Since their mid-May comeback, Townend and Ashdale won a World Cup event in Ireland and finished fifth at the prestigious Luhmuhlen four-star event in Germany, yet it has not been enough to gain a Kentucky return ticket.

Related topics:BadmintonGreat Britain