Matt Williams is one of Australia’s most successful jumping riders. He has competed in two Olympic Games and one WEG. He has found another top horse in Valinski S. Last year, Matt placed third in a Grand Prix in Las Vegas with Valinski, before that the horse placed in good classes with Ben Maher. This year, in March, Matt and Valinksi were third in the $216,000 GP in Wellington, in a top class field (Ben Maher was 4th). So, given that this time around team management decided against head-to-head selection events, instead trying different combinations at three Nations Cups, with some less than encouraging results – only James Paterson-Robinson has shown consistent form with Amarillo – and preselecting, two riders, Edwina Tops-Alexander and Scott Keach, who were excused from the Nations Cup teams, so you might have thought someone would have had the intelligence to say, Matt, you stay in Florida, just up the road from Rio, and if you keep up the good form, you’ll be on the team.
No. Force him to fly horse to Europe, do an 18 hour road trip to a very third rate event in Poland. Clear in the first round, 9 in the second (effects of travel?). Just what did that prove? That Matt and Valinski should be in the team (but anyone could have seen that without all the stressful and expensive travel) and that the people in charge are not very smart…
Photo – Sharon Packer