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Sue’s Olympic dream
GOING FOR GOLD?: Great Britains Mary King competes on Imperial Cavalier, owned by island resident Sue Davies, in the Barbury International horse Trial in Wiltshire earlier this month. PHOTO: Steve Parsons.
NO fewer than three horses will be flying the Manx flag - at least in spirit - at the London Olympics.
Sue Davies, wife of former Strix boss Eddie, will be dreaming of double gold when two of her horses compete in the Games.
She actually has a stake in two national teams - with Imperial Cavaliar being ridden by Team GB’s Mary King and Tinka’s Serenade being ridden for Ireland by joint owner Billy Twomey.
Meanwhile, Zara Phillips, the Queen’s eldest grand-daughter, has a place in the British eventing team and will be riding at Greenwich on High Kingdom owned by Andreas-based multi-millionaire Trevor Hemmings.
Sue, speaking from her home in Ballasalla, said: ‘It would be very nice to win a medal at the Olympics, it would be the icing on the cake. Unfortunately we can’t fly the Manx flag.’
She said she had driven past the Greenwich Park arena that will be used for the equestrian events in the Olympics only last week and was impressed with what she had seen. She will travel down to London for the Games next Thursday.
If either of her horses secure Olympic bronze, silver or gold, she says she will have a near-replica made of the medal.
Imperial Cavalier, a bay gelding which Sue has owned for five years, will be representing Britain again after winning team gold at the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky.
He has a second championship medal, having secured a team bronze at the European eventing championships at Luhmuhlen in Germany.
Imperial Cavalier is normally stabled in Devon with his rider Mary King, one of Britain’s most prolific equestrians. She won bronze with the 2008 Olympic team at Hong Kong with Call Again Cavalier, Imperial Cavalier’s half brother.
Sue has owned Tinka’s Serenade, a chestnut mare normally stabled with her rider Billy Twomey in Nottingham, for seven years. She came 11th in the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky and was a winner at the Gucci Masters in Paris last year.
Announcing she had been picked for Team GB’s equestrian eventing team at the London Olympics which open on July 27, 31-year-old Zara Phillips, whose parents Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips also competed for Britain in the Olympics, told reporters: ‘High Kingdom’s pretty pony-like, a nippy little jumper and easy to manoeuvre, so hopefully it will suit him well in Greenwich. [He] is owned by Trevor Hemmings, who has been one of my earliest supporters. He has owned a lot of my horses and has been so supportive, I couldn’t do it without him.’
• Do you have an Olympic link or story to tell? If so, we’d love to hear about it. Email newsdesk(at)newsiom.co.im.
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Weather for Isle of Man
Friday 24 May 2013
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