Phillip’s performance this weekend should not be overlooked. I haven’t always been a fan of the horse’s way of going, but he looked reasonable this weekend, and Phillip put up a decent dressage score and added just a handful of cross-country time to it. Sure, we’re getting bored of seeing his name on the roster, but that’s not his fault. He put up exactly the performance you are looking for from a team rider. Tokyo will not have a drop score, and I think people are seriously underestimating what that will do. Above all else, cross country reliability needs to be the priority of the day.
For me, as boring as it is, I think the US sends Boyd and Phillip, no brainer (no I’m not excited about it, but I think that’s what the facts say). The third spot could be Doug, Tamie, Liz, Lauren, or Buck - they all have their pros and cons. The interesting question for me is which horse Boyd gets sent on. QC Diamantaire, Mama’s Magic Way, and Off the Record won’t be going to Tokyo, but for me they made strong cases for consideration in a couple years’ time. Someone needs to start funding Meghan O’Donoghue.
On a personal note, while I disagree with the lack of drop score because I think it introduces more chance variation than is necessarily fair in our sport (one misplaced stud or thrown shoe and the whole game is blown), I do like how much emphasis will be placed onto good cross-country riding. It doesn’t matter what you can put up in the first phase. If your entire team can’t jump all the jumps on the first try, you won’t be coming home with a medal. It is stark how few teams have finished all their riders with no cross country jumping penalties at championships, even looking back through all of eventing history. This is going to be interesting (assuming it runs at all).
Loved some of the bridles I saw in the jog, saw some interesting and cool tack on XC including some pads and boots.