The in-form Andrew Nicholson spearheads a strong New Zealand contingent in the last CCI four-star event of the northern hemisphere eventing season. Photo / Getty Images.
The in-form Andrew Nicholson spearheads a strong New Zealand contingent in the last CCI four-star event of the northern hemisphere eventing season at Les Etoiles des Pau in France this weekend.
It's one of just six four-star events in the world, and has attracted the big guns, including world champion
and Olympic gold medallist Michael Jung (Germany) and this year's HSBC FEI Classics winner William Fox-Pitt (Great Britain). Nicholson narrowly finished second in the standings.
But Nicholson, who was also second at Pau last year, has been in superb form recently, winning four big events in the past four months - the four-star Burghley International Horse Trials and the three-star Boekelo, Blenheim and Barbary Castle events.
He's also on the cusp of finishing the season at the top of the world rankings which would bring a US$50,000 bonus.
Nicholson has both Mr Cruise Control and Nereo entered at Pau and he's picking his bronze medal-winning world championships and Olympic mount Nereo to finish at the front of the field - just ahead of Mr Cruise Control.
