Tokyo stars start with wins

British team horses hit the excellent ground running in East Anglia, while a 24-year-old keeps local spirits high

- PIPPA ROOME

Poplar Park, Suffolk

TWO horses from Britain's Tokyo gold medal-winning team started another Olympic year in victorious form when Ballaghmor Class and London 52 both took open intermediates (OIs) at Poplar Park.

"The Suffolk people are very good at turning out for this event and it was humbling to see how many people were watching Ballaghmor Class's dressage test," said Oliver.

Oliver said the 17-year-old "Thomas", who belongs to Karyn Shuter, Val Ryan and Angela Hislop, has "never felt better and the nicest thing is how good he looked the day after the event".

"I don't know whether it's possible, but he still feels like he's improving flatwork-wise and he's the most reliable horse in the world in the jumping phases," the world number one said of the three-time five-star winner. "I'm very conscious of wanting to finish his career the right way, but to me he feels a long way off the inevitable."

"100% ON THE BALL"

OLIVER made it a pair of OI wins for his grey five-star campaigners by doubling up on the Ridgeons' Cooley Rosalent, who was third at Maryland last autumn. The 10-year-old beat some smart horses in the first phase in section G - including the eventual runners-up, world champions Yasmin Ingham and Banzai Du Loir, scoring 25 to their 25.9 - and held top spot with the fastest round of the day for 2.8 time-faults.