A fortnight after announcing Dajara 4 as his riding partner at the Tokyo Olympics, Indian equestrian rider Fouaad Mirza has made a last-minute switch, choosing to go with his Asian Games double silver medal-winning steed, Seigneur Medicott instead.
The change in entry comes after Dajara showed signs of distress after a hard few weeks of competition and training. Medicott seemed to be showing better form and movement, thereby making a case to compete with Mirza in place of the mare.
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Mirza made the decision after gauging the form and performance of the two horses. Dajara will now not travel to Tokyo as the rider is permitted to take only one horse for the marquee event.
Medicott is a frequent flier and is used to competition routine. A ligament injury had pulled him out of action for the better part of the last two years. Dajara 4 is a recent acquisition for team Mirza, and became a steady competitor who looked set to take Medicott's place over his other horses, Fernhill Facetime and Touchingwood.
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Over the past year, Dajara has shown promise in show jumping, something Mirza has long considered an area of concern, however Mirza was concerned on how she would handle the long journey to Tokyo, given she is an anxious traveller.
“The decision to change my equine partner from Dajara 4 to Seigneur Medicott was a very difficult one. Both are champions, top pedigree horses sponsored by Embassy Group. In the last few gruelling weeks of competing and practice, I felt that Dajara had undergone a lot of pressure. I decided to go ahead with Micky who seemed to be moving better. He was my equine partner at the Asian Games 2018 in Jakarta when we won the Silver medal. Having trained with Micky in the last couple of years, I am confident that we will do our best at the Olympics.” Mirza said.
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