So for Australian showjumping the final day of reckoning had finally arrived!

The weather continued to be unkind and as the course walk finished the rain began to sprinkle making it uncomfortable at best and soggy at worst - but for 7 Australians they had to focuss on the job at hand regardless of anything else going on around them.

Peter Cooke (Australian selector) arrived back from Cannes with a happy look on his face after watching Australia's golden girl, Edwina Alexander take second to World number 1, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum in the 3rd round of the Global Champions Tour and so we had almost a full complement of Australian selectors plus two Coaches and a chef d'equip plus supporters and owners - which led some of the Germans to ask if there were any Australians left at home!

Pictured left - whatever Peter Cooke was telling Chef d'equip Stephen Lamb it was making him smile!

Pictured right - Charlie Hooke, co-owner and co-breeder of Paul Asthanasoff's Wirragulla Niklaus gets a quick coffee before the start of play!

Pictured below left - Paul Williams, dad of the youngster of the Aussie contingent, 23 year old Matt Williams finds coffee a good way to keep warm while waiting for the class to start!

While Laurie Lever - pictured above right - found a good book and a cup of coffee the best way to relax before the all important Grand Prix.

So then it was finally time for the class - and the all important course walk begins proceedings.....

Pictured left - the family that walks together sticks together - Peter McMahon, wife Michelle and daughter Melia.

Pictured right - Peter Cooke and Stephen Lamb walk the course together perhaps wondering just who would be heading to Hong Kong!

Pictured left - Vicki Roycroft and Laurie Lever have a quick chat on course!

Vicki opted to not start the mare, Noblewood Blatini in the final class for selection as they were well out of the running after a not so perfect round on Friday, follwed by another round on Saturday which wasn't great.

It would be a hard decision having traveled so far from Australia but it was a good decision from a rider who puts the horse first.

And then it was time for the jumping......................

Adam Mellers and Paul Asthanasoff were running non-competitive as they opted to keep their horses fresh for this round and did not run them in Saturday's class - they were to ride as the final two riders in the class.

Laurie Lever and Peter McMahon gained qualification in Friday's class and by placing did not need to jump Saturday.

Tim Armitrano, Chris Chugg and Matt Williams (on his young horse) opted to jump on Saturday thus gaining qualification and so were able to jump competitive.

The 12 fence, 15 object track was not as tough as the previous selection track in Pforzheim but the arena and atmosphere add to the technicality for many of the Australian based horses, who are not used to things like dining tents hard up against the fenceline, for example.

The track sat at approximately 1.45m with some 1.50m fences and there was talk that this might disadvantage some of the scopier horses trying for selection - but at the end of the day, all 8 were playing on a level playing field and with a clear cut system of selection based on faults gained over 4 rounds it was going to be interesting to see what transpired!

First out was Laurie Lever and the big jumping grey gelding, Ashleigh Drossel Dan and they came into this final selection round as the front runner, carrying just 8 points.

Both in Pforzheim and in Aach Drossel Dan has had moments where he seemed almost too laid back and today coming into the first he again seemed to be a little slow of the mark and the 2nd fence fell which woke the horse up - pictured right - Drosel Dan made sure fence 5 with the liverpool was not going to fall but they did add a further four faults when a brick came off the wall at fence 6 - which left them with 8 penalties and a total of 16!

Peter McMahon and the wild child mare, KS Genoa - pictured left over the first part of the treble at fence 4A - came into this final round carrying 12 points so they had a fence up their sleeve to sit equal with Lever.

Everything was going great guns until the open water at fence 8 which seemed to catch her unawares and after an awkward launch at it, a foot in the water

cost them four faults in an otherwise perfect round with never a nail laid to rail!

KS Genoa - pictured again right landing after the second part fo the double at fence 9 - is a mare who knows exactly where all four of her feet are and she knows where the rails are - and most importantly she knows that the rails must stay up and this careful as a cat mare has an amazingly athletic back end.

So at this stage I would suspect that the on course selectors may have had a few beads of sweat forming - they had two riders on equal points!

Next out for Australia was Tim Armitrano who was carrying 35 points with him and so was really well out of contention for team selection - but it did not stop him coming in with Mr Innocent and giving it his best shot today but unfortunately things didn't go well when fence 2 fell, followed by fence 4A and fence 5 and finally a foot in the water leaving them with 16 penalties and an added 1 for time.

Chris Chugg and Vivant - pictured below left over the first part of the treble - were next to go for the Aussies and they put in an extraordinary round with the stallion never so much as breathing on a fence - and they came through the finish flags with one of what would ultimately be four double clears. They came into this final selection carrying 21 penalties and depending on what the rest of the riders in contention would do, he now stood a chance of making the Hong Kong team.

Matt Williams was next to go - and he came into this final round carrying 12 points equalling Peter McMahon who had added 4 points in his round - so the pressure was on Matt and Leconte6 - pictured below left and right - to jump clear or at the very worst with no more than one rail.

Matt knew the job he was there to do and he has developed into a young man with his head firmly planted on his shoulders - he showed no signs of nerves, which would have been fully acceptable and

understandable but there was none of it!

Leconte6 is a big scopey horse with a desire to get over the fences without touching them and today he again showed just how good he is - everything was going fine until they looked like they got a little deep to the brick wall and the horse just flicked a brick off the top gaining four faults - but that was the only mistake on course and when Matt rode through the finish flags he was still in line for a spot on the plane to Hong Kong as we now had three combinations all sitting on 16 faults!

So now the selectors must have been calling for deoderant as they had three combinations on 16 points and one on 20 - with one combination who could change the whole situation, still to come!

Next out for Australia and second last to go was Adam Mellers on the 10 year old Australian bred stallion Animate and they came into this final round with 28 points and so really were there for the experience as a team placing was unlikely - but the experience has seen this combination get better from one weekend to the next and no doubt they will be lining up for selection for the Kentucky World Games when both have more experience. Things today got a little much for Animate today and after a great clear round on Friday today saw two on the floor and a refusal at the second last fence for 12 penalties plus four added for time.

But this combination should not go away disappointed as the stallion has plenty in him and time and experience will no doubt tell a different story in two years time.

Last out and the only one who could change the scene, was Paul Asthanasoff and his home bred stallion Wirragulla Niklaus and they came in carrying 13 points at this stage. Today , however was not to be their day when they, very uncharacteristically, landed 5 on floor and collected a time penalty to finish on a disappointing 21.

Again, as was the case with Mellers stallion, Wirragulla Niklaus is a 10 year old stallion who will only get better with time and I would like to think that there is a strong possibility that both the young stallions will be well up to the job for Kentucky WEG. Today Niklaus simply did not feel like playing fair with his rider, who kept his head throughout the difficulties and kept his ride consistent and tidy.

So the Selectors, no doubt breathed a sigh of relief as they really had no decision making to do which must have been a pleasant thing for them!

At this stage it must be stressed that the following words are assumptions and are by no means to be considered official - the team will not be announced for some weeks yet - but according to the selection criteria, as stated on the National Federations' webs site one could comfortably assume that the horses and riders joining Edwina Alexander in Hong Kong will be Laurie Lever and Ashleigh Drossel Dan (owned by Laurie Lever and breeder Colin Gronn), Matt Williams and Leconte (owned by Y&A Young) and Peter McMahon and Kolora Stud Genoa (owned by Peter McMahon and Michelle Lang-McMahon).

Congratulations must go to all 8 combinations who worked hard to make selection and obviously special congratulations to the 3 top of the 8 - looks like the team will be two bays and two greys but we must wait for the "official" word to filter through from the powers that be, as there has already been some anger from the hierachy regarding media speculation on the Australian Dressage Team.

However it could also be remembered that speculation is what keeps people interested in a sport which, in Australia, gets little to no publicity, other than a couple of magazines which bring the news all too late too often due to long print times - publicity brings with it sponsorship and owners.