Lucinda Fredericks has successfully coached the Hong Kong Eventing team to win their first ever medal in the Asian Games, winning Bronze
Following her return as Coach to the Hong Kong Team and a hugely successful bronze win at the Asian Games at Incheon, Lucinda is straight back into teaching, with bookings coming in for clinics worldwide and events to attend including Osberton starting this Friday with Emily Young-Jamieson who is standing in as a rider for Lucinda while she recovers from her broken arm, being unable to ride herself for at least another six weeks.
Since early this year Nicole Fardel-Pearson and Thomas Heffernan Ho have been based full-time at Lucinda’s yard in Little Cheverell, Wiltshire to train and qualify for the Games. Not only did Lucinda succeed in qualifying 2 Hong Kong members for the Games, as an Olympic medallist, she helped guide and shared her knowledge of major championships throughout the team’s stay in Incheon.
“Claiming Hong Kong’s first eventing medal at an Asian Games would not have been made possible without the assistance and guidance of Eventing Team Coach, Lucinda Fredericks. Last time we came so close to a medal, we just needed that extra push which we did this year!” expressed Nicole Fardel-Pearson (pictured below with Lucinda)
Lucinda added “The team have all worked incredibly hard. I am so delighted that the team medalled, the first time ever in the Asian Games History. I am also delighted for Nicole, this has been a dream of hers for over 20 years. I would also like to thank Tim and Jonelle Price for leasing Thomas their horse, Zibor. I have been so impressed with Thomas, a very talented young rider to watch for the future who did not know either of the horses six month prior to the games and qualified both of them for the team”.
An outstanding performance also from team member Annie Ho placed her fourth in the individual competition with Baxo, a horse also sourced via Lucinda and Clayton Fredericks.
In recognition of the Team’s success, the Hong Kong Jockey Club who sponsored the team, announced it would now grant an additional performance award of HK$30,000 to each member of the eventing team.
The Club’s sponsorship has helped the Hong Kong Team concentrate on training with Lucinda and prepared the team well for this once-every-four-years event. Team Member, Annie Ho commented “It has been one of the keys to our success in Incheon. I hope this medal will also serve to promote the sport of eventing to the local public”.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club commented “The Club has long been dedicated to promoting equestrian sport in Hong Kong and raising the standards of local riders. The HKJC Equestrian Team and Junior Equestrian Team were established in late 2008, following Hong Kong's successful staging of the equestrian events of the Beijing Olympics, which featured a Hong Kong representative team for the first time. Last August, it announced a further substantial commitment to extend its support for another 3½ years. New sponsorship elements and professional equestrian expertise from overseas including Lucinda Fredericks have also been added to enhance the standards of the Hong Kong equestrian teams and local development of the sport, including extending the sponsorship to cover the Hong Kong eventing team”
Photos courtesy James Pearson
