Mexico Team of 2 Big Tour and 2 Small Tour Combinations Named for Pan American Games
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GUADALAJARA, Mexico, June 8, 2019–Mexico announced Saturday its team of two Big Tour and two Small combinations for the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru at the end of July where two nations will earn a start in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
The team, named after a series of qualifying competitions that ened Saturday, is:
Big Tour
Martha Fernada Del Valle, 30 years old, and Beduino LAM, 13-year-old Lusitano gelding (Dardo II x Urco) bred in Mexico and owned by Martha
Bernadette Pujals, 50, and Curioso XXV, 18-year-old P.R.E. stallion (Dominante XVI x Vinatero III) owned by Bernadette
Small Tour
Enrique Palacios, 45, and Tinto, eight-year-old KWPN stallion owned by Enrique
Antonio Rivera, 52, and Fite, 11-year-old gelding owned by Erika Baitenmann
Reserve: Irvin Leina, 33, and Pabellón, 14-year-old gelding bred in Mexico and owned by Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional
Bernadette Pujals is the most experienced international competitor on the team, having ridden at the 2008 and 2016 Olympics, the 1998 and 2006 World Equestrian Games and three PanAms, winning team and individual bronzes at the 1999 Games.
Antonio Rivera competed at the 1998 World Games and the 2011 Pan Ams. Enrique Palacios competed at the 2015 Pan Ams.
Martha Fernada Del Valle has competed three different horses in CDIs since 2016 but never outside Mexic.
Big Tour combinations receive a bonus of 1.5% in both the Grand Prix and the Grand Prix Special in the Pan Ams held once every four years. Big Tour combinations first competed in the continental championships in 2015, and at least one Grand Prix combination is required for a nation to qualify for Tokyo.
The United States is the only nation in the Americas to have qualified a team for Tokyo, which it did with its silver medal performance at the Tryon World Games last fall.
