HORSE DEALS COVERAGE 2008 Beijing Olympics, Hong Kong

Irish Individual, Denis Lynch with the talented Landkoenig gelding, 'Lantinus'. With just one time penalty in each round, Lynch is in provisional equal fourth place with two penalties. They are pictured over fence ten, the Summer Palace Doors.

Peter McMahon and 'Genoa' were first out for Australia and jumped around with 16 penalties,again one of which was a foot on the tape at the open water. At fence four the Bamboo water was set on a difficult six stride angled line from fence three, the Great Wall and Gongs vertical. They jumped very well and the best news is the Australian Team get another run tomorrow.

US Team rider, Mclain Ward and the sensational Darco mare, 'Sapphire' make a beautiful jump out of 6ab The Paper Windows. After two rounds Ward leads the field on zero penalties. The US Team is currently in equal first place (along with Switzerland) on 12 penalties,.

Tomorrow was certainly another day. The first round of the Teams competition was a serious 1.60m Olympic track, as one would expect. The amazingly beautiful fences are very light and require just the slightest touch to fall. Laurie Lever and Drossel Dan finished the course with 16 penalties, and one of them just barely touching the tape after the water. They are mid field at 37th after two Individual rounds. Laurie and Dan are pictured over the Opera Motives vertical at fence two.

Edwina Alexander is sitting pretty and right in the middle of 'Itot du Chateau', doing what they do best and that is jump clear rounds. Itot and Edwina posted one of just five clear rounds (from 74 horses) to lead Australia into eighth place (from 16 Teams) and a run in the second round of the Teams competition tomorrow. Only the top eight teams go through to the second round. Australia finished the first round of the Teams competition, the same score as Germany. (No this is not a typo!). They are pictured in the middle of the treble 11abc, Chinese Characters. This treble combination caught 35 of the 74 starters.

Australia's Matt Williams has a serious look of determination on his face jumping into 6ab, the Paper Windows double. And isn't 'Leconte' jumping the hell out of this fence. They posted a fabulous round for just four penalties, at the very last fence, a 1.60m Dragon Boat Liverpool. Matt is currently in equal 16th place, ahead of some of the huge names in jumping.

The Sha Tin Stadium with the course set by co designers, Leopoldo Palacios from Venezuela and Steve Stephens from the USA. The competition does not start until dark and is under lights.

Perhaps it was the time Belgian Individuals, Jos Lansink and 'Cumano' spent in the air over the Bamboo Water the caused the one time penalty they incurred in the second Individual Qualifier. After two individual Qualifiers they are in provisional fourth place.

Taizo Sugitani, an Individual rider from Japan with the wonderful Calido mare, 'California'. Although they incurred 16 penalties they were far from disgraced. After the two Individual Qualifying rounds, they are in equal 37th place.

New Zealand's Katie McVean had tough job in front of her with "Forest'. The difficult horse took some strong riding to get around the second Qualifier and Katie did a super job, However, it was at the expense of a few rails. They are pictured over the 1.60m Ching Ma Bridge.

Kirk Webby and the Nonstop mare, 'Sitah' were the best of the New Zealand Team. They jumped with four penalties in the first round and eight in the second to be in provisional equal 30th place at this stage of the competition.

Riding for the Ukraine, Jean Claude van Geenberghe jumped five and eight with the Belgian stallion, 'Quintus' to be in provisional 33rd place after two Individual rounds. The Ukraine is in 12th place after the first round of the Teams competition.

The European Champions, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and 'Shutterfly' look superb as always, However, that did not prevent them from lowering the catchy 1,51m x 1.60m wide 11b. They are Individually in equal 26th place with a two round total of 10. The German Team just made the cut for the second round of the Teams, on 20 penalties, equal eighth with Australia.

Samantha Lam riding 'Tresor' for the Hong Kong Team look super coming into the double 6ab, The Paper Windows.

Swedish based New Zealand Team member, Bruce Goodin with the Hungarian bred, 'Yamato' over the Great Wall and Gongs 1.57m vertical at fence three.. They jumped around the second qualifier with 12 penalties to finish the two Individual Qualifiers in equal 54th place with a total of 26 penalties. The New Zeaqland Team finished in 14th place.

China's Zhenqiang Li with the wonderful Jus de Pomme stallion, 'Jumpy des Fontaines' (a great name) over the spectacular 1.60m Dancing Lion planks.

Saudi Arabian Team member, Ramzy Al Duhami, with one of the best jumpers in the competition so far, the Quidam de Revel gelding, 'Allah Jabek'. Just sensational. With just two time penalties in the first Individual round and five penalties in the second round, they are in provisional 15th place after the two Qualifiers.

Who would have thought that Ludger Beerbaum and 'All Inclusive; would have been in equal 40th place after two individual rounds? A foot in the water and 11a down in the second Individual Qualifier had the talented pair on 18 penalties after the two rounds.

Sweden Rolf Goran Bengtsson and 'Ninga' by Guidam, beautifully out of the double 6ab. They continued that good form around the course to post one of the five clear rounds. Sweden are in provisional third place after the first round of the teams competition with 13 penalties.

Dutch rider, Angelique Hoorn with 'O'Brien' just faulted at 11a for a total of eight penalties over the two Individual Qualifiers. She is in provisional 16th place and the Dutch Team are currently sixth with a team total of 17.

Nick Skelton's Corofino stallion 'Russel' looks brilliant coming out of 6ab. Nick says of the horse, "he does what he should not and doesn't do what he should". Having said that the handsome stallion had one down and a foot in the water over this tough Olympic track. They are currently in 22nd place with nine penalties. The British Team suffered another loss, (Russel replaced an injured Portofino) with John Whitaker having to withdraw 'Peppermill' just before the second Individual Qualifier and first round of the Team competition. Great Britain is in provisional fourth place after round one.

Tim Stockdale jumped a super four penalty round with the Corofino 1 mare, 'Corlato' to help Great Britain stay in the hunt despite the loss of John Whitaker's 'Peppermill'. Tim is in equal 16 th place individually.

Brazil's Bernado Alves rides the Caratino gelding. "Chupa Chup' hard over the water. At fence four the water caused many penalties, as early in the course it was on a tightly bending six or seven stride line from the 1.57m vertical at fence three. They are currently in equal 30th place on 12 penalties, with Brazil former Bronze Medalists, out of the second Team round in tenth place.

Canada's Jill Henselwood jumped a super first round with the Argentinus gelding, 'Special Ed'. However they did not have the same form in the considerably tougher second Individual round and first round of the Team competition. They added a further 18 penalties to sit in 47th place. Canada with a total of 16 penalties are in equal fourth place.

Norway's Tony Andre Hansen jumped another super one penalty round with the Cassini 1 gelding, 'Camiro'. They are in equal fourth place with a total of two penalties. Norway is equal sixth with a Team total of 17.

Another beautiful stylist. Swiss Team member, Steve Guerdat with the typey and talented Alligator Fontaine mare, 'Jalisca Solier'. A foot in the water added to their round one time penalty has them in equal 13th place. After the team competition, the top 35 riders go through to the Individual final, where they all start from scratch. Switzerland are in equal first place with the USA on 12 penalties.

Beautiful to watch, Brazil's Rodrigo Pessoa, jumped a beautiful clear aboard the Landaris gelding, "Rufus'. Rodrigo is in third place individually with one penalty.

At 62 Canadian veteran, Ian Miller, still has what it takes. He added just four penalties, at the 1.80m wide oxer at 12, riding the Accord II gelding, 'In Style', to finish with eight penalties and in equal 16th place after two Individual Qualifiers,

Looking great, but Beezie Madden and 'Authentic' had a misunderstanding at 11a, with Authentic looking to "run out". Beezie was at a loss to know why the usually consistent horse became distracted at that point. The eleven penalties were costly, but they should make it through to the Individual Final. The US are in equal first place and the action continues tonight for the Team medals.

Tom and Stephanie McDermott and James Lever lead a youthful Australian cheer squad. And they had plenty to cheer about.