Daniel Pinto and Santurion de Massa have withdrawn from Portuguese Olympic team contention. At the 2021 CDI Munich, the 15-year old Portuguese sport horse was not fit and this injury has ended their Olympic dream.
The 15-year old Santurion de Massa is a Portuguese crossbred by Trakehner stallion Munchhausen out of a Lusitano dam, Viena (by Estoiro). He is bred by Sylvain Massa and since 2020 owned by Daniel Pinto.
Pinto and Santurion represented Portugal at the 2015 and 2017 European Dressage Championships, but missed out on the 2018 World Equestrian Games due to an injury. Two years later they returned to the arena at the CDI Beloura and finished second twice at the 2020 CDI Alter do Chao. The 2021 CDI Munich in May was their first international outside Portugal, but they were eliminated from the Grand Prix.
Santurion unfortunately re-injured himself and will not be fit on time for team selection.
"After a thorough evaluation by our trusted veterinarian team, it was concluded that Santurion is not in the best health conditions. Facing this fact, Daniel Pinto is officially withdrawing from the race to conquer a place on the Portuguese Olympic team for Tokyo 2021," Pinto stated. "Santurion de Massa is a horse of a lifetime that blessed us with many joyful moments and allowed important conquests in the dressage ring. The ultimate goal is to focus on bringing him back to a healthy condition."
Taking the most recent scores into consideration, the Portuguese Olympic dressage team candidates seem to be Maria Caetano (Fenix de Tineo), Joao Torrao (Equador), Rodrigo Torres (Fogoso), Carlos Pinto (Sultao Menezes), and Vasco Mira Godinho (Garrett).
Photo © Astrid Appels
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