CLAYTON Fredericks has paid tribute to the owners of Bendigo, the horse on which he will go for Olympic gold in a matter of days.

The Little Cheverell-based eventer believes Edwin and Peta McAuley have played an instrumental role in his career and their impact will be clear at Greenwich Park.

“The McAuleys have been not just owners but great personal friends and mentors and they’ve helped me so much in my career, I can’t tell you,” said Fredericks, whose wife Lucinda will also compete in London.

“It’s every owner’s dream to get a horse to the Olympic Games and Hong Kong (the Beijing Games, where the Fredericks won team silver) was very special for them because they’re from Hong Kong.

“Edwin’s British, so to be in a second Olympics back here with a different horse is a pretty amazing achievement.

“One Olympics is amazing for any owner but two Olympics, with two different horses, is good. It really just comes down to the way in which they’ve allowed me to buy the horses and the funds they’ve given me to do that with.

“They’ve never really bought horses that were at the top level, I’ve brought all the horses through, but they’ve given me the freedom to get on and choose the young horses as I saw fit.

“They’ve been involved in decisions with where they go, what they do, how they compete but they’ve basically left that mainly to me and trusted me to make the decisions.”

The Aussie eventing team travelled to the Olympic Village this morning as they finalised their preparations for the Games.

“I was lucky enough to be involved in the test event,'' added the 44-year-old.

"It’s a pretty straightforward situation, all the horses are delivered to one place and then I think they have the standard checks.

“We did well there last time, I was fourth, and obviously it wasn’t anywhere near what we’re going to see at the Olympic Games but he (Bendigo) handled it very well.

“He’s an amazing horse, he just keeps going and going and going and he’s got amazing stamina.

“He doesn’t fight me in front of the fences a lot, I think he’s suited perfectly to it.”

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