Alex in wonderland as Lo Wu pony club novice prepares to take centre stage

When he was riding ponies in Hong Kong, eventer Alex Hua Tian would go to the Lo Wu Saddle Club and occasionally take lessons with Kenneth Cheng Man-kit. The 2008 Olympics, about 12 years away, were not on anyone's mind.

No one could have predicted that Hua, 18, would be the first Chinese eventer to qualify for the Olympics and Cheng would qualify for Hong Kong in showjumping.

'Absolutely not,' said Hua's mother, Sarah Noble. 'I absolutely would not have imagined it. I think it's amazing that Lo Wu has produced two Olympic riders.'

Cheng, 20, and Hua both made the circuit of Hong Kong riding schools, including the public school at Tuen Mun and the private school at Beas River, the site of the cross-county event on Monday. Noble rode recreationally there as well on a retired thoroughbred named Chance Bid, who Hua later rode and took to his first Olympic qualifier.

Hua - a student at Eton - was born in England, moved to China as a young child and lived in Hong Kong for five years before returning to England. He began riding in China, but it was in Hong Kong that he met top Australian eventers Clayton and Lucinda Fredericks through Edwin McAuley, the vice-president of the Hong Kong Equestrian Federation. McAuley, along with his wife, Peta, has owned some of Fredericks' horses.

'I recommended Clayton and Lucinda because our son, Hamish, had been [to the Fredericks' yard near Wiltshire in England] more than once and had got a lot out of it, both in terms of riding and learning about life,' McAuley said. 'I remember Alex not only for being a talented young rider but also for being very careful and concerned about my horse and very polite. I am truly delighted he has got as far as this.'