Brash ruled out of Rio Olympics

The 30-year-old, who was part of Team GB’s gold medal-winning showjumping team at London 2012, has been ruled out of selection after his two horses, Hello Sanctos and Hello M'Lady, both picked up injuries.

Scott had looked certain to be picked for the Rio games after commanding the world number one spot last year and continuing to Britain's top rider.

In a statement released from Scott and his horses' owners, Lord and Lady Harris and Lord and Lady Kirkham, it said: "We are extremely disappointed that we are unable to help Team GB in their quest to win another team gold medal at this year’s Olympics.

“We would like to take this opportunity to wish all of Team GB every success in Rio.”

Scott had been on the shortlist of 10 Great Britain riders who were vying for selection with the team due to be announced on July 5.

Since London, Brash has enjoyed huge success as part of Britain's 2013 European gold medal-winning team.

He was also crowned overall Global Champions Tour winner twice and became the first rider to land showjumping's lucrative Grand Slam for winning successive grands prix at Geneva, Aachen and Calgary.

Had Hello Sanctos been fully fit, then Scott would undoubtedly have gone to Rio as a strong individual gold medal contender, in addition to spearheading a team medal bid.

In a statement, the British Equestrian Foundation said: "We greatly regret that showjumper Scott Brash is unable to be selected to compete at the Rio 2016 Olympics.

"Scott's top two Olympic hopefuls Hello Sanctos and Hello M'Lady picked up minor injuries at the start of the season and are still not back into full competition work, and therefore will be unable to reach full fitness in time for Rio."

Scott's team gold in London led to a postbox on Peebles High Street being painted gold.

Two members of the successful London 2012 quartet - Nick Skelton and Ben Maher - are expected to be named for Rio, when they could be joined by Michael Whitaker and 20-year-old Jessica Mendoza.