He may ride the most famous dressage horse in the world, but Matthias Rath believes the British riders will be the ones to watch come the 2012 Games. 

Olympic hopes

In an interview with Dressage-news.com, Rath said: "Of course, the British riders are favorites because it is on their home turf and they are a really strong team."

The 27-year-old German rider is now focusing on his own Olympic goals with the black stallion Totilas. Their seasonal reappearance is set to be at the World Dressage Masters in Florida at the end of January, before beginning a targeted competition schedule to prepare the pair for the London Games in August.

The pair has not competed for several months after Totilas missed the CDI-W in Frankfurt in December 2011 following a minor training injury in November. 

Fledgling partnership

It's been 14 months since it was announced that Matthias had gained the ride on Totilas, who was previously competed and produced by Dutch rider Edward Gal. The stallion was sold by the Moorlands Stable in Holland to Paul Schockemohle and Ann-Kathrin Linsenhoff (Matthias' stepmother) in a multimillion pound transaction. 

The sale caused much controversy in the horseworld, with many wondering whether the stallion would have the same success with a new rider that he had with Gal.

First season highs

In Rath's first season riding the stallion, the pair won all three classes at the prestigious Aachen CDIO, and helped Germany to win team silver at the European Championships. Matthias and Totilas also finished fourth individually in the Grand Prix Special at the Europeans, and fifth in the Freestyle.

With Edward Gal, Totilas won three gold medals at the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Kentucky, and two gold medals at the 2009 European Championships in Windsor. 

The dressage fraternity will be watching with eager anticipation to see if Totilas can regain his record-breaking form in the run up to this year's Games.