The British team pulled off the latest in the long list of big surprises of the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series when scoring an emphatic win on their home turf at Hickstead this afternoon. In a competition that saw the form-book once again turned on its head, and which saw riders enduring the most extreme of fluctuating fortunes, they crushed the opposition when proving themselves the only ones fully capable of mastering the mighty Hickstead track.
Germany finished a full 15 faults behind in second place ahead of the USA in third and France in fourth while The Netherlands slotted into fifth. The Irish, superb winners at Aachen just two weeks ago, struggled into sixth place while Spain and Sweden – each lumbered with a massive 40-fault score – shared seventh. Switzerland meanwhile finished last, and it looks very much like the Swiss and Swedes are beyond rescue at the lower-end of the leaderboard going into next Friday’s final competition in Dublin.
The bottom four teams on the 10-nation leaderboard will be relegated to the Promotional League in 2011 and the Dutch, Swedes and Swiss are holding those last four places along with the Polish team, which this week withdrew from the remainder of the series and is already destined for the second-division.
FORMIDABLE
Bob Ellis’s track was nothing less than formidable and Kevin Staut’s pathfinding 12-fault first-round score for France gave an early indication of just how difficult it would turn out to be. The British had covered all the angles however. “When we walked the course we all took the decision to take a longer line from the first fence to the second and to get ourselves into a good rhythm and not worry too much about the time – and it paid off in bucket loads” said team-leader Peter Charles afterwards.
The water tray under the oxer at the second element of the double at fence three led to plenty of double-takes and that was, unmercifully, followed by the wide open Hickstead water and then the traditionally tough Hickstead planks. There was no let-up anywhere on the 12-fence course and the white gate at fence nine hit the deck regularly while the final line of a double to the 1.60m Meydan vertical claimed a large number of victims. ‘”It was a big one alright” admitted Charles.
BIT BETWEEN THEIR TEETH
Not one rider returned a clean sheet at the end of the first round but the British already had the bit between their teeth with only four faults between them after single time penalties from both Charles (Murkas Pom D’Ami) and William Funnell (Billy Congo) and just two time penalties from Tina Fletcher (Hello Sailor) were counted, Michael Whitaker’s eight with GIG Amai providing the discard score.
Germany was lying second with 14 faults ahead of the hopeful Swedes in third with 18 while the Dutch were just one fault further in arrears on 19 and the USA carried 21 into round two. The Irish had an uneasy time of it when picking up 26 and when Julien Eppaillard’s 17 faults with Master Davier was dropped the French still had to take 13 from Nicolas Delmotte (Luccianno) and Staut’s 12 with Silvana into account which left them well down in seventh place despite a great four-fault effort from Marie Pellegrin Etter and Admirable.
SUNK
The Spanish were already sunk however by 16-fault results from three of their riders, and despite an incredible second-round resurgence when adding only 4 faults to the 36 already on the board they couldn’t be rescued.
The British had it all sewn up by the time second-line rider, William Funnell, followed Charles’ example by just exceeding the time for one fault and when Tina Fletcher, wife of former British rider Graham Fletcher and a close runner-up for the Hickstead Derby title this year, did likewise then Whitaker didn’t have to return to the ring. Great second-round clears from Daniel Deusser (Cabreado) and Lars Nieberg (Lord Luis) cemented Germany in second place but the Swedes plummeted down the order when adding 22 faults to their tally and it was the USA who rose up to replace them despite the massive 50 fault tally for Robert Kraut and Graf Lando. A smart clear from McLain Ward (Rothschild), and just single mistakes from Cara Raether (Ublesco) and Rich Fellers (Flexible) left them with only eight more to add.
SECURED
The day belonged to the home team but not even a win in Dublin next week can now prevent the French from taking the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series title as their three early wins have secured their position as double-champions. The British fancy their chances of matching the French score on the leaderboard by adding maximum points again in seven days time, and on current form it will be difficult to oppose them.
Charles said today that they owe their fresh run of success, after several seasons of poor form, to “the great support we have behind the scenes” and he praised his new Chef d’Equipe Rob Hoekstra – “he picked a winning team today”. Hoekstra said he was “highly delighted” with today’s result which has improved Great Britain to second in the league standings. “It was great to win here in front of the home crowd” he pointed out. “When we set out this season the plan was to try to simply finish in the top six of the Meydan series so that we would stay in the top league for 2011. Now I think we can finish in the top three – and that’s fantastic!” he added.
He will send the same four riders along with veteran Nick Skelton to Dublin, so now it seems the British may be the ones to beat at the hallowed Irish showground. Other team managers have more on their minds however. Like how to work the miracle that will keep their nation at the top end of the nations cup game…..
For further information on the British fixture at Hickstead go to website http://www.hickstead.co.uk./
The next leg of the series takes place in Dublin, Ireland on Friday 6 August. For all information on the Irish fixture go to website http://www.dublinhorseshow.com/
RESULT:
1. Great Britain 7 faults: Murkas Pom D’Ami (Peter Charles) 1/1, Billy Congo (William Funnell) 1/1, Hallo Sailor (Tina Fletcher) 2/1, GIG Amai (Michael Whitaker) 8/DNS.
2. Germany 22 faults: Cabreado (Daniel Deusser) 5/0, Calado (Jorg Naeve) 5/9, Catoki (Philipp Weishaupt) 9/8, Lord Luis (Lars Nieberg) 4/0.
3. USA 29 faults: Ublesco (Cara Raether), Graf Lando (Robert Kraut) 33/17, Rothchild (McLain Ward) 5/0, Flexible (Rich Fellers) 8/4.
4. France 34 faults: Silvana (Kevin Staut) 12/0, Mister Davier (Julien Epaillard) 17/0, Admirable (Marie Etter Pellegrin) 4/5, Luccianno (Nicolas Delmotte) 13/13.
5. Netherlands 35 faults: VDL Bubalu (Jur Vrieling) 1/9, Exquis Walnut de Muze (Harrie Smolders) 12/0, Opium VS (Marc Houtzager) 9/8, Heechhiems Tersina (Nathalie van der Mei) 9/8.
6. Ireland 36 faults: Carmena Z (Shane Breen) 12/9, Hallmark Elite (Dermott Lennon) 9/Elim, Je T’Aime Flamenco (Billy Twomey) 5/1, Nabab’s Son (Denis Lynch) 12/0.
7. Spain 40 faults: Herald (Pilar Cordon) 16/0, New Remake de Servery (Fernando Fourcadez) 16/0, Lord du Mont Milon (Jesus Garmendia) 16/4, Action-Breaker (Sergio Alvarez Moya) 4/5.
7. Sweden 40 faults: H&M Actrice (Malin Baryard-Johnsson) 5/5, H&M Arctic Aurora Borealis (Peder Fredricson) 4/12, LB Paola (Henrik Von Eckermann) 9/5, Quintero La Silla (Rolf-Goran Bengtsson) 9/13.
9. Switzerland 36 faults in FIRST round: Tresor V (Steve Guerdat) 8, Kiamon (Werner Muff) 16, Zekina (J Richard) 32, Ulysse Z (P Schwizer) 12.
2010 MEYDAN FEI NATIONS CUP™ – STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 7 AT HICKSTEAD:
1. France – 48.5
2. Great Britain – 38.5
3. USA – 37.5
4. Germany – 35.5
5. Ireland – 31.5
6. Spain – 23.0
7. Netherlands – 21.0
8. Sweden – 15.5
9. Switzerland – 15.0
10. Poland – 0
Facts and Figures
– Today’s competition was the penultimate leg of the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series
– Just 10 teams competed after the withdrawal of the Polish team from the final two legs of the eight-round series.
– There were no double-clear rounds in the entire competition, and no rider returned without penalty in the first round.
– 9 riders jumped clear in round two.
– Great Britain won the competition by a significant 15-point margin ahead of Germany.
– The defending champions from France remain at the head of the leaderboard going into the last leg in Dublin.
– They cannot now be prevented from taking the title for the second consecutive year.
Quotes
Andrew Finding, Secretary General British Equestrian Federation “I’d like to pay tribute to the British team and to the many people who made it possible for this success to happen today. I’d also like to thank the Bunn family and to thank Meydan on behalf of the British Federation and the FEI – we are very grateful to you for your support”.
British Chef d’Equipe Rob Hoekstra “the ground conditions here at Hickstead today were nothing short of perfect.”
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