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Dominican Republic’s Giorgia Ieromazzo claimed the FEI Jumping World Challenge Final 2019 title at Club Rancho San Francisco in Quito, Ecuador with a brilliant double-clear performance in last Sunday’s closing competition. The 32-year-old, who represented her country at the Pan-American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2007 and again at the Bolivarian Games in 2013, pinned New Zealand’s Christine Cornege into silver while South Africa’s Mathiew Morrison took the bronze.
“I did a clear in the first round and then I was telling myself in the second round “you have to concentrate!” When I’m in the ring I’m in my zone, I don’t even remember what happens, I just ride!” Ieromazzo said afterwards.
The FEI Jumping World Challenge Final was created in 2001 under the sponsorship of PSI, and was organised together with Dressage for five years at the Kasselman Stables in Hagen, Germany. It then moved to Santiago de Chile in South America in 2008 and 2009 before changing continents again when held at Kyalami Equestrian Park in South Africa in 2014. It visited Central Asia for the first time last year when Israel’s Nadav Sternbach came out on top in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and the 2019 edition at Quito was the 18th in the popular series.
The FEI Solidarity Department oversees the running of this developmental competition which provides less experienced athletes from remote countries with the opportunity to compete internationally. A total of 21 riders from 16 nations flew the flags of Algeria, Bermuda, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guatamala, India, Indonesia, Israel, Morocco, Panama, Republic of South Africa and Zimbabwe in a week of great sport and camaraderie that began with last Wednesday’s Welcome Stakes.
Chile dominated this opening test when Ignacia Munoz galloped into pole position ahead of compatriot Nicolas Fuentes, while Algeria’s Lena Boutekedjiret lined up in third and Costa Rica’s Diego Loria finished fourth. One of the biggest challenges faced by all the competitors is that they must ride borrowed horses, and the Ecuadorian NF secured a choice of 27 mounts, 19 of which were generously provided by the Ecuadorian Police service (Policia Nacional de Ecuador).
Riders were only paired with their horses the previous day when they were allowed a 30-minute warm-up before a 15-minute familiarisation period in the main arena during which they were permitted to jump a few fences. And it seemed that Morocco’s Sami Cherkaoui had found his perfect partner in the eight-year-old Argentinian gelding Quinchan with which he won Thursday’s First Qualifier. It was a convincing victory when they were the only pair to finish the course clear and inside the time, but the 18-year-old rider was eliminated in Saturday’s second qualifier won by Ecuador’s Agustin Baca.
As all the best athletes know, life-lessons are part and parcel of every day in equestrian sport, and Baca also had a major disappointment when his horse had to be withdrawn from Sunday’s medal decider. He was however permitted to compete in the Farewell class in which he finished third with his replacement ride UIDE Bischochuelo behind Chile’s Fuentes and Feroz in second, while Morocco’s Cherkaoui and Quinchan put their partnership right back together again to win it with the only clear round.
The top ten went though to the Final proper in which everyone started from scratch and competed in reverse order of merit from their standings after the first two qualifiers. In the first round only Ieromazzo, Morrison and Lucas Dieudonne from the Democratic Republic of Congo went clear over another testing track set by Ecuadorian course designer Jaime Morillo.
Cornege, Zimbabwe’s Judy Riddle (Tambo Othar) and South Africa’s Victoria Lavelle (Chaman) however were close behind with just four apiece. Lavelle added four more second time out but Riddle piled on the pressure when foot-perfect in a time of 82.65. Her advantage was cut short when 36-year-old Cornege and the 10-year-old Palugo were also clear but two seconds quicker, and when Dieudonne was eliminated for taking the wrong course with the lovely skewbald Pontiac, only Morrison and Ieromazzo stood between the Kiwi rider and the coveted gold medal.
It drew ever closer when 17-year-old Morrison and the 10-year-old Waldo left a fence on the floor in 81.94 seconds, but, last into the arena, Ieromazzo had victory in her sights and wasn’t about to let go. Although her horse, Magnus Jarea, was pulling hard and eager to run, she held her nerve to clinch gold with the only double-clear of the competition. With the quickest four faults Cornege slotted into silver, while Morrison took the bronze and Riddle just missed out on the podium with her slower time.
The new champion was delighted with the performance of the police horse that carried her to victory, and was full of praise for the event organisers and the venue. Club Rancho San Francisco lies just 15 minutes from the centre of the Ecuadorian capital of Quito and has a majestic view of the active Cotopaxi volcano in the nearby Andes Mountains.
“It’s been amazing - the place, the horses, the organisation, the competitions, the people - we’ve all had a blast and this was a great experience!” Ieromazzo said.
Results here
Martin Fuchs became the sixth Swiss rider in the 62-year history of the event to claim individual Jumping gold at the Longines FEI European Championships 2019 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands today.
At last year’s FEI World Equestrian Games™ in Tryon, USA, and again at the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final in Gothenburg, Sweden earlier this year, the talented 27-year-old had to settle for silver despite heroic efforts with his brilliant grey gelding Clooney. Today however he at last stood on the top step of the podium when pinning Great Britain’s Ben Maher (37) into silver medal spot and young Belgian star, 23-year-old Jos Verlooy who was a member of last Friday’s gold medal-winning team, into bronze.
Just 12 of the top-25 went into the second round over another superb track designed by The Netherlands’ Louis Konickx. Some protesters ran into the arena as Dutchman Marc Houtzager and Sterrehof’s Calimero took their turn, but this consummate horseman and his experienced 12-year-old gelding jumped clear to finish in eighth place at the end of the day.
In the closing stages defending European champions Peder Fredricson with H&M All In, Sweden’s Henrik von Eckermann with Toveks Mary Lou and reigning world champion Simone Blum from Germany with DSP Alice all faulted at the triple combination before it came down to a fight to the finish between the top three.
Fuchs had moved up from overnight bronze into silver medal spot when Verlooy and his chestnut gelding Igor made a mistake at the triple combination first time out today, but Maher held onto the lead with yet another extraordinary round from Explosion W.
Verlooy was foot-perfect second time out, collecting just a single time fault, and when Fuchs did exactly the same then all the pressure was on the British rider who was last into the ring. And he looked to have gold in the bag until the pole on water-tray vertical two from home fell to gasps from the crowd. It would be the Swiss celebrating tonight.
“It looked very much like I would be second again, Ben has been great over the past two years and especially at this championship again I didn’t think I would beat him or that he would make a fault, but obviously I am very happy to be winning here and to finally not have only the silver medal!” Fuchs said.
Looking back on how this week of competition has played out he said, “I had a fault the first day in the Speed class, it was my mistake I took a lot of risk and Clooney struggled at the last combination, but he has been great every day, getting better and better over each round which is one of his best qualities. And I was saying today before going into the final, if I do my job and do the small things right he won’t let me down!”
The first person to give him a congratulatory hug was Irishman Sean Vard. “Sean has been with me a couple of years and is a great groom, friend, supporter and the best person that has ever followed me to the shows. And my family, my parents and my owner Luigi - they are always here supporting me. Unfortunately my girlfriend Paris couldn’t be here this week, she’s in California and she’s been up all night to watch me and I had a little chat with her before my second round. She just said don’t worry you will win it, she’s been saying that for the last three days and I kept saying don’t jinx it, touch wood, touch wood!”, said the happy Swiss rider.
He thanked Clooney’s owner, Luigi Baleri who has been awarded the IJOC Horse Owner of the Year title. “He’s always a big support and he’s like a second father, driving me to shows since I was a Junior!” said Fuchs whose first major victory was gold at the Youth Olympic Games in 2010.
Clearly disappointed this evening, Maher was still delighted with this week’s results with Explosion W. “On the day I wasn’t good enough to beat Martin, but all of these horses deserve to win - I made this one mistake and I’m very happy that if anyone has to beat me it is Martin!” he said.
Verlooy said he was delighted for his horse, Igor. “He jumped great and I’m very happy that I have given him this medal, he really deserved it. He is by Emerald and he’s really stepping into his father’s footsteps and I’m very proud of that. At the beginning of the week if you told me I was going to have this bronze I would have been fine with that, so I’m not complaining!”
Results here
Watch highlights here
On a day of breathtaking sport, Germany’s Isabell Werth brought the Longines FEI Dressage European Championships 2019 to a close when claiming her third gold medal of the week in the Freestyle riding a her great mare Bella Rose. And on a day filled with personal-best performances, her compatriots Dorothee Schneider and Jessica von Bredow-Werndl clinched silver and bronze, with Schneider only 0.314 off Werth’s winning score.
The competition built to an incredible crescendo as rider after rider excelled themselves in front of a packed stadium of knowledgeable spectators who savoured every moment. Denmark’s Daniel Bachmann Andersen drew gasps of delight with spectacular one-tempi changes from his one-eyed stallion Blue Hors Zack to take the temporary lead when eighth to go of the 15 starters. But two horses later the home crowd went wild when Edward Gal and Glock’s Zonik NOP went out in front with 84.271.
Fifth-last into the arena, von Bredow-Werndl and her 12-year-old mare TSF Dalera blew the competition wide open with a personal-best score of 89.107, showing beautiful rhythm and balance and the softest of contact in their one-tempi changes. Denmark’s Cathrine Dufour and Atterupgaards Cassidy, who took bronze in Thursday’s Grand Prix Special, followed with a fabulous test that slotted them in behind on 87.771, and then it was time for the lady recognised as the Queen of international Dressage, Werth with the great love of her life, the mare she calls Bella.
And the crowd were in for a treat, the extraordinary horsewoman working them into a frenzy of excitement that had them clapping wildly as the turned the centreline for their final halt. But the battle wasn’t over yet, because Schneider threw down the best score of her career with Showtime who showed his great power and presence when putting 90.561 on the board. Last to go, Judy Reynolds and Vancouver K ended a superb week that saw her post three new Irish record scores when finishing fifth, behind Dufour, on a mark of 85.589.
Bronze medallist von Bredow Werndl described this as “the most exhausting week ever, it was a roller-coaster of emotions but it had the happiest ending I could have wished for, and Dalera was just extraordinary today. At the very beginning she was a little bit nervous and I was a bit nervous before I entered the arena, but I took some deep breaths and I was completely with her and she was with me for the whole test, there was no second we lost each other and it was just a phenomenal dance!” she said.
Schneider had every reason to be elated by her score too, because her mark sees her join an elite group that includes only five other riders who have achieved over 90 percent in Freestyle. “When Showtime came into the arena and saw the audience he said let’s dance now, and we danced together..we really enjoyed ourselves! I wasn’t thinking about scores, I just wanted to enjoy this Freestyle…it’s an emotional bond between Showtime and me and today he had fun and I did too!” she said.
This has been a great week and a very long week and I’m so happy and so proud of Bella!” said Werth. “She gave me a super feeling in all three competitions, and she was always doing her best. There were so many exciting performances here in Rotterdam, and for a few of us it was a real roller-coaster which reminds us that, in Championships, anything can happen. For me and Bella there were things today that we could improve on, but there were also so many highlights, and in the end to come up the centreline and hear the audience start to clap - I’m just so happy, it has been a super week for Germany!”
The most successful athlete in the entire history of international equestrian sport, Werth today collected the 24th European Championship medal of her astonishing career but she said that her medal collection is not what drives her.
“The most beautiful thing is the many different horses, and different kinds of horses I have had, that’s why I’m still motivated to ride. To wake up and go in the saddle every day, its a privilege when you can do what you love, and you love what you do, and Madeleine (Winter-Schulze, her patron) gives me all the freeness I need to do the sport…this is why I’m still here!”, she said.
Result here
Yesterday Belgium rose to the top of the leaderboard, and today in Rotterdam (NED) they held on tight to win their first-ever team medals in the 62-year history of the FEI European Jumping Championships - and they were golden ones.
Otto Becker’s German side were firm favourites to take the title for the eighth time, but in the end they had to settle for silver ahead of Great Britain in bronze. And the icing on the cake from a Belgian perspective was that they are now on the road to Tokyo 2020, because they bagged one of the three spots on offer to teams not already qualified thanks to superb performance from Pieter Devos, Jos Verlooy, Jerome Guery and Gregory Wathelet. Britain and France bagged the remaining two qualifications.
It was edge-of-the-seat stuff to the very end, Wathelet aware that he could afford a fence down or a time fault when he was last man into the ring, but not both if his country was going to top the podium.
Belgium, Germany and Great Britain were already in gold, silver and bronze medal positions as the final day began. The British added eight faults to their scoreline when Ben Maher and Explosion led the way with a clear and both Holly Smith (Hearts Destiny) and Amanda Derbyshire (Luibanta BH) left just a single fence on the floor, Scott Brash (Hello M’Lady) providing an eight-fault discard this time around.
Germany added four when pathfinder Simone Blum (DSP Alice) and anchorman Daniel Deusser (Scuderia 1918 Tobago Z) each had a fence down but both Christian Ahlmann (Clintrexo Z) and Marcus Ehning (Comme Il Faut) jumped spectacular clears.
When Devos and his mare Claire Z were first out for Belgium and collected five faults when hitting the penultimate vertical and going over the time-allowed of 78 seconds their lead began to look a little shaky. But Verlooy and Igor kept a clean sheet and when Guery and Quel Homme de Hus collected just a single time fault then they began to look much more secure.
As Wathelet set off history was hanging in the balance, but he wasn’t going to let that get to him. “I like pressure!” he said after galloping through the timers with the scoreboard showing a nice big fat zero. In the final analysis his country grabbed the gold with a total of 12.07, Germany took silver medal spot on 16.22 and Great Britain finished in bronze with 21.41.
Victorious Chef d’Equipe, Peter Weinberg, said “it’s unbelievable and I’m very, very proud of my team, four top riders with brilliant horses, they did a fantastic job and I’m very, very happy!” Asked why it has taken so long for Belgium to get on the European team podium he replied with a laugh, “maybe it’s because they didn’t have me as a trainer!”
All the Belgian team paid tribute to their back-up crew and the other Belgian riders, including Olivier Philippaerts and Niels Bruynseels, who have supported them every inch of the way this week.
Pieter Devos said, “we’ve been working together for a couple of years now, and today we put everything together. We all think the same way and we are all good friends, and this is why we got the gold.”
Jerome Guery said, “Yesterday I was a little disappointed with my result - I had to be better today for my horse, and also for my team. We knew after my ride the we would get the silver but then Greg rode a clear and it was gold!” And like all the riders this evening he complimented the fantastic courses being presented by The Netherlands’ Louis Konickx this week.
“We’ve had three really different classes, the first day was a typical speed class, yesterday was a more delicate round and today was much bigger. It’s been a really good job from the course design team” he pointed out.
Silver medallist Daniel Deusser reflected on how this team competition played itself out. “We started strong on the first day but lost it a little bit yesterday…it was a very exciting class today and the teams were close. In the end we are very happy with silver”.
All four Belgian team-members have made the cut into Sunday’s top-25 individual final, and Verlooy is lying a very close second to Britain’s Ben Maher at the head of affairs when the action gets underway after tomorrow’s rest day.
Results here
Watch highlights here
In a mighty battle between two of the sport’s true greats, Isabell Werth, the lady recognised as the reigning Queen of international Dressage, won through once again in the Grand Prix Special at the Longines FEI Dressage European Championships 2019 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands tonight.
Two years ago in Gothenburg, Sweden, Werth pinned team-mate Sonke Rothenberger into silver medal spot, and this time around it was her other German compatriot, Dorothee Schneider, who had to settle for second place. But Schneider chased her right to the line with a brilliant performance from Showtime this evening, and was overwhelmed with emotion afterwards.
“This is the greatest day of my life, my first individual medal!” said the double-Olympian. “I had one mistake in the flying changes because I lost a stirrup - I have to talk to my trainer about doing some lunging again! I’ve been riding this horse for 10 years now and he is so amazing. I’m really proud to be sitting in second place tonight behind Isabell!” she said.
She established the lead with just five left to go on a mark of 85.456 but Werth overtook her with another of her show-stopping rides on the mare she most adores, posting the winning score of 86.520. “I know that with Bella Rose everything is possible and it is up to me to make it happen. The piaffe/passage could not be better than it was tonight, the feeling was outstanding and the atmosphere was really special!” she said.
Bronze went to Cathrine Dufour and Atterupgaards Cassidy, the pair who really put themselves onto centre stage when also third in the Grand Prix Special and Freestyle at the 2017 Europeans. They posted 81.337 just before Schneider came into the ring but, typically modest, the Danish rider didn’t think that was good enough for a podium placing and headed back to the stables with her little chestnut gelding only to get the call-up to return to the arena. And that took a bit of reorganisation.
“I didn’t think I would get a medal so I told my groom to unplait him, so we had to put the plaits back in again - it was a bit of a surprise - but I’m so happy with Cassidy, he’s now 16 but he’s in such great shape!” she said.
Age is but a number to the horses competing this week, and there was huge excitement in the Irish camp when Judy Reynolds and her 17-year-old gelding Vancouver K separated the two remaining members of Tuesday’s gold-medal-winning German team, Jessica von Bredow-Werndl who slotted into fourth with TSF Dalera BB and Sonke Rothenberger and Cosmo in sixth place. Scoring 78.252, Reynolds finished fifth and set her second Irish record score of the week having helped secure an Olympic team qualifying spot for her country with another brilliant performance on Tuesday.
This evening’s competition had a real buzz about it and Judge a C, Susanne Baarup, said the Ground Jury enjoyed every moment of it. “It was an amazing class and also very exciting to judge because a lot of riders had some problems in there. I think as a judge it’s very emotional, we get goose-bumps, and we give 9s and 10s and we think my god where do we end here! It’s really just the small details that separate the riders. We talked afterwards and said we want to do it again, we want to see them again, and of course we will do that on Saturday in the Freestyle, and we are really looking forward to it!”
Results here
Watch highlights here
In a thrilling second day of competition at the Longines FEI Jumping European Championships 2019 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands today, Team Belgium rocketed up from overnight eighth place into pole position when they were the only side to produce three clear rounds.
Dutch course designer, Louis Konickx, turned up the heat with a significantly bigger track, and from the 68 starters that included 9 individuals not competing in teams, there were only 11 foot-perfect runs around his 14-fence course.
The first-day leaders from Germany slipped to silver medal spot, the French dropped from second to fourth, and Great Britain climbed from fourth to overtake the third-placed Swedish side. And, adding to the heat of excitement, the battle for the three Olympic qualifying spots on offer also saw some shuffling with Belgium, Britain and France now well-placed going into tomorrow’s medal-decider.
Germany looked set for another great day when reigning World Champion, Simone Blum, kicked off with another lovely clear from DSP Alice. But when Christian Ahlmann and Clintrexo Z hit both the vertical after the open water at fence 8 and the oxer at 11, and Marcus Ehning also double-faulted with Comme Il Faut, then they began to lose their grip. Despite a brilliant last-to-go clear from Daniel Deusser and Scuderia 1918 Tobago Z, they had to add one of those eight-fault scores to their tally.
Both France and Sweden added 12 and dropped off a potential medal position, but the British posted just the four picked up at the water by anchorman Scott Brash and Hello M’Lady, because Ben Maher (Explosion W) and Holly Smith (Hearts Destiny) made no mistake, so Amanda Derbyshire’s eight faults (Luibanta BH) could be discounted.
Meanwhile the Belgians began climbing up the order with clears from both Pieter Devos with Claire Z and Jos Verlooy and Igor. They faltered with two down for Jérôme Guery and Quel Homme de Hus, but when Gregory Wathelet sailed home with their third foot-perfect run of the day they suddenly found themselves sitting pretty at the very top of the leaderboard because it’s the best three scores per nation that count.
“We knew that after today we would have quite some changes on the leaderboard….the boys did a fantastic job, and the horses jumped amazing!” said Belgian Chef d’Equipe Peter Weinberg.
Pathfinder Pieter Devos said, “the course designer did a great job today. It was much more technical, you had to ride with a plan to the very last fence but it was a horse-friendly course. We can go to day three tomorrow with the horses not being in the red, and this is always good”, he pointed out.
Jérôme Guery explained that this is a first championship for his 13-year-old stallion. “I knew the vertical after the water would be difficult, and the triple combination was really short for me, but I am happy and lucky to have a strong team with me. I am only riding this horse for the last six months, he’s a slow horse but with a big canter. I use his big strides to be on time, and I always have to keep an eye on it” he added.
Wathelet’s horse is also a Championship first-timer, but he’s been riding the 11-year-old grey stallion, MJT Nevados S, since he was six so they know each other very well. “We now have a team of horses that are more experienced and we feel better and better each year” he said.
At 23 years of age Jos Verlooy is by far the youngest in the Belgian side, but he already has plenty of mileage on his career clock and this week his 11-year-old chestnut gelding is competing at Championship level for a second time. “He was in Tryon (at the FEI World Equestrian Games 2018), but he didn’t do too much this year so we could keep him fresh and fit for this Championship” he explained. It seems that decision is paying off in spade-loads because not only is his team out in front today but he personally sits in sixth place individually and a spot in Sunday’s top-25 individual final looks very much on the cards.
Asked if he thinks his team can hold on to gold medal position at the end of tomorrow’s last round of the team competition in which only the top 10 nations will battle it out, Chef d’Equipe Peter Weinberg said, “we will try very hard, but our first goal is to qualify for Tokyo and anything else will be a bonus on top of that!”
Britain’s Ben Maher has moved up to pole position in the individual rankings ahead of Swiss star Steve Guerdat while Frenchman Alexis Deroubaix is lying third ahead of Germany’s Daniel Deusser in fourth place. First-day leader, Sweden’s Peder Fredricson, dropped to eighth with a fence down today, but he’s only a fence off the leader, while in the team rankings there’s less than a fence separating the top three nations.
Results here
Watch highlights here
Germany took the lead with four fantastic performances in the Speed class on the opening day of the Longines FEI Jumping European Championships 2019 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands this afternoon.
Reigning World Champions, Simone Blum and DSP Alice, were first to go and estabished the early lead with a sensational round. And when team-mates Christian Ahlmann and Clintrexo Z and Marcus Ehning with Comme Il Faut were even quicker, and then Daniel Deusser wrapped it all up with a stunning run from Scuderia 1018 Tobago Z, Germany couldn’t be touched at the top of the leaderboard.
However first-day results are reconfigured into points, and when the team competition proper gets underway tomorrow with the first of two rounds that will lead to the medal ceremony on Friday, they have only a narrow advantage over France. And there’s less than a single fence between them and Team Sweden in third place. Great Britain and Switzerland are just over two fences behind, while the defending champions from Ireland and Team Israel are also in hot pursuit in sixth and seventh places respectively.
A total of 15 nations started the competition today, and 10 of them are also hunting down one of the three team qualifying spots on offer for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. So, just as it was in the Dressage Team Championship earlier in the week, the next two days of competition will be as much about good placings as they will be about getting on the medal podium, and once again Team Germany is in command at the outset.
Course designer Louis Konickx presented a great first-day challenge in which the narrow Longines wall at fence five, the 4-metre-wide open water at nine and the penultimate double that led the way down the final line all proved influential. Strong as the German contingent were today however, it was the defending individual gold-medal-winning partnership of Peder Fredricson and H&M All In who topped the individual leaderboard ahead of Austria’s Max Kuhner with Chardonnay in second and Britain’s Ben Maher and Explosion in third.
Fredricson said “it was a really nice course. You had to get going straight away between fences 1 and 2, you had to make a decision if you wanted to do seven or eight strides, and that set the pace for the rest of the course. All In is an unbelievable horse, and the plan today wasn’t actually that I had to win, but I wanted to be quick enough so that if I had a fence down I would still be in the competition”.
Kuhner, who has made a great recovery following a shoulder operation three months ago, was delighted to find himself in runner-up spot because he says his Chardonnay is not the quickest horse “but we improve together and we get a little faster with age!”
Maher was second-last to go of today’s 70 starters. “It’s always hard to wait until the very end, I didn’t get to see Peder or Max go. Explosion is naturally a fast horse, and he was very excited to be here yesterday, he was fresher than normal. I just couldn’t take a big risk today on the line with the Longines wall, that’s where these guys were better than me today. Explosion has won a lot but he’s young and he’s being a little bit careful sometimes at these jumps”, he explained.
He said the British have team gold as their target but you could tell this afternoon that the Germans, who hold the record with seven team golds in the 62-year history of the European Championships, are feeling fairly confident even though Christian Ahlmann insisted, “we’ve had a good start but its not much more, there’s a long way to go.” His breathtaking round with Clintrexo really bolstered their position, and this pair look to have a great week ahead of them, leading all the way up to Sunday’s individual final.
“He’s a breeding stallion but you can’t feel it, he’s a very kind and sweet horse, very positive and really quiet. He’s a bit shy in the warm-up so you have to be aware of that, but in the ring he is fighting for his rider. He’s not spooky at all, so he makes your life easy!”, said Ahlmann who finished fourth today ahead of Swiss star Steve Guerdat and his super-mare, Albfuehren’s Bianca, in fifth.
Results here
Watch highlights here
Germany claimed the team title for a staggering 24th time at the Longines FEI European Dressage Championships 2019 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands today where the hosts scooped silver and Sweden snatched the bronze.
The battle for medal placings was intense, and so too was the contest for the three available qualifying spots at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games which eventually went to Denmark, Ireland and Portugal.
On an extraordinary afternoon of high drama, German superstar Isabell Werth posted the biggest score of the competition with 85.652 from Bella Rose to secure the title and collect her 22nd European Championship medal and the 11th European team gold of her illustrious career. The stage looked set for Great Britain to bag the silver, but elimination for the penultimate partnership of Charlotte Dujardin and Mt St John Freestyle under the blood rule dropped her team to fourth, so it was the Dutch and Swedes who filled the lower steps of the podium.
The winning German side consisted of all four gold medallists from last year’s FEI World Equestrian Games™ in Tryon (USA), the only difference being the replacement of Dorothee Schneider’s ride, Sammy Davis Jr, with Showtime who posted yesterday’s biggest score. Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and TSF Dalera BB opened the German account yesterday morning, and when Sonke Rothenberger added 79.084 this morning, and then Werth and her 15-year-old mare put 85.652 on the board, the defending champions were never going to be overtaken.
It was another masterclass from the legend that is Werth, the most medalled athlete in the history of equestrian sport who said that today’s win was extra special because she achieved it with her beloved Bella Rose. “She was really brilliant, I’m happy and proud, both of us enjoyed the competition”, she said.
Werth, Schneider and Rothenberger were also all on Germany’s triumphant 2017 European side along with Helen Langehanenberg, but despite having another European gold medal around his neck, Rothenberger wasn’t entirely satisfied with his own performance. “We came here with a really strong team knowing all horses scored already over 80%, so we expected quite a bit, but as you will see today it’s always a different story when you have to put it on the day in the ring. I was quite nervous for my own test…I couldn’t ride the perfectly precise round that we had in Aachen, but I’m looking forward to the following days and it was super fun to have such amazing colleagues who put down such amazing rounds!” he said.
Lying second as the day began, it seemed the British would cruise into silver medal spot when Carl Hester and Hawtins Delicato posted 78.323 with Dujardin still to come. But as the riders were preparing for the prizegiving the news of her elimination filtered through and Sweden moved up to bronze and the Dutch into silver medal spot.
Anne Meulendijks (MDH Avanti NOP) was the Dutch pathfinder yesterday with a score of 71.801 and Hans Peter Minderhoud (Glock’s Dream NOP) followed with a mark of 75.295. Today Emmelie Scholtens posted 76.087 with Desperado NOP and when Edward Gal followed that with 78.758 from Glock’s Zonik NOP then the hosts were always going to take a podium placing.
Gal joked however that his stallion was a little distracted in the warm-up ring this afternoon. “There were all the mares I think that were in the competition in the same warm-up as me, so he was really wild - in the end they went away and I had five minutes when I could ride normal and then it was quite ok. But then in the ring I felt the concentration was a bit down….but luckily everything went well and the points were also nice so that’s why we are here now!” he explained.
Minderhoud described this afternoon as “really crazy because we were counting all the time for the scores”, and pointed out that this result means a lot to the host nation. “It was four years ago we had a medal, and I can tell you it’s not so nice to travel to Tryon (USA, for the FEI World Equestrian Games 2018) and to travel to Rio (BRA, 2016 Olympic Games) and not have a medal in your suitcase when you come back!” So today felt pretty good.
Sweden’s Patrick Kittel was also delighted to find himself and his team that included Therese Nilshagen and Antonia and Juliette Ramel, on the podium. “Today was quite something, like Hans Peter said it was like a roller-coaster. At first I was almost biting the sand - I thought it was going to be another Tryon again, 0.2 away from the medal, but in the end it worked out and we’ve had amazing sport and seen amazing horses!”
The individual standings in the Grand Prix showed Werth, Schneider and Rothenberger with the top three scores followed by Gal in fourth, Denmark’s Daniel Bachmann Andersen in fifth and Britain’s Hester just ahead of Kittel in sixth place. The top-30 individuals go through to Thursday’s Grand Prix Special in which Werth and Rothenberger will be defending the gold and silver they won in Gothenburg (SWE) two years ago.
Results here
Watch highlights here
Team Germany took the first step on the road to their 24th team title when Dorothee Schneider and Jessica von Bredow-Werndl posted the two best scores on the opening day of the Longines FEI Dressage European Championships 2019 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands today.
Von Bredow-Werndl’s 76.894 with TSF Dalera BB topped the leaderboard until the closing stages when Schneider overtook her with a mark of 80.233 for a fabulous test with Showtime FRH. And with team-mates Sonke Rothenberger riding Cosmo and the legendary Isabell Werth riding Bella Rose still to come when the competition resumes tomorrow, it seems the destiny of gold is all but already assured.
“I’m very happy to be in this team, I’m proud to be here and I’m very happy with my test!” said double-Olympian Schneider. Talking about her horse’s performance she said there were “some very, very good parts, and in other parts he was a bit nervous, but altogether I am happy to have this result for the team and to be here and to have a fit horse!” she added.
That’s because the 13-year-old gelding with which she won team gold at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games is making a very significant comeback.
“Showtime was two years out, but at the beginning of this year we started him again and he’s getting better and better - in his concentration he was very good at the German Championships (in June) and he was very, very good in Aachen (in July) so it’s very emotional for me to have this horse under me again, and to feel how motivated he is!” she explained.
A superb personal-best Grand Prix score of 76.351 from Gareth Hughes with Classic Briolinca helped put Great Britain into silver-medal-spot going into the second day. “I couldn’t be happier!” he said at this evening’s press conference.
“She’s had her injuries as well, she’s had a stop-start career at Grand Prix so she’s still quite inexperienced, but we’ve had a good season up to this. She suffers sometimes from nerves, she’s usually not very good at halting or walking, but today she was excellent, she was focused so I just had to point, keep her head up and use my leg when I needed to, and she took care of the rest!” said the rider who was a member of Britain’s silver-medal-winning team at the FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014 in Caen, France.
His compatriot, 23-year-old Charlotte Fry, produced a stunning senior championship debut to put 74.317 on the board with Dark Legend earlier in the day, and Hughes said, “Lottie did a great job, her first championship and she’s so young, she has nerves of steel….she’s another Charlotte (Dujardin)! She laid down a really good score to start with, and that always gives the second rider confidence. It’s a long day to hang around and wait, it’s a big build-up to going into the arena but we’re in a good position, and now it’s up to the two famous Brits to come out tomorrow and show what they can do!” he pointed out, referring to the remaining two British team members Charlotte Dujardin and Carl Hester.
And Sweden lies third going into the second day of action following a 74.224 for pathfinders Antonia Ramel with Brother de Jeu and 75.466 from Therese Nilshagen riding Dante Weltino OLD. This leaves Nilshagen in individual fourth spot behind Hughes, “but I’m not super-happy with my own ride today because I made a very big mistake in the one-tempis” she said. “I think I must have done something wrong, and that cost us a lot of points and that’s a pity….but the rest was quite good and I hope that my team-mates will be much better than I was so we’ll see!” she added this evening.
It’s still all very much to play for, with The Netherlands lying a close fourth ahead of Denmark in fifth, Portugal in sixth, Switzerland in seventh, Spain in eighth and Russia in ninth place. And apart from the European medals up for grabs there is massive tension between the countries as yet not qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games who are battling for the three places on offer in this European team contest.
Chasing down those three spots are Denmark, Portugal and Switzerland along with Ireland, France, Austria, Belgium and Finland - the latter five nations holding 10th to 14th places on the team leaderboard going into tomorrow’s medal-deciding second-half of the competition. A total of 15 nations started today but the three-member side from Luxembourg are now out of contention after elimination for their pathfinder, Nicolas Wagner (Quater Back Junior).
Results here
Watch highlights here
The Viking raiders from Denmark claimed all before them in Dressage, Team Great Britain swamped all-comers in Eventing and Irish eyes were smiling when they claimed all gold in Jumping at the FEI European Pony Championships 2019 staged in the Hippodrome at Morawa in Strzegom, Poland.
A total of 153 riders aged between 12 and 16 years and representing 18 countries competed over five days of fast and furious action that began on 14 August and concluded today (18 August).
Dressage
The Danes were first to stand on the top step of the podium when taking Dressage team gold on Thursday. Their final scoreline of 226.829 gave Alexander Yde Helgstrand (Adriano B), Liva Addy Guldager Nielsen (D’Artagnan), Nathalie Thomassen (Lykkehoejs Dream of Dornik) and Thilde Rude Hare (Morgensterns Dakar) a narrow advantage over the Dutch side of Micky Schelstraete (Elin’s Noncisdador), Floor van der Kuijl (Champ of Daily), Robin Heiden (Colourfull Cannonball) and Evi van Rooij (King Stayerhof’s Jango) who had to settle for the silver on 25.771.
Bronze went to Team Germany’s Shona Benner (Der Kleine Sunnyboy We), Lana-Pinou Baumburtel (Zinq Massimiliano FH), Antonia Busch-Kuffner (Daily Pleasure) and Rose Oatley (Daddy Moon). And such was the pure quality of the performances on all of the medal-winning teams that only 1.914 penalty points separated the gold medallists from their rivals in bronze who totalled 224.915.
Helgstrand made it a triple celebration when going on to take both the Individual and Freestyle titles. In both cases it was team-mate Nielsen who finished in silver medal position ahead of Germany’s Benner in bronze.
This was the perfect finale to Helgstrand’s pony career, as the talented young man who turns 16 in November is ready to move onto horses next year. His father is double-Olympian Andreas Helgstrand who took team bronze at the Beijing Games in Hong Kong in 2008 and individual silver at the FEI World Equestrian Games in Aachen (GER) in 2015, and his mother Marianne is also a highly competitive rider so Alexander has Dressage in his genes.
The Individual class was run over two days, and he had an anxious wait before the first of his two individual victories was confirmed. “It was really exciting until the last moment, and after last rider I was so happy, so it’s incredible! Adriano B is super sweet, he is a nice and relaxed pony, but when he is on a track at the show he is fighting!”, the new individual champion explained. And then the pair went on to do it again, posting a magnificent 82.140 to win the Freestyle in fine style.
Eventing
In Eventing the British took command in the Dressage phase and didn’t let go, pinning France into silver medal spot while Ireland claimed team bronze. And Team GBR very nearly filled all three steps of the individual podium too, with Finn Healy (Midnight Dancer) taking the gold ahead of Ibbie Watson (Bookhamlodge Pennylane), while Freya Partridge (Master Macky) lined up in fourth.
However it looked as though it was their team-mate Daisy Bathe (SF Detroit) who was destined for the Individual honours when she went into today’s showjumping phase with nothing to add to her fantastic Dressage score of 26.8. But the track proved testing all morning, and when she had a stop late on the course and then a fence down, the addition of 10.28 penalty points saw her drop to seventh in the final analysis.
Bronze went to Italy’s Camilla Luciani (Camelot Damgaard) who moved up from seventh after Dressage to third after a brilliant cross-country run, and whose single showjumping error still left her secure on the third step of the podium and well clear of fourth-place Partridge.
The final British team score was 101.8, so they had a significant winning margin over the French side of Lisa Gualtieri (O Ma Doue Kersidal), Louise Petitjean (Versailled des Morins), Jonas de Vericourt (Vidock de Berder) and Lilou Ducastaing (Winnetou) who completed with 120.1 on the board. Ireland’s Grace Tyrell (Fiona’s Fionn), Alex Connors (Millridge Buachaill Bui), Brian Kuehnle (Tullibards Sixth Sense) and Tiggy Hancock (Coppenagh Spring Sparrow) moved up from fourth to third after good cross-country performances and stayed there when completing on a tally of 131.6.
Reflecting on a brilliant result for himself and his team, newly-crowned individual champion, Britain’s Finn Healy, said “it was a testing cross-country track yesterday, very technical, it required some reactive riding, but we all did that and got ourselves into the position to win. It hasn’t really sunk in yet - it’s a dream come true!”
Jumping
The Jumping team Championship was a real thriller, with two separate jump-offs to decide both gold and bronze.
France and Germany, each carrying 12 faults, contested third place and it was the French foursome of Jeanne Hirel (Armene du Costilg), Ilona Mezzadri (Callas Rezidal Z), Pauline Scalabre (Sligo de Mormal) and Romane Orhant (Quabar des Monceaux) who squeezed their German opponents off the podium. Both sides added four faults to their scorelines but the French were considerably faster, posting 136.75 while Germany returned in the combined time of 148.32 seconds.
As if that wasn’t exciting enough it was edge-of-the seat stuff when Ireland’s John McEntee (Little Smithe), Niamh McEvoy (Ardfry Skye) and brothers Tom Wachman (Ocean des As) and Max Wachman (Cuffesgrange Cavalidam) took on Britain’s Shaunie Greig (Casino Royale), Claudia Moore (Elando van de Roshoeve), Lily Bremner (Lapislazuli) and Holly Truelove (Rexter D’Or).
Tied on a two-round total of four faults, and with gold hanging in the balance, both teams produced three more clear rounds and it was Max Wachman’s breath-taking last-to-go run that swung it in Ireland’s favour. Breaking the beam in 40.22 seconds he rounded their total to 129 seconds which left Ireland just 1.72 seconds quicker than Britain in silver medal spot.
And then Max Wachman made it double-gold today when the grandson of world-famous thoroughbred horse producers John and Sue Magnier from Coolmore Stud in County Tipperary was the only rider to complete all five Championship rounds on a zero score.
It took yet another jump-off, this time between Great Britain’s Holly Truelove and Italy’s Ilona Mezzadri to decide Jumping silver and bronze, and, first to go, Truelove came off best when Mezzadri left two on the floor.
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