Boyd Exell Masterful in Maastricht

Hot on the heels of the opening leg in Lyon (FRA), the FEI Driving World Cup™ action moved to Maastricht (NED) with a starry line up which included current World Champion Bram Chardon (NED) and two previous champions, Boyd Exell (AUS) and Koos de Ronde (NED) who were all launching their new series campaigns this weekend.

But it was the Australian who produced the most polished and consistent four rounds over the two days of competition to earn ten points and join last week’s winner Dries Degrieck (BEL) at the top of the ranking table.  Driving three of his stalwart World Cup horses, Mad Max 81, Bajnok and Barney, plus a new mare Katydid Duchess, Boyd started his bid for another title in emphatic style with three fast clears and only one knock to add four in the final drive-off to end on 149.44, the only driver to go under 150 all weekend – in all four rounds.

Fresh from his pre-season success at indoor events in The Netherlands, Koos brought out some established horses including the versatile Tjibbe and Edgar, and came second after both drive-offs, finishing day two on a time only score of 153.42.  As the wild card he won’t earn ranking points but the performances will boost his morale going into his next event at the 3^rd leg in Stuttgart (GER) where the large arena suits his horses and style of driving.

Still amalgamating some new Lipizzaners into his indoor team, Bram drove well enough to be in the top three in both competitions for drive-off places, and he finished third on both days.  On day one, his corrected error of course in the drive-off added 20 penalties to his time, plus three knocks which meant there was an unusually high total for the reigning champion.  He recovered his form on day two, and his horses were much more united, but a missed turn and extra loop in one of the obstacles meant that he totted up costly seconds to finish on 160.05.

Also making his series debut was fourth-placed Glenn Geerts (BEL), who changed his tactics after day one when his new Lipizzaners still looked to be on a learning curve, and he amassed penalties to add to his time to finish sixth.  But he regrouped, and the improvement in the horses on day two was testament to Glenn’s skills when he gave them the confidence to work better together, only missing out on a drive-off place by one knock and 0.03 of a second to end his opening event on 157.14.

Having driven last weekend in Lyon too, Germans Anna Mareike Meier and Georg von Stein also improved between the two competitions and on day two both produced clear rounds, with Anna Mareike finishing fifth on 162.68 and Georg sixth on 164.25.

Like last weekend, the course was designed by Jeroen Houterman (NED) who - for the second week running - had a bridge in the centre as part of his 13-obstacle course, which felt more compact because of the slightly smaller dimensions of the arena.  For the drive-offs, only the top three from the first rounds came forward and the scores went back to zero, and for competition one’s drive-offs, the F gates were taken out.

Next weekend, the action moves to the Stuttgart German Masters, one of the first events to include the indoor Driving format, even before it became an FEI championship.  Known for one of the biggest crowds on the circuit who love to cheer on the competitors, it promises to be another exciting event.  All on their second outings of the series as qualified drivers Boyd, Koos and Glenn will be joined by Ijsbrand Chardon (NED) and Jérôme Voutaz (SUI), with the wild card to be confirmed.

Live coverage will be on FEI TV on 15 and 16 November.