Double-clear performances from Britain's Nick Skelton and Michael Whitaker sealed victory at the second leg of the 2005 Samsung Super League series in Rome today and the British now share the lead on the 2005 Samsung Super League leaderboard with first-leg winners USA who slotted into runner-up position.
In a steely test of nerves the competition went right down to the wire and Whitaker was the super-star of the day. Under tremendous pressure when everything depended on him as last man into the ring the veteran performer produced a second superb round from Portofino who has found the perfect partner in the Yorkshire-born Englishman whose skills were
not found wanting at the most important moment.
Course-designer Marco Cortinovis set a tough track that British Chef d'Equipe described as "perfect" but which Skelton pointed out was "plenty big and technical. I thought the first double would cause more problems than it did but the last line was difficult - there were faults everywhere on the course so the builder did a good job" he added.
"I found it tough" Whitaker said, "right from the very first fence, there was nothing easy and after the first round I knew my horse and myself had worked hard - the middle of the treble was big and so was the last - horses were getting tired at the end of the track".
Cortinovis sent them off over an oxer facing the collecting ring and swung them back over a right-handed vertical then left-handed down the side of the ring over an oxer to a vertical but it was the following double that began to ask the questions.
From here on riders had to commit themselves to a demanding line including a big wall followed by the water-fence and then another vertical followed by a wide oxer - this proved the undoing of many as a strong ride from the wall to the water left a big number of riders struggling for control to the following vertical. Then there was a wide swing to the triple-bar three fences from home which again asked for a major effort and unbalanced some horses ahead of the tricky triple combination. Time and again falling poles on this late section of the track proved very costly indeed.
By the end of round one the Irish were already trailing the field with 29 faults on the board. Belgium carried 20, the Swiss, Dutch and Italians shared a score of 16, the French carried 15 and Germany and America shared 8 faults while the British already held the advantage with just four on the board.
Going in reverse order of merit the Irish were first into the ring in the second round but not even single-error results from Capt Gerry Flynn (Bornacoola), Harry Marshall (Ado Annie) and Denis Lynch (Domingo) could retrieve the situation and when Capt Shane Carey followed a four-fault first-round performance by adding 12 more this time out with Killossery their game was over.
Belgium's Ludo Philippaerts (Meautry), Maurice Van Roosebroeck (Le Coup C), Marc Van Djick (Verelst Goliath) and Jean-Claude Vangeenberghe (Osta Rugs Tresor) added eight more to their tally while Switzerland and Holland did likewise to finish on a total of 24.
Beat Mandli has found a real talent in the 9 year old Selle-Francais horse Indigo who was competing in only the second Nations Cup competition of his career and this partnership recorded the only other double-clear of the day but, despite a foot-perfect second round for Pius Schwizer and Unique, the Swiss failed to capitalise when Daniel Etter and Hermine d'Auzay added eight more faults to the 16 picked up in round one and Theo Muff and Karondo V. Schl-Hof added 20 more to their first round 12-fault result.
Audi's Jikke produced a second-round clear for Eric Van der Vleuten but Albert Zoer's 28 faults with Lowina was the discard and single errors in each round for Leopold Van Asten (VDL Groep Fleche Rouge) and Leon Thijssen (Nairobi) proved expensive.
Both Natale Chiaudani (Harianna d'Hautieux) and Emanuele Fiorelli (WU Equinoxe du Morin) produced clear rounds for Italy but a total of 36 faults left the home side well out of contention while the French struggled from the start despite a first-round clear for Jean-Marc Nicolas and JPC Modesto Equifoam.
Hubert Bourdy and VDL Groep des Etisses picked up a total of 16 faults over the two rounds, Olivier Guillon and the promising stallion Ionesco de Brekka followed a first-round seven fault result with a very nice clear but Roger-Yves Bost and Ideal de la Loge had double-errors both time out and Nicolas lowered three at his second attempt.
The real battle was raged between the Germans, Americans and British and everything hinged on the final runners.
When Christian Ahlmann (Coster), Marco Kutscher (Cash) and Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (Checkmate) returned home for the second time all the pressure was piled on their last man Ludger Beerbaum and a big surprise was in store. Ludger cleared the triple-bar three from home but, to the amazement of the spectators, Goldfever ducked out to the right-hand side of the following combination and, after another hesitation, the German champion had to call it a day. The absence of a score from him in the second round left them with the addition of four from Ahlmann and eight from Kutscher and this gave some leeway to the last two
teams.
But Beezie Madden-Patton (De Silvio) had a fence down and Anne Kursinski (Roxana) lowered two poles so when Schuyler Riley and Ilian matched Meredith's second-round clear then Laura Kraut was the one in the hot seat. If she could steer Miss Independent home clear then the US would finish with just 12 faults at the end of the day and that would leave them on level-pegging with the British.
Kraut's mare hit the very last however to leave her side with 16 faults on the board.
Arko's second clear was followed by eight faults for both Ellen Whitaker with AK Locarno and William Funnell with Cortaflex Mondriaan so, added to the four carried from the first round, the British tally already stood at 12 faults as Michael Whitaker entered the ring.
No room for error then if his team was to come out on top so what did he have in his mind as he rode into the arena? "Fear!" said Skelton with a grin at the post-competition press conference. "Yes, Nick did have a few sharp words for me before I went in" Whitaker agreed with some amusement but this consummate professional added "you don't get nervous in this situation - you just have to focus on what you are doing and get on with it". At his first attempt he had to coax Portofino through the triple combination when off-balance on the approach and, once again, his horse slithered over the top of the three elements with a great deal of assistance from his pilot to clinch Britain's first significant victory for some time.
Winners on their home turf in Hickstead last summer they had not sufficient horse and rider power to field a team at last summer's Olympic Games but now, quite suddenly, they are re-emerging as a force to be reckoned with. Rock-solid when runners-up in La Baule they are looking confident and competent and team-manager Ricketts is looking forward to the European Championships with renewed enthusiasm.
And so he should be. It was Germany who came to Rome as firm favourites but the Piazza di Siena provided yet another intriguing day of show jumping action and it was the British who came, saw and conquered. Germany had to settle for third behind the Americans with Switzerland and Holland sharing fourth ahead of France in sixth, Belgium in seventh, Italy in eighth and the Irish, now fighting for their lives, in ninth.
In seven day's time the 2005 Samsung Super League battle will be renewed in St Gallen, Switzerland and the British are now riding high, sharing the lead on the league table with the US going into round three.
RESULTS:
1, Great Britain - Arko (Nick Skelton) 0+0, AK Locarno (Ellen Whitaker) 12+8, Cortaflex Mondrian (William Funnell) 4+8, Portofino (Michael Whitaker) 0+0.
2. USA - De Silvio (Bezzie Madden-Patton) 8+4, Roxana (Anne Kursinski) 0+8, Ilian (Schuyler Riley) 8+0, Miss Independent (Laura Kraut) 0+4,
3. Germany - Coster (Christian Ahlmann 4+4, Cash (Marco Kutscher) 0+8, Checkmate (Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum) 4+0, Goldfever (Ludger Beerbaum) 12+Elim.
Equal 4, Switzerland - Unique X CH (Pius Schwizer) 4+0, Hermine d'Auzay (Daniel Etter) 16+8, Karondo V. Schl'Hof CH (Theo Muff0 12+20, Indigo (Beat Mandli) 0+0.
Equal 4, Holland - Audi's Jikke (Eric Van der Vleuten) 8+0, Lowina (Albert Zoer) 20+8, VDL Groep Fleche Rouge (Leopold Van Asten) 4+4, Nairobi (Leon Thijssen) 4+4.
6, France - VDL Groep Eve des Etisses (Hubert Bourdy) 12+4, Ionesco de Brekka (Olivier Guillon) 7+0, Ideal de la Loge (Roger-Yves Bost) 8+8, JPC Modesto Equifoam (Jean-Marc Nicolas) 0+12.
7, Belgium - Meautry (Ludo Philippaerts) 8+8, Le Coup C (Maurice Van Roosebroeck) 8+4, Verelst Goliath (Marc Van Djick) 8+4, Osta Rugs Tresor (Jean-Claude Vangeenberghe) 4+0.
8, Italy - Landknecht (Bruno Chimirri) 4+12, WU Equinoxe du Morin (Emanuele Fiorelli) 0+8, Askoll Rosa (Vincenzo Chimirri) 12+12,
Harianne d'Hautieux (Natale Chiaudani) 12+0.
Ireland - Bornacoola (Capt G Flynn) 16+4, Ado Annie (Harry Marshall) 8+4, Domingo (Denis Lynch) 20+4, Killossery (Capt S Carey) 5+12.
SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE LEADERBOARD (after Round 2 in Rome) :
EQUAL 1. USA and Great Britain - 17
3. Germany - 9
4. France - 7
5. Switzerland - 6
6. The Netherlands - 4.5
7. Belgium - 3.5
8. Ireland - 1
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