When it comes to drama Hickstead rarely disappoints and today's fifth
leg of the Samsung Super League series produced plenty of exciting
moments as, just had been expected, the Americans and Germans battled
it out for pole position with Germany coming out on top and taking over
at the head of the league table.
US riders were clearly on form when taking the top three placings in
the early morning class but winner, McLain Ward, was quickly brought
back to earth when biting the dirt at the penultimate double of ditches
in the nations' cup when his 10 year old mare, Sapphire, backed right
off the second element and fell in a pile of poles.
Switzerland's Hansueli Sprunger, already in trouble when Rubens Du Ry
D'Asse stopped at the first element of the double at fence seven before
lowering two more fences, also gave his rider the ejector seat at the
ditches but the horse didn't fall and Sprunger remounted to finish.
The horse looked uncomfortable leaving the arena however and the Swiss
rider did not return for the second round.
In a surprising move, the French withdrew in round one after pathfinder
Philippe Rozier was eliminated at the same fence and new recruit,
Nathalie Paillot, picked up 27 faults.
Course-builder Bob Ellis gave them plenty to think about with a maximum
height vertical at three, a difficult line from a triple bar at six to
a double at seven followed by a dog-leg to a set of planks, while the
Longines double - oxer to vertical - at nine hit the floor for many.
The ditches however were the real bogey but, by round two when Germany
already held the advantage with the Dutch in second, the US in third,
Belgium in fourth, Ireland in fifth, Switzerland in sixth and the home
side in last, things began to settle down with considerably improved
performances all round.
John Whitaker and Exploit du Roulard produced one of only six clear
rounds when leading the way in the second round but the British were
struggling while the Swiss, hampered by the absence of Sprunger, had to
settle for a total score of 52 faults despite a foot-perfect second
round for Puis Schwizer and Unique.
Belgium's Jean Claude Vangeenberghe also kept a second-round clean
sheet with Osta Rugs Quintus but after big scores for Maurice van
Roosbroeck and Dirk Demeersman both times out, Belgium finished just
one fault ahead of the Swiss in sixth while the British slotted into
fifth.
Cian O'Connor made the perfect return to the Irish team when clear with
Waterford Crystal in round one and, on his Super League debut, Shane
Breen produced a creditable 12-fault result with World Cruise, but big
scores for Dave Quigley and Denis Lynch jeopardised Irish chances and,
although they slotted into fourth place in the final analysis the Irish
have dropped to the bottom of the league table going into their home
leg in Dublin next week.
Wout Jan van der Schans picked up a total of 32 faults but just six
faults over two rounds for Harrie Smolders and Oliver, boosted by a
first round clear and a nine-fault second-round result for Mathijs Van
Asten and VDL Groep Kwidanta, helped the Dutch to slot into third.
The real battle was between the Americans and Germans however and
despite the loss of Ward the US were impressive when Kimberley Prince
made only a single error each time out while Beezie Madden kept the
pressure on when picking up just four first-round faults with
Authentic.
German Chef d'Equipe did not tell Rene Tebbel that the result hung in
the balance as he went into the ring last with Quel Homme but Tebbel
did not disappoint, coming home with a single time fault to ensure his
side won by a narrow one-point margin.
The league table continues to be a close-fought thing with only one
point separating the Belgians, Dutch and Irish at the bottom end and
just 1.5 points between the Germans in pole position and the US in
second.
RESULTS:
1. Germany - 27 faults: Diamonds Daylight (Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst)
1+5, Asti Spumante (Thomas Muhlbauer) 4+4, Carino (Ulrich Kirchhoff)
16+12, Quel Homme (Rene Tebbel) 12+1.
2. USA - 28 faults: Miss Independent (Laura Kraut) 12+4, Marlou
(Kimberley Prince) 4+4, Sapphire (McLain Ward) Elim+DNS, Authentic
(Beezie Madden) 4+0.
3. The Netherlands - 39 faults: Oliver (Harrie Smolders) 2+4, Miss
Montana (Emile Tacken) 17+9, Broere VDL Atlantic (Wout-Jan van der
Schans) 24+8, VDL Groep Kwidanta (Mathijs Van Asten) 0+8.
4. Ireland - 45 faults: Waterford Crystal (Cian O'Connor) 0+9, World
Cruise (Shane Breen) 8+4, Ashdale Futuro (David Quigley) 21+5, Domingo
(Denis Lynch) 20+8.
5. Great Britain - 48 faults: Exploit du Roulard (John Whitaker) 13+0,
Nicolette (Robert Whitaker) 13+12, Thesaura (Mark Armstrong) 9+5,
Russel (Nick Skelton) 25+8.
6. Belgium - 51 faults: Osta Rugs Quintus (Jean-Claude Van Geenberghe)
9+0, Le Coup C (Maurice Van Roosbroeck) 20+17, Tiquila (Dirk
Demeersman) 9+29, Karioka del Follee (Philippe Le Jeune) 8+8. 7. Switzerland - 52 faults: Unique (Pius Schwizer) 12+0, Cantus
(Niklaus Schurtenberger) 9+9, Hansueli Sprunger (Rubens du Ry D'Asse)
34+DNS, Principal (Beat Mandli) 9+13.
8. France - Retired: Senna Van Paemel (Philippe Rozier) Elim, Kapital
Girl (Nathalie Paillot) 27, Cyrenaike FRA (Philippe Leoni) DNS, First
de Launay (Florian Angot) DNS.
SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE LEADERBOARD (after Round 5 in Hickstead):
1. Germany - 31
2. USA - 28.5
3. Great Britain - 23.5
4. Switzerland - 23.0
5. France - 20.5
6. Belgium - 12.5
7. The Netherlands - 12.0
8. Ireland - 11.5.
SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE - NATIONAL PRIDE, INTERNATIONAL PASSION!
For further information on the fifth leg of the Samsung Super League at
HICKSTEAD contact Press Officer Peter Jeffery at
jeffery.communications@btopenworld.com, tel: +441643 831011 , fax:
+441643 831040 or check out the website www.hickstead.co.uk.
The sixth leg takes place in Dublin next Friday, August 5th. Show
President is Dr Austin Mescal, Show Director if Gerry McAuliffe, Show
Secretary is Neil Campbell and Press Officer is Fiona Sheridan - email
fiona.sheridan@rds.ie, website www.dublinhorseshow.com or telephone
Fiona on mobile ++353879901029, landline ++35312407392.
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