SAMSUNG SUPERLEAGUE WITH FEI 2008 - WHITAKER WINS IT FOR BRITAIN.....

John Whitaker secured victory for Britain in a two-way jump-off against America's Will Simpson at the exciting second leg of the 2008 Samsung Super League with FEI series in Rome this evening.

On a day full of twists and turns the much-fancied German team had to settle for third place ahead of the Irish and Dutch who shared fourth, while the non-Super League host side from Italy gave an excellent account of themselves when slotting into sixth ahead of Belgium in seventh place.

It was another difficult day for the Swedish side however, and, finishing joint-eighth with Switzerland, they are now looking very vulnerable indeed. With just 1.25 points to their credit after the first two rounds of the eight-leg series they are already lagging well behind the rest on the leaderboard.....

THE COURSE.....

Italian course designer Marco Cortinovis set them a strong test over his 12-fence track. "It was big - quite big" said Whitaker afterwards, and there were plenty of technical questions out there as well. "It was difficult down the last line" he pointed out. That consisted of a 1.60m wall followed by a long six strides to a double of oxers - "and then there were six short strides to the vertical at the end - a lot of riders found that difficult to make" the 52 year old British veteran added.

Earlier on the track the short four-stride distance between the triple bar at fence eight and the following 1.60m vertical proved the undoing of many, but it was the triple combination at fence seven that put the Swedes under pressure when Helena Lundback ran into problems there in both rounds.

The water-tray under the middle element took many horses by surprise and Lundback's Madick didn't like it at all, stopping in both rounds and collecting an expensive total of 49 faults. And that same fence also influenced the Swiss result when Werner Muff's Plot Blue was eliminated there second time out.

FIRST ROUND....

The surprises had already started springing when the British and Americans found themselves sharing the lead at the half-way stage with the Irish. Everyone had expected a German walk-over with Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (Shutterfly), Marco Kutscher (Cornet Obolensky), Ludger Beerbaum (All Inclusive) and Christian Ahlmann (Coster) lining out looking every bit the Olympic team but, as luck would have it, all four made a single error to leave them sharing a first-round score of 12 along with the Dutch and Italians.

The Belgians, winners at the opening leg of the series in La Baule two weeks ago, were carrying eight while the leaders all shared a score of just four faults, each team bolstered by two clears - Nicole Shahinian-Simpson (SRF Dragonfly) and Will Simpson (El Campeon's Carlsson Vom Dach) foot-perfect for the US, Tim Stockdale (Fresh Direct Corlato) and John Whitaker (Peppermill) for Britain and Edward Doyle (Sequoyah Farms Utopia) and Cian O'Connor (Irish Independent Echo Beach) for Ireland.

The Swiss and Swedes were already in trouble with 16 faults each on the board, and neither would recover.

ROUND TWO.....

The Irish had very much been hoping that the addition of Jessica Kuerten to their side would seriously boost their chances but the World No. 2 rider replaced the on-form Quibell, who won the Grand Prix during the Rolex FEI World Cup™ Jumping final in Gothenburg last month, with Galopin de Biolay due to a last-minute injury and picked up eight faults in both rounds. So when Doyle kicked off round two with two fences down they began to lose their grip despite just single errors from O'Connor and Denis Lynch (Lantinus).

The Germans meanwhile were much improved with clears from Michaels-Beerbaum and Ahlmann and four faults for the other two riders, but although Harry Smolders led the Dutch second-round assault with a nice clear from Exquis Oliver, single mistakes from Leopold Van Asten (VDL Groep Fleche Rouge) and Marc Houtzager (Opium) and a double-error from Wim Schroder (Eurocommerce Pennsylvania) increased their tally to 20 faults The Italians meanwhile produced two great clears - Giulia Martinengo and Loro Piana Athletica following her first-round four faults with a foot-perfect run and Emilio Bicocchi and Jeckerson Kapitol D'Argonne sealing one of those special double-clear performances - but they had to add the nine second-round faults from Omar Bonomelli (Quintero) when anchorman Piergiorgio Bucci left four on the floor with Da Zara Porto Rico and that left them on a total of 21 and therefore down the order.

The Belgians were hampered by an 11-fault result for Pieter Devos (Tekila D) so were forced to add 16 additional penalties when both Ludo Philippaerts (Cavalor's Winningmoodtop Gun) and Jos Lansink (Valentina Van T Heike) faulted once and Dirk Demeersman (Tymoon Caloo Meerchen) collected eight, and they completed with 24 on the board.

Not even the lovely second-round clear produced by anchorman Rolf-Goran Bengtsson (Loro Piana Ninja la Silla) could rescue the Swedish side however when both Peter Ericksson's eight with Jaguar Mail and Peder Fredricson's eight with H&M Arctic Aurora Borealis had to be counted. And Muff's elimination sealed the fate of the Swiss who also added 16 faults to complete with a total of 32.

At the sharp end however the British and Americans stayed neck-and-neck when Stockdale and John Whitaker completed double-clears leaving Britain to add only the four collected by Michael Whitaker (Suncal Portofino) as Robert Smith's eight with Ronaldo provided the drop-score and Simpson secured the same two-round tally of eight for the USA when clear again. Anne Kursinski's double-error this time out with Roxana was the discard when Charlie Jayne - a real find for the US side this season - added just four with Urbanus and Nicole Shahinian Simpson was clear.

It would now be a two-way jump-off against the clock.

JUMP-OFF....

When it comes to riding at speed, Will Simpson is no shrinking violet, and the American led the way against the clock with a cracking run in 34.75, but he left the door ajar when dropping the second element of the triple, now reduced to just two jumping efforts. And John Whitaker decided to risk it with a slow clear round. "Will was very fast and I just thought that I'd be stupid to try to catch him even though Peppermill is a really quick horse, so I took the gamble" he said afterwards. And the gamble paid off handsomely as Peppermill cruised through the finish as cool as a breeze in 44.52 seconds to clinch it.

Talking about Peppermill, who will defend his 2007 Rome Grand Prix victory next Sunday, John said "he's really feeling good". Asked if today's British team was a likely Olympic selection he said "yes, I think so" although he added that Robert Smith's Ronaldo is "still just a bit green". He knows he has Olympic potential in his own horse who has been holidaying since last December and only came back to work to compete in Hamburg two weeks ago where he finished fifth in the Grand Prix. "He was tired towards the end of last year and he needed the break - he's come back full of himself which is great" he added.

This result leaves Britain just 0.33 points behind the USA. and in joint-second place with Belgium on the 2008 Samsung Super League with FEI leaderboard going into the next leg in St Gallen, Switzerland next Friday and the British are feeling very good indeed while the Americans can also afford to slap themselves on the back.

Ireland lies fourth, four points adrift of the leaders, with The Netherlands next head of Switzerland in sixth, and Germany in seventh. Sweden is tailing the rest by just under five points. They, like the host Swiss team, will be hoping to produce a much better result in seven days time....

RESULT:
1. Great Britain 8 flts (0 in third-round jump-off): Suncal Portofino (Michael Whitaker) 4/4, Fresh Direct Corlato (Tim Stockdale) 0/0, Ronaldo (Robert Smith) 12/8, Peppermill (John Whitaker) 0/0/0/44.52.
2. USA 12 flts (4 in third-round jump-off): Roxana (Anne Kursinski) 4/8, Urbanus (Charlie Jayne) 0/4, SRF Dragonfly (Nicole Shahinian-Simpson) 4/0, El Campeon's Carlsson Vom Dach (William Simpson) 0/0/4/34.57.
3. Germany 16 flts: Shutterfly (Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum) 4/0, Cornet Obolensky (Marco Kutscher) 4/4, All Inclusive (Ludger Beerbaum) 4/4, Coster (Christian Ahlmann) 4/0.
Equal 4. Ireland 20 flts: Sequoyah Farms Utopia (Edward Doyle) 0/8, Galopin de Biolay (Jessica Kuerten) 8/8, Irish Independent Echo Beach (Cian O'Connor) 0/4, Lantinus (Denis Lynch) 4/4.
Equal 4. The Netherlands 20 flts: Exquis Oliver (Harry Smolders) 12/0, VDL Groep Fleche Rouge (Leopold Van Asten) 4/4, Eurocommerce Pennsylvania (Wim Schroder) 8/8, Opium VS (Marc Houtzager) 0/4.
6. Italy 21 flts: Loro Piana Athletica (Giulia Martinengo) 4/0, Quintero (Omar Bonomelli) 8/9, Jeckerson Kapitol d'Argonne (Emilio Bicocchi) 0/0, Da Zara Porto Rico (Piergiorgio Bucci) 8/16.
7. Belgium 24 flts: Cavalor's Winningmood (Ludo Philippaerts) 4/4, Takila D (Pieter Devos) 4/11, Tymoon Caloo Meerchen (Dirk Demeersman) 4/8, Valentina Van T Heike (Jos Lansink) 0/4.
Equal 8. Sweden 32 flts: Jaguar Mail (Peter Eriksson) 8/8, H&M Arctic Akurora Borealis (Peer Fredricson) 4/8, Madick (Helena Lundback) 21/28, Loro Piana Ninja la Silla (Rolf-Goran Bengtsson) 4/0.
Equal 8. Switzerland 32 flts: Plot Blue (Werner Muff) 4/Elim, Peu a Peu (Daniel Etter) 4/8, Cantus (Niklaus Schurtenberger) 8/4, Ideo du Thot (Beat Mandli) 12/4.

SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE WITH FEI 2008 - LEADERBOARD AFTER SECOND LEG IN ROME:

1. USA - 12.33
2. Great Britain - 12.0
2. Belgium - 12.0
4. Ireland - 8.83
5. The Netherlands- 6.5
6. Switzerland - 6.08
7. Germany - 6.0
8. Sweden - 1.25

For FURTHER DETAILS about the second leg of the 2008 Samsung Super League with FEI at the Piazza di Siena in Rome, Italy on Friday 23 May check out WEBSITE www.fise.it. Show President at the French fixture is Cesare Croce, Show Director is Marco Danese and Press Officer is Maria Calabretta - Email m.calabretta_3@libero.it

The NEXT LEG takes place in St Gallen, Switzerland on Friday 30 May. For information on the Swiss fixture check out WEBSITE www.csio.ch. Show President is Peter Stoessel, Show Director is Urs Schiendorfer, Show Secretary is Silvia Gonzalez and Press Officer is Peter Wyrsch - Email peter.wyrsch@sportinformation.ch.

FEI TELEVISION - BROADCAST INFORMATION - ROUND TWO IN ROME :
Live/Delayed Live
RAI (Italy) - Friday 23 May - check local listings
Equidia (France) - Friday 23 May 18.00, Sunday 25 May 21.45
TV4 (Sweden) - Friday 23 May 17.10

Highlights
CNBC Asia - Saturday 7 June 15.00
CNBC Europe - Saturday 7 June 17.00
ESPN Brazil - Check local listings
ESPN Star - Check local listings
Eurosport (Europe) - Wednesday 4 June 20.40, Thursday 5 June 09.00
Eurosport (Asia) - Thursday 12 June 10.00
Finnish Sport TV - Check local listings
Fox Middle East - Friday 6 June 16.00, Monday 9 June 03.00, 08.00, Monday 9 June 15.00
SuperSport (Africa) - Thursday 12 June 17.30, Friday 13 June 02.00, 06.00, Saturday 14 June 09.00, Sunday 15 June 11.00,
Monday 16 June 15.00, Tuesday 17 June 17.00, Wednesday 25 June 00.30
Sport Plus (France) - Monday 2 June 23.15
Sport TV (Portugal) - Check local listings
TVE (Spain) - Check local listings
WCSN (USA) - Check local listings

SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE - NATIONAL PRIDE, INTERNATIONAL PASSION!

SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE WITH FEI - 2008 CALENDAR OF EVENTS:

ROUND 1 - La Baule (FRA) 5-11 May; ROUND 2 - Rome (ITA) 22-25 May; ROUND 3 - St Gallen (SUI) 29 May - 1 June: ROUND 4 - Rotterdam (NED) 18-22 June; ROUND 5 - Aachen (GER) 1-6 July; ROUND 6 - Hickstead (GBR) 24-27 July; ROUND 7 - Dublin (IRL) 8-10 August; ROUND 8 and FINAL - Barcelona (ESP) 18-21 September.

You can access all the latest Samsung Super League with FEI news and information on website www.samsungsuperleague.com

Want to know more? Check out the comprehensive MEDIA GUIDE for the series, available in print (contact: olivia.robinson@fei.org)and for download at www.samsungsuperleague.com under "Media Guide" heading.

PHOTOGRAPHS - A Photo Gallery of pictures is available on the Samsung Super League with FEI website for use by professional media only. The gallery will be regularly updated with low and high-resolution photographs and is password protected. To obtain a password follow the simple instructions when clicking on the link.

The Samsung Super League with FEI consists of the eight most prestigious horse shows at which the world's eight best national teams compare their merit. The Samsung Super League with FEI is connected to the FEI Nations Cup series through a promotion/relegation system at the end of each season.

Samsung Electronics, one of the world's largest electronics companies, is committed to supporting international sporting events, thereby returning corporate profits to the public and working towards a more harmonious and equitable society.