By Louise Parkes
The 25 horses who will battle it out for the PSI FEI European Individual Jumping Championship title tomorrow afternoon were confirmed tonight following the Second Horse Inspection. All the horses presented were given the thumbs-up, and the stage is now set for a thrilling finale to a memorable week in the history of the sport.
There were three withdrawals before the inspection. They were Carsten-Otto Nagel’s Corradina (GER) lying in 25th place, Henrik von Eckermann’s Gotha FRH lying 20th for Sweden and Emanuele Gaudiano’s Cocoshynsky, lying 14th place for Italy. A total of 30 horses came before the veterinary panel, and the withdrawals allowed the next three to move up into a top-25 starting spot, so Italy’s Luca Moneta and Neptune Brecourt have made the cut along with Denmark’s Andreas Schou (Vivaldi K) and The Netherlands’ Maikel van der Vleuten (VDL Groep Verdi).
Head the Leaderboard
Great Britain’s Ben Maher and Cella head the leaderboard on a zero score going into the first of two rounds of jumping, but they can’t afford to blink because Frenchman Roger Yves Bost and Castle Forbes Myrtille Paulois are only fractionally behind carrying just 0.58 points while defending Individual European champion, Rolf-Goran Bengtsson from Sweden, is only slightly further adrift in third with Casall Ask on 1.63 points.
It promises to be a mammoth battle, with Germany’s Daniel Deusser (Cornet D’Amour) and Ludger Beerbaum (Chiara) in fourth and fifth places ahead of reigning Olympic champions, Steve Guerdat and Nino des Buissonnets who are lying sixth and just over a fence off gold medal position. And there are just two fences between Maher and Germany’s Christian Ahlmann (Codex One) who has held the No. 1 spot in the Longines rankings for the last eight months and who goes into tomorrow’s final tussle in 11th position.
Italy’s Moneta will be first into the ring when the action kicks off at 13.15 local time.
Flawless Rounds
Maher needs another two flawless rounds from Jane Clark’s wonderful 13-year-old grey mare if he is to become the first British rider to take the Individual European title since John Whitaker who came out on top with the great Milton in Rotterdam (NED) in 1989.
And it would be quite a coincidence if he could do it, because that would make it a British double of team and Individual titles, just as it was 24 years ago when Michael Whitaker, a member of yesterday’s historic British team gold medal winning side, finished close behind his older brother in individual silver spot.
Strong history
The British have a strong history in the FEI European Championships, with six individual and four team titles to their credit, but as Chef d’Equipe Rob Hoekstra pointed out after their long-awaited team victory yesterday their Championships record has not been impressive in the modern era. Team gold at the London 2012 Olympic Games seems to have changed all that however and, 24 years after he clinched that individual silver, Michael Whitaker is still as competitive as ever and goes into the ring tomorrow with Viking in 18th place and just over two fences off his team-mate Maher at the head of affairs.
Germany holds the record for most wins in the Individual Championship with 14 to their credit since the legendary Hans Gunther Winkler came out on top at the inaugural fixture in Rotterdam (NED) in 1957. Only eight riders competed that year, but a total of 92 athletes from 22 countries contested the Jumping medals at this week’s ECCO FEI European Championships which, for the first time, have brought together the three disciplines of Jumping, Dressage and Para-Dressage.
Provisional Startlist for Day 4, Third Competition, First Round PSI FEI European Jumping Individual Final - here
Facts and Figures:
3 horses were withdrawn before this evening’s Second Horse Inspection for the PSI FEI European Jumping Championships 2013 in Herning, Denmark.
That moved the next three horses up into the Top-25 who will battle it out for the Individual title tomorrow afternoon.
The withdrawn horses were Carsten-Otto Nagel’s Corradina (GER) who was lying in 25th place, Henrik von Eckermann’s Gotha FRH who was lying 20th for Sweden and Emanuele Gaudiano’s Cocoshynsky, lying in 14th place for Italy.
The top-30 horses went before the veterinary panel, and when all the presented horses passed inspection that brought Italy’s Luca Moneta and Neptune Brecourt onto the start-list along with Denmark’s Andreas Schou and Vivaldi K and The Netherlands’ Maikel van der Vleuten with VDL Groep Verdi.
Moneta will be first into the ring when the action gets underway at 13.15 local time.
Great Britain’s Ben Maher and Cella head the leaderboard on a zero score going into tomorrow’s first of two rounds of jumping. However Roger Yves Bost and Castle Forbes Myrtille Paulois are only fractionally behind carrying just 0.58 points while defending Individual champion, Rolf-Goran Bengtsson from Sweden, is only slightly further adrift in third with Casall Ask on 1.63 points.
Germany’s Daniel Deusser (Cornet D’Amour) and Ludger Beerbaum (Chiara) are in fourth and fifth places ahead of reigning Olympic champions, Steve Guerdat and Nino des Buissonnets, in sixth place and just over a fence off gold medal position.
Germany’s Daniel Deusser and Cornet D’Amour are lying fourth, and less than a fence behind Britain’s Ben Maher and Cella at the top of the leaderboard, going into tomorrow’s Top-25 Individual Final of the PSI FEI European Jumping Championship at Herning in Denmark. Photo: FEI/Kit Houghton.
Campus
