Jumping News: CSI5* San Patrignano (ITA)

The British Jumping legend John Whitaker, 52, who sports no less than 30 years of victories on the international circuit, was the winner in Sunday evening’s tenth “UNIRE - Challenge Vincenzo Muccioli” Grand Prix at San Patrignano.

It was a tough two rounds. The first was made up of fourteen instead of the usual thirteen fences, and the jump off (eight fences) was technically one of the most difficult this season. Whitaker rode Peppermill, a nine year old Dutch stallion, to a double clear round and a time on the jump off of 51.95 seconds securing the first place rewarded by a prize money of EUR 65,000. The only other double clear was Switzerland’s Beat Mandli, team silver at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, whose time with Indigo IX was a full three seconds behind the winner. Jeroem Dubbledam (NED), winner of the individual gold in Sydney and of two bronze medals at the European Championship last year at San Patrignano, was third on BMC Up and Down. The Dutch rider went into the second round with four faults – a best time in the jump off of 49.86 seconds was not sufficient to take the top spot in front of his two adversaries.

John Whitaker was “very happy” about the result. “Winning here is extremely prestigious. Peppermill was fabulous. Everything came easy tonight, San Patrignano is beautiful. This is why the victory is so valuable to me. The course was very difficult, especially the double combination, which was big and a bit delicate in its construction”, he explained, "but in a competition of this caliber, especially in preparation for the World Championships, it’s to be expected. All the fences were almost of the maximum height, but some of the tough spots in the course weren’t immediately obvious. I think the course may have been underrated by a lot of riders when they first walked it. This explains a lot of errors, but a Grand Prix of this level requires a certain degree of difficulty”.

Fourth place went to Christina Liebherr (SUI), silver medalist at San Patrignano 2005; fifth place to Dutch rider Albert Zoer and sixth to Rölf Goran Bengtsson (SWE). The results of the two German riders, who had been “commuting” between Munster and Rimini each day to compete in their country’s National Championship as well as in the “Challenge Vincenzo Muccioli”, Ludger Beerbaum and Marco Kutscher were somewhat weaker. They placed ninth and tenth respectively.

Over six thousand spectators attended the event's last class, filling the grandstands of the outdoor arena in Europe’s largest center for rehabilitation of drug addicts. In just ten years, this CSI has become one of the most important in the world.