Swiss ascendancy continued as they stole the show in Rotterdam this afternoon with an emphatic victory in the fifth leg of the 2006 Samsung Super League with FEI series. They have only improved one place on the leaderboard, moving into third going into the next leg at Hickstead, but they now lie just over one point behind the USA in second spot while Germany continues to hold the lead.
It was not a wonderful afternoon for the league leaders however, as they had to settle for equal-fifth at the end of a competition that was filled with drama and excitement from start to finish, while the home team was crushed by a disastrous first round performance from which they could not recover, subsequently slotting into last place.
Instead of pulling away from the Irish at the bottom of the league table the Dutch have now inched closer with only 0.625 points separating the two sides with just three legs of the series remaining, so there are worrying times ahead for both team managers.
The Netherlands Chef d'Equipe, Rob Ehrens, remarked afterwards that the Dutch decline began when Jeroen Dubbeldam, first into the ring and knowing that the time would be difficult to get, cut tight to the second fence with BMC Nassau and paid the price there.
The stallion seemed to get increasingly irritable, eventually returning a 21-fault score - "and it was all gone after that" Ehrens said. Harrie Smolders and Exquis Oliver Q collected only one time penalty but Rob Jansen's track took a heavy toll, the level oxers continually taking horses by surprise as they only sighted the back bar after take-off which left them stretching to make it to the landing side, and both Albert Zoer (Okidoki) and Gerco Schroder (Eurocommerce Milano) had three fences down to leave the home team
with a colossal 25 faults at the end of round one.
The rest were more closely bunched with considerably less faults at the halfway stage, the USA in second-last place with 13, the French, Irish, Swiss and Swedes just marginally better carrying 12 each, the British holding second spot with four on the board and Germany in their all-too-familiar dominant position with a zero score despite 19 faults from pathfinders Lars Nieberg and Lucie who crashed into the first element of the final double. Jansen's 12-fence track presented plenty of problems including a difficult straight run from the FEI vertical at four to the oxer at five and a narrow white stile
at six, but the curving line from the penultimate water jump to the double which completed the track produced some of the most heart-stopping moments of the afternoon as riders struggled to re-group after a strong run to the water.
Dubbeldam enjoyed a much better time when kicking off round two with just a single time penalty, and when Smolders was clear things were looking up, but eight faults from Zoer and Schroder saw the Dutch complete with a total of 34 to finish last. The Irish however very nearly matched that final tally as pathfinder Shane Breen added 12 faults to the four picked up in the first round and while Captain Shane Carey and Killossery added just five and Cian O'Connor and Irish Independent Echo Beach made only a single error once again, they were badly hampered by a colossal 34 faults from Billy Twomey and Luidam and their final tally of 33 gave them only the smallest advantage over the Dutch.
The Americans added only five faults to complete with 18 at the end of the second round when Margie Engle produced a superb clear from Quervo Gold. Candice King's eight faults with Tarco was the drop score this time when Molly Ashe and Neuville picked up just one time penalty and Laura Kraut and Miss Independent looked like repeating their first-round fault-free performance until hitting the second element of the final double. The French added just four to their tally when Pierry Jarry (Haxelle Dampiere) and Simon Delestre
(Inedite de Balme) incurred single errors and Stephane Lafouge (Gabelou des Ores) and Michel Robert (Galet d'Auzay) were clear but the British and Germans plummeted down the order in the closing stages.
First-round clears from both William Funnell (Cortaflex Mondriaan) and John Whitaker (Peppermill) had bolstered the British position despite the bizarre elimination of Nick Skelton and Arko who ran out of take-off space in front of the stile at fence six and stopped before then hitting it at his second attempt, and Skelton pulled the stallion out of the combination when the horse, who has been showing superb form recently, was in all sorts of trouble there. Arko seemed much more settled next time out but when Skelton was
wide on his line to the final double the stallion threw in another objection to return an eight-fault score which proved expensive after Michael Whitaker and Funnell each faulted once and John Whitaker had two fences down. Meanwhile the Germans were rapidly losing their grip with another 12 faults from Nieberg putting pressure on the three first-round clear performers, and when Pia-Luise Aufrecht (Hofgut Liederbach's Abrisca) and Marcus Ehning (Gitania) both had a pole down and Franke Sloothaak (Legurio) put 12 on the board they joined the British on a 20-fault total.
The Swedes however were truly surprising once again. They showed a dramatic improvement in Lucerne three weeks ago and there was something even more convincing about them today when Malin Baryard-Johnsson recovered from a disastrous four fences down first time out to show that her partnership with Butterfly Flip is far from over with a lovely clear second round. Rolf-Goran Bengtsson meanwhile is honing a great relationship with the athletic chestnut Ninja La Silla who, on a day of seriously tough jumping, recorded the only double-clear score of the entire competition and when Royne Zetterman (Isaac) and Maria Gretzer (Spender) faulted only once the Swedish tally of 16 was good enough for runner-up spot.
The Swiss managed to win the day with only a three-man team when Pius Schwizer retired Unique after two first-round mistakes and then did not have to return to the ring a second time as Willie Melliger (Lea C), Niklaus Schurtenberger (Cantus) and Werner Muff (Plot Blue) all kept a clean sheet to complete on a 12-fault score. Swiss Chef d'Equipe Rolf Grass was typically reticent despite his side's success but said afterwards that today's win will allow him to stand down some of his WEG-bound riders in the forthcoming weeks. "The names of the group of six riders for the World Equestrian Games will be released in about a week" he said. Mr Grass added that "in the first round all of our
horses made a mistake and in nations cup competition you need clear rounds, but in the second round we all went clear and that is what brought about this result for us today" and Werner Muff is now very much a contender for a place in the WEG side with the exciting Plot Blue. The stallion, whose jumping technique is particularly impressive, looks to be growing in confidence and his rider, who was unsure that the nine year old was ready for a championship challenge despite his good showing in Lucerne, is now convinced that he is, in fact, well capable. "I never thought we would get such big results so quickly, but he has done a really good job every time I have taken him out
this season so I'm very happy with him - for me he is famous!" Muff pointed out.
So with Germany still out in front, and with the Swiss challenging the Americans for second position, the 2006 Samsung Super League with FEI series takes a five-week break before the next leg in Hickstead at the end of July where the Dutch and Irish will be locked in combat in an effort to avoid relegation after the final at Barcelona in September.
RESULT:
1. Switzerland 12 faults: Lea C (Willi Melliger) 4/0, Cantus (Niklaus Schurtenberger) 4/0, Plot Blue (Werner Muff) 4/0, Unique X CH (Pius Schwizer) Ret/DNS.
2. France 16 faults: Haxelle Dampiere (Pierre Jarry) 4/8, Inedite de Balme (Simon Delestre) 8/4, Gabelou des Ores (Stephane Lafouge) 4/0, Galet D'Auzay (Michel Robert) 4/0.
2. Sweden 16 faults : Butterfly Flip (Malin Baryard-Johnsson) 16/0, Ninja la Silla (Rolf-Goran Bengtsson) 0/0, Isaac (Royne Zetterman) 12/4 , Spender S (Maria Gretzer) 0/4.
4. USA 18 faults : Quervo Gold (Margie Goldstein-Engle) 4/0, Tarco (Candice King) 9/8, Neuville (Molly Ashe) 9/1, Miss Independent (Laura Kraut) 0/4.
5. Germany 20 faults: Lucie (Lars Nieberg) 19/13, Hofgut Liederbach's Abrisca (Pia-Luise Aufrecht) 0/4, Legurio (Franke Sloothaak) 0/12, Gitania (Marcus Ehning) 0/4.
5. Great Britain 20 faults: Insultech Portofino (Michael Whitaker) 4/4, Peppermill (John Whitaker) 0/8, Cortaflex Mondriaan (William Funnell) 0/4, Arko (Nick Skelton) Ret/8.
7. Ireland 33 faults: World Cruise (Shane Breen) 4/12, Killossery (Capt Shane Carey) 4/5, Irish Independent Echo Beach (Cian O'Connor) 4/4, Luidam (Billy Twomey) 17/17.
8. The Netherlands 34 faults: BMC Nassau (Jeroen Dubbeldam) 20/1, Exquis Oliver Q (Harrie Smolders) 1/0, Okidoki (Albert Zoer) 12/8, Eurocommerce Milane (Gerco Schroder) 12/8.
SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE WITH FEI 2006 : LEADERBOARD AFTER ROUND 4 IN LUCERNE :
1. Germany - 34.625
2. USA - 27.5
3. Switzerland - 26.125
4. France - 24.0
5. Sweden - 16.125
6. Great Britain- 16
7. Netherlands - 9.625
8. Ireland - 9.0
SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE - NATIONAL PRIDE, INTERNATIONAL PASSION!
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