SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE WITH FEI 2007 - PRESS RELEASE NO. 3

GERMANY WILL SHOW THE WAY TO GO.....

The defending champions from Germany will lead the way as the 2007 Samsung Super League with FEI series gets underway at the Francois Andre Stadium in La Baule, France tomorrow afternoon.

The draw was made earlier today and the starting order will be as follows:
1, Germany; 2, The Netherlands; 3, France; 4, Sweden; 5 Switzerland; 6, USA; 7, Great Britain; 8, Belgium.

This is a useful drawn position for the Belgians who are making a return to the elite level of international team show jumping after a year's absence following relegation at the end of the 2005 season. Jean-Paul Musette, who trains the Junior and Young Rider teams in Belgium, is stepping in to replace Lucien Somers as Chef d'Equipe for this first leg of the new series and is armed with a strong squad that includes the reigning World Champion Jos Lansink. Dirk Demeersman, Philippe Lejeune, Ludo Philippaerts and Marc Van Dijck complete his side but Lansink has left his World Championship ride Cumano at home because, according to Musette, "this horse's priority is qualification for the Olympic Games at the European Championships and it is too early in the season to put him under pressure" so Lansink will choose from Al Kaheel Spender S, Turbo R or Vainqueur.

The Germans never looked to be under any pressure as they recorded four victories during last season's eight-leg series and they are coming out with all guns blazing in 2007 as Chef d'Equipe Kurt Gravemeier has Marcus Ehning, Ludger Beerbaum, Heinrich Hermann Engemann, Marco Kutscher and Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst to select from later today. The team managers will confirm their teams tonight.

Holland's Rob Ehrens, who received a special presentation during the FEI World Cup show in s'Hertogenbosch in March to mark his contribution towards The Netherland's gold medal winning performance at the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games, has a five-strong side that includes Sydney Olympic Games gold medallist Jeroen Dubbeldam along with Angelique Hoorn, Marc Houtzager, Piet Raijmakers and Vincent Voorn, while there are changes to the home-side team already announced.

New French Chef d'Equipe, Gilles Bertran de Balanda, must do without the services of Stefan Lafouge who took the Leading Rider Award in the 2006 Samsung Super League with FEI series because the rider recently suffered a nasty twist to his leg in a fall from a young horse. Lafouge is expected to be out of action for at least a month, so now Balanda will pick either Julien Epaillard or Kevin Staut to take his place alongside Laurent Goffinet, Michel Heart, Roger-Yves Bost and Robert Breul.

Sweden's Maria Gretzer will be swopping her riding helmet for her Chef d'Equipe's hat again this weekend as she leads Svante Johansson, Royne Zettermann, Helena Lundback, Niklas Arvidsson and Linda Heed into the fray while Switzerland's Rolf Grass should be brimming with confidence as he has the newly-crowned FEI World Cup champion Beat Mandli and his apprentice Steve Guerdat amidst his star-studded cast. Guerdat came dangerously close to taking the title himself in the thrill-a-minute finale in Las Vegas last month where he finished joint-third, and the Swiss side is rounded up by Theo Muff, Niklaus Schurtenberger and the on-form Markus Fuchs who won the Grand Prix in Mannheim last Sunday. Mandli has brought along his FEI World Cup-winning partner Ideo du Thot, but the horse is not listed to jump. He will instead be at the receiving end of a special awards ceremony organised by the Selle Francais Breeding Association who will honour his FEI World Cup triumph during the interval between the two rounds of Sunday's Longines Grand Prix.

Once again the Americans have divided their riders into groups for the 2007 Samsung Super League with FEI so Laura Kraut, Beezie Madden, Todd Minikus, Lisa Silverman and Richard Spooner will contest the early part of the season and team manager George Morris confirmed during today's press conference that McLain Ward will be lining out later in the summer. "He can't be here because he has business commitments at home, but McLain will be on the team from Rotterdam onwards" Mr Morris confirmed.

Fans of the British team will be delighted to see John Hales' popular stallion Arko listed amongst the rides of Nick Skelton whose record in the Samsung Super League with FEI is second-to-none, and Skelton is joined in La Baule by Mark Armstrong, David McPherson, William Funnell and Michael Whitaker.

So everything is in place for the new season and tomorrow afternoon, at 3pm local-time, the story of the long-awaited 2007 Samsung Super League with FEI series will begin to unfold......

SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE - NATIONAL PRIDE, INTERNATIONAL PASSION!

For further information about the Samsung Super League with FEI at La Baule check out website www.labaule-cheval.com. Press Officer is Karine Devilder - Email: karine.devilder@unidfox.com. Tel: +33 240 600280.

SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE WITH FEI - 2007 CALENDAR OF EVENTS:

ROUND 1 - La Baule (FRA) Friday 11 May; ROUND 2 - Rome (ITA) Friday 25 May; ROUND 3 - St Gallen (SUI) Friday 1 June; ROUND 4 - Rotterdam (NED) Friday 22 June; ROUND 5 - Aachen (GER) Thursday 5 July; ROUND 6 - Hickstead (GBR) Friday 27 July; ROUND 7 - Dublin (IRL) Friday 10 August; ROUND 8 and FINAL - Barcelona (ESP) Sunday 16 September.

You can access all the latest Samsung Super League with FEI news and information on website www.samsungsuperleague.com and don't forget that BIOGRAPHIES on all riders competing in the series are available at http://bios.horsesport.org.

Want to know more? You can check the full RULES for the Samsung Super League with FEI on the FEI website www.horsesport.org-section jumping/rules and please note that the MEDIA GUIDE for the series is available in print and for download at www.samsungsuperleague.com under "Press Services" heading.

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.

For more information:
Contact FEI Communications, Malina Geuorguiev, m.gueorguiev@horsesport.org or consult FEI website www.horsesport.org.
Send administrative queries to

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