The Irish got the worst of the starting order and the home team came
off best when the draw for tomorrow's fourth leg of the Samsung Super
League with FEI series took place in Lucerne today.
And the weather has taken a nasty turn, with Switzerland experiencing
conditions more suited to mid-winter than summer and rain already
threatening to significantly influence tomorrow's competition.
The draw is as follows:
1. Ireland
2. France
3. USA
4. Sweden
5. Germany
6. The Netherlands
7. Great Britain
8. Switzerland.
As a result of the weather the starting time has been brought forward
to 14.45, leaving a 70-minute interval between the two rounds during
which time a whole new track will be built. "We are doing this to save
the horses - the ground is already a little bit heavy and we want to do
everything we can to help them" said Show Director Urs Schiendorfer.
The second round is scheduled to begin at 17.15.
The team managers were cautious in their predictions but, as usual, the
Germans are well-fancied while their biggest rivals in this series to
date, the team from the USA, are also highly considered. "We really
need to win tomorrow" said Sweden's Henk Nooren. "I am trying to be as
optimistic as the French Chef, Jean-Maurice Bonneau, was last weekend
and that worked for him!" he pointed out, adding however that "Germany
should be on top if they have horses that can cope with the weather".
Mons. Bonneau replied that "the team that will win tomorrow will do a
good job!" suggesting that it would not be easy. "I want to trust my
riders and we hope to change the leaderboard with a good result - I
would be happy if we had Germany finishing ahead of the USA and both of
them behind France!" he pointed out.
American Chef d'Equipe George Morris said that German team manager Kurt
Gravemeier had "brought his weapons of mass destruction" with him - "I
think Germany should win but the British are seasoned riders on this
sort of going and I think The Netherlands have a strong team" he added.
Ireland's Robert Splaine decided to take a positive approach to his
side's first-to-go draw - "It's the second Super League in a row in
which we have been drawn first and under normal circumstances I would
be not be at all happy but maybe we are in luck this time because we
should get the best of the ground - the win should be decided between
the USA and Germany tomorrow but the ground will be a big factor" he
said. Riders have been restricted to just one, instead of two, horses
each for the morning's Table C class, again in an effort to do the
least possible damage to the surface of the arena.
The managers talked about their team selection plans for the World
Equestrian Games and Robert Splaine said that he will be reviewing his
pool of riders after Lucerne while Rolf Grass said that his team are
all lining out tomorrow but that Willi Melliger is also a contender.
The Swiss line-up includes Christina Liebherr (LB No Mercy), Markus
Fuchs (La Toya), Beat Mandli (Principal) and Pius Schwizer (Unique).
George Morris explained that his first-tour riders competed at Palm
Beach, La Baule and Aachen and that he swopped Lauren Hough for Laura
Kraut who is now part of his second-tour group. "We will be making a
selection of five and picking some reserves as well" he pointed out.
Jean-Maurice Bonneau said that he has eight riders on his list and that
they all competed - both on the team and individually - at La Baule.
"Four then went to Aachen and four different riders are here. We still
have three months and anything could happen. Some riders know already
that they will go but that they must continue their preparation for
August.
Britain's Derek Ricketts explained that all the early Samsung Super
League with FEI events are being used as part of the British selection
process. "It's quite a long time to go before the Games and lots can
go wrong so we will be making our final selection during the middle to
end of July" he pointed out. German manager Kurt Gravemeier will be
doing the same while Rob Ehrens explained that the Dutch team will be
chosen "after Rotterdam. We have not been able to see all of the
riders yet, and Dubbeldam is having his first nations' cup start this
week" he pointed out. "We only have six horses in the country who
could do WEG this year" Sweden's Henk Nooren said, adding that his team
will also be announced after the Dutch fixture which will take place
later this month.
So the stage is set for the fourth leg of the 2006 Samsung Super League
with FEI series - and with the weather proving unkind, tomorrow's
challenge promises to be a tough one.....
SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE WITH FEI 2006 : LEADERBOARD AFTER ROUND 3 IN
ROME - (Revised calculation of points):
1. Germany - 21.625
2. USA - 20
3. France - 17
4. Great Britain - 13
5. Switzerland - 9.125
6. Ireland - 6
7. The Netherlands - 5.625
8. Sweden - 5.125
SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE - NATIONAL PRIDE, INTERNATIONAL PASSION!
The NEXT LEG of the series takes place in Lucerne, Switzerland on
Friday 2 June. Show President is Mr Peter Stoessel, Show Director is
Urs Schiendorfer and Press Officer is Peter Wyrsch - email
wy@sda-ats.ch. WEBSITE www.csio.ch.
SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE WITH FEI : 2006 CALENDAR OF EVENTS:
ROUND 1 - La Baule (Fra) 4-7 May; ROUND 2 - Aachen (Ger) 17-21 May;
ROUND 3, Rome (Ita) 25-28 May; ROUND 4 - Lucerne (Sui) 1-4 June; ROUND
5 - Rotterdam (Ned) 22-25 June; ROUND 6 - Hickstead (GBR) 26-30 July;
ROUND 7 - Dublin (Irl) 9-13 August; ROUND 8 and FINAL - Barcelona (Esp)
14-17 September.
You can access all the latest Samsung Super League 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 series on the FEI website, www.horsesport.org - section
jumping/rules.
The Samsung Super league consists of the eight most prestigious horse
shows at which the world's eight best national teams compare their
merit. The Super League is connected to the Samsung 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 Gueorguiev,
m.gueorguiev@horsesport.org or consult FEI website www.horsesport.org.
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