Edwina Alexander only double clear in power jumping at Olympia

A small girl on a small horse were the big winners of the extremely tough London Olympia leg of the Rolex FEI World Cup™ competition. Edwina Alexander and Isovlas Itot du Chateau were the only ones to remain without any faults after two glorious rounds of power jumping. In the jump off the 34 year old Australian born Dutch resident only had to deal with veteran John Whitaker, who’s horse Casino had a silly mistake at the last oxer. Being last to go, Edwina Alexander only had to stay clear for the second time. Which was not a job to be taken lightly. Itot du Chateau had to jump fences bigger than himself.

The controlled jump off round by Edwina Alexander and her French bred horse Isovlas Itot du Chateau, was the conclusion of a breathtaking spectacle. This time the excitement was not about who would make it to the jump off, but rather if at all there would be a jump off. And if so, whether that would be a jump off between those who managed to clear all fences but were penalized with one time fault.

“I was happy with the time allowed”, said Edwina Alexander at the press conference, holding on to her beautiful Rolex watch. “I had been practising riding on time after I had a time fault in the Top 10 event at Brussels.”

‘Rolex, Rolex, Rolex’

Brussels was not just the event where Alexander had to give way to Michel Robert, foremost it was one of the places where Edwina only missed the desired Rolex watch by a close shave. “I so much wanted to win a Rolex watch, but every time something went a little bit wrong”, said Edwina Alexander. “In Geneva I was having dinner with the guys from Rolex. They said to me: now you have only one chance left. You have to perform well in London. And here I am! To be honest, when today I was approaching the H&M vertical, which was one of the most difficult fences for my horse, I was only thinking: ‘Rolex, Rolex, Rolex!’”

It was a bit of a contest between the elephant and the mouse. John Whitaker had to go first in the jump off aboard Casino, a tall horse standing at 1.72 m height at withers. “He’s big, very scopy and careful”, said John Whitaker, a former winner in Olympia with Grannush and Welham. “He is just a bit hectic to ride.”

The rideability of the Irish bred son of Cavalier Royale may have caused the fault at the very last rail of the Rolex FEI World Cup™ competition course, the second element of the combination. “Casino is 13 years old, but he’s Irish, they take longer to develop. I knew all along that some day this horse would do something really good. Today was that day!”

Holiday

The London Olympia leg of the Rolex FEI World Cup™ competition changed the season of Edwina Alexander. “Itot du Chateau is going to have a holiday now. I plan to go to the final in Las Vegas, but normally I will not compete Itot there”, said Edwina Alexander already thinking of the outdoor season.

She and her partner Jan Tops bought Itot du Chateau one year ago, bearing the Olympic Games in Hong Kong in mind. Itot, formerly ridden at the highest level by French rider Michel Hécart, is practically made for Edwina, who is small herself. “I don’t like big, long horses. I’m very happy that things turned out the way they did, because some people questioned the fact that we bought Itot. They thought he would be too small to do the big courses. But I had been competing against him in many events, we knew him well and although he is only 1.57 tall, he’s got a big stride.”

Edwina Alexander was in Australia when Jan Tops bought the horse for his girl friend. “I never tried him. But Jan has such a good eye for a horse and such a good feeling for the right combination between rider and horse”, said Edwina.

John Whitaker’s chances of making it to the final were bleak before London Olympia. “Now I think I will start campaigning a bit. Peppermill is doing well, maybe I can ride him in Las Vegas.”

Course designer Bob Ellis was the first to admit that the time allowed of the first round was too short. “A few seconds more would have been better. But we were a bit fooled by Angelique Hoorn’s horse O’Brien, who was second to go and who always is a lot faster than other horses.”

When third rider Philippe Rozier withdrew his horse after a refusal at the huge triple bar 11, the judges and the course designer only had one rider (Malin Baryard) outside and one rider (Angelique Hoorn) inside the time. And after three riders the rules didn’t allow them to change the time allowed.

Intriguing battle

The time had a huge impact, but it was not at all just negative. An intriguing battle unfolded, all riders had to face the challenge coping simultaneously with technical and physical problems ánd with time. Some tried to be in time and made mistakes taking risks. Others focused primarily on the rails and gained WC points picking up one or two time faults.

Mikael Forsten from Finland, who lives and trains in the south of the Netherlands, was the first to show that this course could be jumped. Forsten fought his way through the related distance at 5 strides to the triple combination, even though his horse Isaac du Jonquet stumbled in the second stride. He made his way to the finish without touching a fence.

The second to stay away from the rails was also from Scandinavia. Helena Lundbäck only crossed the finish line with Madick 0.87 of a second too late. “Before I started off I was wondering whether to go for the time or for the clear round”, said the Swedish pupil of Ludger Beerbaum. “Now it came out that we were so close to the time allowed, I regret that I never tried to push it a bit more.”

One Brit in the jump off

The packed Grand Hall of Olympia raised the roof when Ben Maher, number 31 of the class, managed to stay clear with only one time fault aboard the troublesome Robin Hood W. The young super talent from Britain gave his 7000 compatriots in the audience a nice Christmas present: the prospect of one Brit in a jump off of three combinations on one time fault.

Yet the outcome of this exciting Rolex FEI World Cup™ competition was slightly different. The jump off did contain one rider from the host country, but he was a lot older. The two clear rounds came from the three last riders to go, of which only Kevin Staut aboard Le Prestige st Lois didn’t leave all the rails up.

Taking chances

In the jump off John Whitaker had to take chances, with Edwina Alexander breathing heavily in his neck. Casino galloped around like in foxhunting. He resisted the master’s hand in a sharp turn, but kept concentrated on the fences. Until he lowered one leg flying over the penultimate fence. The Rolex oxer stood in the way of John Whitaker’s third Word Cup qualifier win in London Olympia.

Being last to go, Edwina Alexander must have had here head with the watch and the 20 World Cup points all the way. “It was a bit risky to go for a clear round, but I knew John was quite fast, so I thought this was the best thing to do”, said Edwina Alexander, once more clinging to her Rolex watch. “I already had one, I bought it myself years ago. But this one is even better!”

Results Rolex FEI World Cup™ competition London Olympia

1) Edwina Alexander (AUS), Isovlas Itot du Château, 0/0-41.40 sec
2) John Whitaker (GB), Casino, 0/4-36.37 sec
3) Helena Lundbäck (SWE), Madick, 1-69.87 sec
4) Ben Maher (GB), Robin Hood W, 1-69.96 sec
5) Mikael Forsten (FIN), Isaac du Joquet, 1-72.51 sec
6) Max Kühner (GER), Acantus GK, 2-73.40 sec
7) Gerco Schröder (NL), Eurocommerce Pennsylvania, 4-66.70 sec
8) Robert Whitaker (GB), Lacroix, 4-66.81 sec
9) Albert Zoer (NL), Okidoki, 4-66.81 sec
10) Angelique Hoorn (NL), Blauwendraad’s O’Brien, 4-67.29 sec

The full results are available here.

Provisional standings after 6 Rolex FEI World Cup™ competitions:

1) Steve Guerdat (SUI)                           51
2) Edwina Alexander (AUS)                     39
3) Ben Maher (GB)                                 39
4) Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (GER)     35 (already qualified)
5) Geir Gulliksen (NOR)                          35
6) Rutherford Latham (ESP)                    33
7) Max Kühner (GER)                              31
8) Gerco Schröder (NED)                        30
9) Helena Lundbäck (SWE)                      30
10) Daniel Etter (SUI)                             28
11) Thomas Velin (DEN)                          27
12) Omar Bonomelli (ITA)                       25
13) Ludo Philippaerts (BEL)                     21
14) Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst (GER)   20
15) Nicolas Delmotte (FRA)                     20
16) Marcus Ehning (GER)                        19
17) Tim Stockdale (GB)                          18
18) Lars Nieberg (GER)                           18
19) John Whitaker (GB)                          17
19) Leon Thijssen (NL)                            17
 

For the standings of the Rolex FEI World CupTM after six competition, please click here.