SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE WITH FEI 2008 - The British Pip the Irish in an Emotional Roller-Coaster…

The penultimate leg of the 2008 Samsung Super League with FEI series in Dublin today was a thriller as old rivals, Ireland and Great Britain, locked horns in an epic battle at the end of which the visitors prevailed.

The afternoon was filled with emotion as Eddie Macken basked in the adoration of the many fans so pleased to see him returning to the Dublin arena after a long absence, while Peter Charles was torn by his divided loyalties, having provided lynchpin performances for Ireland on this hallowed ground before deciding to return to ride under the British flag again two years ago.

"This was an amazing day" Charles said afterwards.  "The crowd was brilliant and the atmosphere was wonderful.  It was great to be back" he added.

But for Sweden it was not a day for celebration.  Finishing second-last, just ahead of the Swiss who racked up an enormous 70 faults over their two rounds, they now seem destined to be relegated at the end of the season unless they can produce a miracle at the series final in Barcelona next month.

TOUGH, TECHNICAL AND TIGHT
Irish pathfinder Denis Lynch described Rob Janssen's track as "not the biggest, but tough and technical" while Peter Charles pointed out "the time was too tight and that had an influence on a lot of the results".  There were no double-clears on the day but, in the end, it was two single-time-fault performances from Charles and Nick Skelton that sealed victory while Germany recovered from a poor start to slot into third ahead of the USA in fourth and The Netherlands in fifth place.

ALREADY AHEAD
By the end of the first round the British had already established the lead with just seven faults on the board as Robert Smith's nine faults with Vangelis was dropped when Tim Gredley's five with Omelli was added to Charles and Skelton's first single-fault result.

The Americans were just a single fault further in arrears at this stage - four faults each from Lauren Hough and Quick Study and Nicole Shahinian-Simpson with SRF Dragonfly added to Hillary Dobbs' clear with Quincy leaving Charlie Jayne's eight with Urbanus as the discard.

Lying third were the Dutch with 12 ahead of Ireland and Belgium sharing fourth with 16 faults apiece and the Swedish team were just one fault further behind carrying 17 while Germany had already accumulated 21 to sit in second-last place.  Both Marcus Ehning (Noltes Kuchengirl) and Thomas Voss (Leonardo B) had two fences down while Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst and Lord Luis collected just five but Holger Wulschner brought up the rear with an expensive 12 so the previous scores all had to be counted.

Languishing in last place were the Swiss, already jeopardised by 13 faults from Theo Muff and Con Spirito R and 17 from Philippe Putallaz and Kolebo des Cabanes despite eight from Jane Richard and Jalia de Gaverie and just a single error from Markus Fuchs and La Toya.

Another 12 from Muff, 16 from Richard, and 17 more from Putallaz put paid to Swiss chances in round two so Fuchs decided not return to the arena as the score-line was already too generous.

GREAT RECOVERIES
The Irish really began to pull themselves together as the second round unfolded, Lynch again collecting just a single time fault while Eddie Macken recovered from a first-round score of 14 to pick up just two time faults at his second attempt.  Then Jessica Kuerten and Castle Forbes Libertina, who had a single fence down first time out, produced a lovely clear to lift Irish spirits and this put the pressure on the British.

With five from Gredley and six from Smith the British now needed something special from their anchor partnership of Nick Skelton and Arko to ensure that only Charles' single time error would be added and Skelton came through in typical fashion, one time fault putting the result beyond question.  Ireland's Cian O'Connor retired with his relatively inexperienced gelding Rancorrado in round two, the horse having jumped brilliantly in round one only to find himself running out of space at the end of the final triple combination where he stopped.

The Germans meanwhile tidied up their act when all four picked up just a single time penalty each to raise them to third place, but the USA were hampered by 16 from Jayne and were obliged therefore to add the eight from both Hough and Shahinian-Simpson to the four from Dobbs to slip to fourth.

The Dutch deteriorated too when Gert-Jan Bruggink (Primeval Wings) and Mathijs Van Asten (VDL Groep Castella) each picked up 12 faults while Piet Raymakers (Van Schijndel's Curtis) and Harrie Smolders (Walnut de Muze) lowered just a single pole and the Belgians completed with 35, and Sweden totalled their tally at 46. 

OUTSTANDING
Peter Charles was full of praise for returning Irish hero Eddie Macken - "he was outstanding" he said.  Charles sold the 12 year old mare Tedechine Sept to Macken so it was a particularly satisfying afternoon from a number of viewpoints - "and Eddie is one my best pals so I'm really happy for him" Charles added.

Macken's first round was a source of great disappointment to the rider but Charles told him "give yourself a good shaking, and give the horse one too - you can do it" he explained afterwards, and Macken's second effort certainly told a different tale. 

Charles spoke about his feelings about returning to ride for Britain after a long successful period carrying the Irish flag.  "It was a big deal making that decision but it doesn't mean that I don't love Ireland any more - I love both countries equally and I got great support from the crowd every time I was in the ring today" he pointed out. 

Lynch meanwhile admitted that he was deeply disappointed that the home side had not won.  "We could have done it....we should have done it..." he said with some regret.  Irish team manager Robert Splaine admitted that it was a case of "so near and yet so far".  "We let it slip badly in the first round. Eddie had 14 faults and Cian O'Connor had a spectacularly good round up to the final fence where it all went wrong for him. But the resolve and nerve and determination we showed in the second round was fantastic. Fair play to them all - it was a great recovery, and we came so close to winning. I think it is now vital we put together the strongest team possible for the final in Barcelona."

RESULTS:
1. GREAT BRITAIN 14 faults: Murka's Rupert R (Peter Charles) 1/1, Omelli (Tim Gredley) 5/5, Vangelis S (Robert Smith) 9/6, Arko (Nick Skelton) 1/1.
2. IRELAND 19 faults: Nabab's Son (Denis Lynch) 1/1, Tedechine Sept (Eddie Macken) 14/2, Castle Forbes Libertina (Jessica Kuerten) 4/0, Rancorrado (Cian O'Connor) 11/Rtd.
3. GERMANY 24 faults: Noltes Kuchengirl (Marcus Ehning) 8/1, Leonardo B (Thomas Voss) 8/1, Lord Luis (Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst) 5/1, Clausen (Holger Wulschner) 12/1.
4. USA 28 faults: Quick Study (Lauren Hough) 4/8, Quincy B (Hillary Dobbs) 0/4, Urbanus (Charlie Jane) 8/16, Srf Dragonfly (Nicole Shahinian-Simpson) 4/8.
5. THE NETHERLANDS 32 faults: Van Schijndel's Curtis (Piet Raymakers) 4/4, Primeval Wings (Gert-Jan Bruggink) 8/12, VDL Groep Castella (Mathijs Van Asten) 12/12, Walnut de Muze (Harrie Smolders) 0/4.
6. BELGIUM 35 faults: Vigo d'Arsouilles (Philippe Lejeune) 4/9, Withney Van de Dwerse Hagen (Patrik Spits) 12/13, Equipharma Takila D (P Devos) 4/5, Item de Quintin (Niels Bruynseels) 8/5.
7.  SWEDEN 46 faults: Isaac (Royne Zetterman) 5/8, Lunatic (Jens Fredricson) 4/13, Careful (Jannike West) 8/8, H&M Artic Aurora Borealis (Peder Fredricson) 10/17.
8. SWITZERLAND 70 faults: Con Spirito R (Theo Muff) 13/12, Jalia de Gaverie (Jane Richard) 8/16, Kolebo Des Cabanes (17/17, La Toya (Markus Fuchs) 4/DNS.

SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE WITH FEI 2008 - LEADERBOARD AFTER SEVENTH LEG IN DUBLIN:
1. Germany - 47
2. Great Britain - 39.5
3. The Netherlands- 34.5
4. USA - 25.83
5. Ireland - 23.83
6. Belgium - 23.5
7. Switzerland - 20.58
8. Sweden - 12.75

For further information on the Samsung Super League with FEI in Dublin check out WEBSITE www.dublinhorseshow.com.  Press Officer is JP Montgomery - email jp@rds.ie, Tel: (mobile) +353868549370.

FEI TELEVISION - BROADCAST INFORMATION - ROUND 7 IN DUBLIN:
Live/Delayed Live
RTE (Ireland) - Friday 8 August 14.20 (Live)
Dubai Sports channel (Dubai and Middle East) - Check local listings
RAI (Italy) - Check local listings
TV4 (Sweden) - Friday 8 August 17.05

Highlights
CNBC Asia - Saturday 23 August 15.00
CNBC Europe - Saturday 24 August 17.00
ESPN Brazil - Check local listings
ESPN Star (Pan Asia) - Tuesday 26 August 18.00, Wednesday 27 August 15.00, 18.00, Thursday 28 August 14.00, Saturday 30 August 01.00, 08.00, Sunday 31 Augut 03.00, 06.00, Monday 1 September 05.00, 07.00
EUROSPORT - Wednesday 10 September 19.10
EUROSPORT ASIA - Thursday 11 September 10.00
FINNISH SPORT TV - Saturday 23 August 13.20
FOX MIDDLE EAST - Friday 22 August 13.20, Friday 28 August 12.00
SETANTA SPORTS (Ireland) - Check local listings
SUPERSPORT (Pan Africa) - Friday 29 August 01.00, 06.00, Saturday 30 August 09.30, Monday 1 September 15.00, Tuesday 2 September 17.00, Wednesday 3 September 22.00
SPORT PLUS (France) - Wednesday 20 August 22.00
SPORT TV (Portugal) - Check local listings
TG4 (Ireland) - Check local listings
TVE (Spain) - Check local listings
WCSN (USA) - Check local listings 

SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE - NATIONAL PRIDE, INTERNATIONAL PASSION!

SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE WITH FEI - 2008 CALENDAR OF EVENTS:
ROUND 1 - La Baule (FRA) 5-11 May; ROUND 2 - Rome (ITA) 22-25 May; ROUND 3 - St Gallen (SUI) 29 May - 1 June: ROUND 4 - Rotterdam (NED) 18-22 June; ROUND 5 - Aachen (GER) 1-6 July; ROUND 6 - Hickstead (GBR) 24-27 July; ROUND 7 - Dublin (IRL) 8-10 August; ROUND 8 and FINAL – Barcelona (ESP) 18-21 September.

You can access all the latest Samsung Super League with FEI news and information on website www.samsungsuperleague.com

Want to know more? Check out the comprehensive MEDIA GUIDE for the series, available in print (contact: olivia.robinson@fei.org) and for download at www.samsungsuperleague.com under "Media Guide" heading.

PHOTOGRAPHS - A Photo Gallery of pictures is available on the Samsung Super League with FEI website for use by professional media only. The gallery will be regularly updated with low and high-resolution photographs and is password protected. To obtain a password follow the simple instructions when clicking on the link.

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.