Dressage-News

LONDON, July 29–Japan’s Yoshiaki Oiwa and Noonday de Conde produced a sensational test that roiled the individual rankings in the closing stages of Eventing dressage at the 2012 Olympic Games though Germany holds the lead in the team competition with Australia and Great Britain close behind heading into the cross country.

The quiet-spoken 36-year-old Japanese rider admitted afterward that he could hardly believe it. “I’m a bit shocked”, he said. “Nobody expected it–as you can see there are not many Japanese media here!”

On an extraordinary day, it was Italy’s Stefano Brecciaroli who slotted into second place while New Zealand’s superstar Mark Todd moved into third. Both Oiwa and Todd’s results proved pivotal for their teams, with Japan rising to fill sixth place in the team rankings behind the Kiwis, who go into Monday’s cross-country phase in joint-fourth along with Sweden.

As it stood Sunday after the two days of dressage, the host nation was third behind Australia while the defending champions from Germany are out in front. Just three penalty points separating the first two, and the British less than five points adrift, stalked by the Swedes and Kiwis just 1.2 points further behind. As German Chef d’Equipe and Coach, Hans Melzer, said, “the four top riders are just one point away from each other and the teams are so close. They might as well start tomorrow on a zero score. Psychologically today’s result is good and our team did a super job and I’m happy for that, but tomorrow is another day.”

The second day of dressage was a thrill a minute from the outset. There was intense excitement ahead of the arrival of Britain’s Zara Phillips and High Kingdom, third into the arena, and they didn’t disappoint, making a dramatic entrance that was full of pizazz and earning a score of 46.10 despite a serious mix-up over the first flying change in canter. With Robbie Williams’ “She’s the One” playing in the background, the 31-year-old Briton kept calm and carried on to finish with a flourish and to rapturous applause.

She was immediately upstaged, however, by the pure accuracy of Sweden’s Sara Algotsson Ostholt and Wega who nailed all the changes as they powered through their test to join first-day leaders Ingrid Klimke and Butts Abraxxas in temporary pole position on a score of 39.30.

“We started very tense in trot and I thought, ‘how is this going to turn out?’ But after the walk, which was good, she relaxed a bit and the canter was very nice,” Sara Algotsson Ostholt explained. Wega was bred by the rider’s mother, and it’s quite a family affair for the Algotssons at London 2012 as Sara’s sister, Linda, was first in for the Swedish team Saturday riding Wega’s half-sister, La Fair. Sara said she knew her short-limbed but big-bodied mare was ready for the Olympics when finishing second at the German Championships recently, where the pair picked up a dressage mark of 34.

The Australians continued to build on their position with a mark of 40.00 from Lucinda Fredericks and Flying Finish, while Tina Cook’s rain-drenched but happy ride with Miners Frolic, rewarded with 42.00, did British chances no harm.

But then suddenly the Swedes sprang into contention when Niklas Lindback and Mister Pooh posted 45.20 following a short break while a thunderstorm rolled across the park. When New Zealand’s Andrew Nicholson, the man much-fancied to take individual eventing gold at these Games, posted precisely the same score with Nereo there was some surprise. His 12-year-old gelding didn’t settle to his job, and Nicholson blamed the halt in proceedings. “There were two serious riders about to go in. I had seven minutes to go and he (Nereo) was starting to find his best work when they decided to stop,” he said. “He didn’t mind the thunder and lightning, but during the 10-minute hold I had to just walk him around and he thought he was in a training session. He got really quiet and confused, he switched off.”

There was nothing switched off about Italy’s Stefano Brecciaroli and Apollo WD Wendi Kurt Hoev, who burst into the lead with a fabulous test that put 38.50 on the board.

“I am so happy, but most of all for my beautiful horse!” he said. “I made one mistake and I am sorry for him that I did that. He is good at dressage. He got 35.00 at the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky where we were second after dressage, but the cross-country will be difficult.”

Another great score, 40.40, from Clayton Fredericks and Bendigo further cemented the Australian position.

But the Germans couldn’t be surpassed when Sandra Auffarth’s mark of 40.00 was added to the 39.30 and 39.80 registered by Ingrid Klimke and Dirk Schrade, respectively. The final German partnership of Michael Jung and Sam found their 40.60 surplus to requirements in the team calculation, but good enough for 11th place individually at this early stage.

No-one could have anticipated the spectacular performance from Japan’s Yoshiaki Oiwa and Noonday de Conde.

This 11-year-old French-bred mare was beautifully ridden by her 36-year-old rider who has been training with Dirk Schrade in Germany for the past three years. The softness of Oiwa’s hand and leg-aids, and the quietness of his riding style, produced a test filled with poise, elegance, balance and a little bit of magic to earn a mark of 38.10 which took the individual lead and rocketed Japan up into fifth place in the teams.

Asked afterward what Schrade had said about his pupil’s fantastic performance, Oiwa answered “he said there were a few things I could have done better–it wasn’t good enough he told me!”

As last man in, Mark Todd, entered the arena his country lying eighth. The top team placings were already decided in this first phase, with Germany in the lead ahead of Australia in second and Great Britain in third.

Following his retirement in 2000, Mark Todd was awarded the title “Rider of the Century” by the FEI, but admitted on returning to the sport in order to compete at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing that the level of dressage had gone beyond anything he had previously experienced, and that he was struggling with that.

Sunday, however. this remarkable man, now aged 56, blew away the last of the cobwebs with a breathtaking performance that oozed comfort, ease, experience and pure enjoyment to post 39.10 on the scoreboard and put New Zealand into equal-fourth place with Sweden.

Quotes:
Linda Algotsson Ostholt of Sweden talking about her mare, Wega: “She’s very much a woman. You can’t tell her anything, you have to ask her nicely and be gentle with her, then she will do anything for you!”
Linda Algotsson Ostholt: “My mother has one amazing mare that has produced two of the horses on this Swedish team and she has more like them at home!”Clayton Fredericks of Australia: “He (Bendigo) did stumble at the end of the canter work, which probably stopped us from getting under the 40% barrier but there is still a lot to play for in this competition.”Philip Dutton of USA on his performance with Mystery Whisper : “I am pleased without being ecstatic, as you can always do better. In dressage it is so difficult to balance going for flamboyancy and producing the softness the judges are looking for.”Michael Jung of Germany: “I had a good feeling. Sam was calm and I could really work with him. We had two little mistakes. I would have expected more but I am happy with the team result. We will see tomorrow where we stand.”

Individual Ranking after Dressage

Rk	Bib	Rider	Horse	Result	+
1	70	OIWA Yoshiaki	NOONDAY DE CONDE	38.10	+
2	61	BRECCIAROLI Stefano	APOLLO WD WENDI KURT HOEV	38.50	+
3	74	TODD Mark	CAMPINO	39.10	+
=4	33	KLIMKE Ingrid	BUTTS ABRAXXAS	39.30	+
=4	41	ALGOTSSON OSTHOLT Sara	WEGA	39.30	+
6	18	SCHRADE Dirk	KING ARTUS	39.80	+
=7	47	FREDERICKS Lucinda	FLYING FINISH	40.00	+
=7	49	AUFFARTH Sandra	OPGUN LOUVO	40.00	+
=7	68	DONCKERS Karin	GAZELLE DE LA BRASSERIE	40.00	+
10	63	FREDERICKS Clayton	BENDIGO	40.40	+
11	65	JUNG Michael	SAM	40.60	+
12	24	KING Mary	IMPERIAL CAVALIER	40.90	+
13	31	HOY Andrew	RUTHERGLEN	41.70	+
14	56	COOK Kristina	MINERS FROLIC	42.00	+
15	54	SATO Kenki	CHIPPIEH	42.20	+
16	25	SVENNERSTAL Ludvig	SHAMWARI	43.70	+
=17	26	PAGET Jonathan	CLIFTON PROMISE	44.10	+
=17	72	FOX-PITT William	LIONHEART	44.10	+
19	62	DUTTON Phillip	MYSTERY WHISPER	44.30	+
20	48	SCHAULY Donatien	OCARINA DU CHANOIS	44.40	+
21	58	NICHOLSON Andrew	NEREO	45.00	+
22	57	LINDBACK Niklas	MISTER POOH	45.20	+
23	16	GRIFFITHS Sam	HAPPY TIMES	45.40	+
=24	2	BURTON Christopher	HP LEILANI	46.10	+
=24	40	PHILLIPS Zara	HIGH KINGDOM	46.10	+
26	46	COLEMAN William	TWIZZEL	46.30	+
=27	50	SPEIRS Camilla	PORTERSIZE JUST A JIFF	47.60	+
=27	64	TOUZAINT Nicolas	HILDAGO DE L’ILE	47.60	+
29	15	O’CONNOR Karen	MR MEDICOTT	48.20	+
30	7	CAULIER Virginie	NEPAL DU SUDRE	48.30	+
31	20	BENNETT-AWAD Hawley	GIN & JUICE	48.70	+
32	19	CLARK Aoife	MASTER CRUSOE	48.90	+
33	38	NEGISHI Atsushi	PRETTY DARLING	50.40	+
=34	53	HEFFERNAN Andrew	MILLTHYME COROLLA	50.60	+
=34	67	HOWARD Rebecca	RIDDLE MASTER	50.60	+
=36	1	MARTIN Boyd	OTIS BARBOTIERE	50.70	+
=36	36	RIGOUTS Marc	DUNKAS	50.70	+
38	32	GUYON Lionel	NEMETIS DE LALOU	50.90	+
=39	9	WILSON Nicola	OPPOSITION BUZZ	51.70	+
=39	37	LIPS Tim	ONCARLOS	51.70	+
41	52	van SPRINGEL Joris	LULLY DES AULNES	51.90	+
42	30	COUDRAY Tiana	RINGWOOD MAGISTER	52.00	+
=43	42	POWELL Caroline	LENAMORE	52.20	+
=43	69	PEN Elaine	VIRA	52.20	+
45	21	BOUCKAERT Carl	CYRANO Z	53.00	+
46	29	ZABALA-GOETSCHEL Ronald	MASTER ROSE	53.30	+
47	59	PANIZZON Vittoria	BOROUGH PENNYZ	53.50	+
=48	45	LIGON Nina Lamsam	BUTTS LEON	53.90	+
=48	71	FONSECA Ruy	TOM BOMBADILL TOO	53.90	+
=50	51	PHOENIX Jessica	EXPONENTIAL	54.80	+
=50	60	SPISAK Pawel	WAG	54.80	+
52	8	TANAKA Toshiyuki	MARQUIS DE PLESCOP	55.00	+
53	34	MURPHY Joseph	ELECTRIC CRUISE	55.60	+
54	17	KAHN Aurelien	CADIZ	55.90	+
55	11	RICHARDS Jonelle	FLINTSTAR	56.70	+
56	6	MUELLER Michelle	AMISTAD	57.00	+
57	55	TOSI Marcelo	ELEDA ALL BLACK	58.00	+
=58	4	THOMSEN Peter	BARNY	58.50	+
=58	22	YUMIRA Takayuki	LATINA	58.50	+
=58	23	CARVALHO JORGE Marcio	JOSEPHINE	58.50	+
61	66	KYLE Mark	COOLIO	58.70	+
=62	10	ALGOTSSON Linda	LA FAIR	59.80	+
=62	44	NASTENKO Mikhail	COOLROY PITER	59.80	+
64	5	RYAN Michael	BALLYLYNCH ADVENTURE	60.20	+
65	73	PETERSEN Malin	SOFARSOGOOD	60.40	+
66	3	MESPLES Denis	OREGON DE LA VIGNE	61.50	+
67	35	BARRY Peter	KILRODAN ABBOTT	61.70	+
68	43	FAMINOU Aliaksandr	PASIANS	63.70	+
69	14	ALBERT Samantha	CARRAIG DUBH	67.20	+
70	12	TSELIAPUSHKINA Alena	PASSAT	69.10	+
71	27	AMBROS Harald	O-FELTIZ	69.50	+
72	28	PETERNELL Alexander	ASIH	70.40	+
73	39	FOFANOFF Serguei	BARBARA	72.00	+
74	13	KORSHUNOV Andrei	FABIY	80.20	+

Team Ranking after Dressage

Official

Rk	Team	Result	+
1	Germany	119.10	+
2	Australia	122.10	+
3	Great Britain	127.00	+
4	Sweden	128.20	+
4	New Zealand	128.20	+
6	Japan	130.70	+
7	United States	138.80	+
8	Belgium	139.00	+
9	France	142.90	+
10	Ireland	152.10	+
11	Canada	154.10	+
12	Netherlands	154.50	+
13	Brazil	170.40	+

Ground Jury

Position	Name
E	BURTON Nick (FEI)
C	BINDER Anne-Mette (FEI) (President)
M	ROLTON Gillian (FEI)