Dressage-News

LONDON, Aug. 5–Anchor riders proved key to the result of Sunday’s first round of the team jumping competition at the London 2012 Olympic Games at Greenwich Park, and Saudi Arabia took the lead going into Monday’s medal-decider carrying just a single time penalty. Great Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland were less than a fence behind carrying four faults apiece.
With five faults on the board, Canada finished sixth and, with only the top eight teams going through to the second round, Brazil and USA clinched the last two available places when closing their day with eight faults.

But there were heads shaking in disbelief when Germany missed the cut along with France and Belgium, as not one of the riders from any of these top-level nations managed to keep a clean sheet Sunday. The Germans are giants in this game, and even though they encountered selection problems in the lead-up to London when star-riders Carsten-Otto Nagel, Ludger Beerbaum and Marco Kutscher had issues with their horses, it had been expected that they would feature strongly.

The brilliant course building by Britain’s Bob Ellis has had a significant impact, however. Once again the loops and roll-backs tested control and accuracy, and the Olympic arena at Greenwich Park has proved that it is no place for the meek.

Sunday’s 13-fence course was tough from the outset.

Saudi Arabia’s Prince Abdullah, who jumped a superb clear round again to help secure pole position for his country going into the second round, put it in a nutshell when he said of the jumps depicting London landmarks, “what with the weather, the London bus and the Tower Bridge, I felt like I was sightseeing today!”

He led the way for his side with a foot-perfect effort from the 12-year-old Davos, and when team-mate Ramzy Al Duhami and Bayard van de Villa There did likewise the only score to be added to the Saudi account was the single time penalty collected by Kamal Bahamdan and Noblesse Des Tess, as Abdullah Sharbatly’s mistake with Sultan at the triple combination was the discard score.

Those chasing them had to work hard to qualify for Monday.

The British were strengthened by two clears from Nick Skelton on Big Star and Ben Maher on Tripple X, and it looked like they would add a third until Scott Brash’s Hello Sanctos clipped the front pole of the final oxer. When Peter Charles and Vindicat lowered both the second element of the troublesome triple combination and the penultimate vertical the hosts had to take Scott’s result on board. The Scotsman said later, “my horse jumped amazing. It didn’t feel as though we had done anything wrong on the approach and, if I had to do it again, I would probably ride it the same way. I am chuffed to bits with him as there was a big difference in his attitude today.”

The Dutch also produced two clears, from Maikel van der Vleuten (Verdi) and Marc Houtzager (Tamino). It was important for them to drop the double-error from pathfinders Jur Vrieling and Bubalu however, so there was a lot hanging in the balance as, fourth-last to go, Gerco Schroder and London came into the ring. A clear would put the Dutch out in front, but the first part of the double at five put four faults on the board to see the Dutch join the British in runner-up spot.

Jens Fredricson and Lunatic led the way for Sweden and left the middle element of the combination and the last fence on the floor. And when his sister-in-law Lisen Fredricsson, bravely sporting some heavy bruising following her fall Saturday, posted four faults with Matrix, the Swedes didn’t look particularly competitive. But both Henrik von Eckermann on Allerdings and Rolf-Goran Bengtsson on Cassal returned without incident to join the other second-placed teams. The Swiss started out with a mistake from Steve Guerdat and Nino des Buissonnets just one fence from home, but Paul Estermann and Castlefield Eclipse kept them in the hunt with a lovely clear before Werner Muff and Kiamon also hit the penultimate vertical. Pius Schwizer was under plenty of pressure when last in for his side, but he showed why he has become such a great anchorman when steering Carlina across the line with a clean sheet that guaranteed another team in the joint-runner-up position.

The Canadian team was reduced to three when Tiffany Foster’s gelding, Victor, was disqualified for hypersensitivity due to a cut on his left front leg. At a press conference following the competition, FEI President Princess Haya said, “It is important to make clear that there is no accusation of malpractice on Tiffany’s part, but the horse was too sensitive. We are here to stand beside her and we look forward to many great performances from her in the future. This is a wellbeing of the horse issue and we understand that this is a crushing experience for Tiffany in her first Olympic Games.” The Canadian team filed a protest earlier in the day, but the decision taken by the Ground Jury on hypersensitivity is not open to appeal.

A tearful Tiffany Foster said at a news conference: “I would never do anything to jeopardize the welfare of my horse. What happened is totally devastating to me. I understand why the rules are in place and I understand why they look for hypersensitivity. I just feel so bad for my team.”

Team Canada still lies well within sight of an Olympic medal, however, with just five faults on the board following a pole down for Jill Henselwood and George, a single time fault from Eric Lamaze and Derly Chin de Muze, and a clear from Ian Millar and Star Power who join 12 others with a completely clean sheet at the top of the individual table. The 65-year-old record-setting veteran said his horse was “tense yesterday. I love the fans and the crowd and I don’t wish to criticize, but they elevated the level of anxiety of my horse. Today was perfect. My horse was sharp, up in the air and listening to me. I was very pleased with the step up from yesterday.”

Brazil did well to ensure qualification as they fielded only a three-man side due to the withdrawal of Carlos Ribas and Wilexo who were eliminated Saturday. A clear from Alvaro de Miranda on Rahmannshof’s Bogeno, and four faults from both Jose Fernandez Filho on Maestro St Lois and Rodrigo Pessoa on Rebozo did the trick to see them share an eight-fault total with America’s McLain Ward and Antares, Beezie Madden and Via Volo, Reed Kessler and Cylana and Rich Fellers and Flexible.

The latter partnership produced the only U.S. clear, and the big British crowd erupted with almost as much of a roar as they gave their own riders, as this is a much-loved and admired horse-and-rider partnership. Fellers said, “I am thrilled with my horse but I wish we were in a better position. We are all fighters and we can come back tomorrow,” adding that his horse was “being typically Flexible, he was a little more on his game today.”

The Saudi team are not getting too carried away with their success. Team trainer, Stanny van Paesschen said, “we are naturally delighted with the way the team jumped, and it is great to be in the lead, but we still have another day to go, and it is important that we stick to the same routine that we have throughout the Games.”

They will certainly have to stay on their toes if they are to clinch the gold because, as The Netherlands’ Gerco Schroder said, “the team situation is very very close. It is all to play for.”
Complete standings after the first round:

Rank	Team	Result	+
1	Saudi Arabia	1	+
=2	Great Britain	4	+
=2	Netherlands	4	+
=2	Sweden	4	+
=2	Switzerland	4	+
6	Canada	5	+
=7	Brazil	8	+
=7	United States	8	+
9	Mexico	10	+
=10	Australia	12	+
=10	Germany	12	+
12	France	14	+
13	Belgium	16	+
14	Ukraine	21	+
15	Chile	22

Results:

Rk	Bib	Athlete	Horse	Result	+
=1	341	SKELTON Nick	BIG STAR	0 Q	+
=1	354	AL SAUD HRH Prince Abdullah	DAVOS	0 Q	+
=1	340	MAHER Ben	TRIPPLE X	0 Q	+
=1	305	TOPS-ALEXANDER Edwina	ITOT DU CHATEAU	0 Q	+
=1	360	MICHAN Alberto	ROSALIA LA SILLA	0 Q	+
=1	315	AFFONSO de MIRANDA NETO Alvaro	RAHMANNSHOF’S BOGENO	0 Q	+
=1	365	van der VLEUTEN Maikel	VERDI	0 Q	+
=1	370	ESTERMANN Paul	CASTLEFIELD ECLIPSE	0 Q	+
=1	363	HOUTZAGER Marc	TAMINO	0 Q	+
=1	378	von ECKERMANN Henrik	ALLERDINGS	0 Q	+
=1	386	FELLERS Rich	FLEXIBLE	0 Q	+
=1	376	BENGTSSON Rolf-Goran	CASALL	0 Q	+
=13	330	BLUMAN Daniel	SANCHA	1 Q	+
=13	322	LAMAZE Eric	DERLY CHIN DE MUZE	1 Q	+
=15	357	BAHAMDAN Kamal	NOBLESSE DES TESS	2 Q	+
=15	353	AL DUHAMI Ramzy	BAYARD VAN DE VILLA THERE	2 Q	+
=17	351	SUGITANI Taizo	AVENZIO	4 Q	+
=17	323	MILLAR Ian	STAR POWER	4 Q	+
=17	389	WARD Mclain	ANTARES	4 Q	+
=17	371	GUERDAT Steve	NINO DES BUISSONNETS	4 Q	+
=17	345	MEYER Janne Friederike	LAMBRASCO	4 Q	+
=17	318	REYNOSO FERNANDEZ FILHO Jose Robert	MAESTRO ST LOIS	4 Q	+
=17	336	STAUT Kevin	SILVANA	4 Q	+
=17	372	MUFF Werner	KIAMON	4 Q	+
=17	364	SCHRODER Gerco	LONDON	4 Q	+
=17	310	LANSINK Jos	VALENTINA VAN ‘T HEIKE	4 Q	+
=27	384	RIVETTI Cassio	TEMPLE ROAD	5 Q	+
=27	344	EHNING Marcus	PLOT BLUE	5 Q	+
=27	317	PESSOA Rodrigo	REBOZO	5 Q	+
30	333	DELESTRE Simon	NAPOLI DU RY	6 Q	+
=31	368	DINIZ Luciana	LENNOX	8 Q	+
=31	301	LAROCCA Jose Maria	ROYAL POWER	8 Q	+
=31	348	O’CONNOR Cian	BLUE LOYD 12	8 Q	+
=31	361	PIZARRO Nicolas	CROSSING JORDAN	8 Q	+
=31	304	PATERSON-ROBINSON James	LANOSSO	8 Q	+
=31	303	HARGREAVES Julia	VEDOR	8 Q	+
=31	381	NAGEL Bjorn	NIACK DE L’ABBAYE	8 Q	+
=31	338	BRASH Scott	HELLO SANCTOS	8 Q	+
=31	366	VRIELING Jur	BUBALU	8 Q	+
=31	377	FREDRICSON Jens	LUNATIC	8 Q	+
=31	311	le JEUNE Philippe	VIGO D’ARSOUILLES	8 Q	+
=31	312	WATHELET Gregory	CADJANINE Z	8 Q	+
=31	347	MICHAELS-BEERBAUM Meredith	BELLA DONNA	8 Q	+
=31	309	DEMEERSMAN Dirk	BUFERO VAN HET PANISHOF	8 Q	+
=31	334	GUILLON Olivier	LORD DE THEIZE	8 Q	+
=31	373	SCHWIZER Pius	CARLINA IV	8 Q	+

Eliminated after 2nd Qualifier

Rk	Bib	Athlete	Horse	Result	+
=47	314	TERCEIRA Jillian	BERNADIEN VAN WESTUUR	9	+
=47	321	HENSELWOOD Jill	GEORGE	9	+
=47	335	LEPREVOST Penelope	MYLORD CARTHAGO	9	+
=47	387	KESSLER Reed	CYLANA	9	+
=51	332	EL ZOGHBY Karim	WERVEL WIND	10	+
=51	356	SHARBATLY Abdullah Waleed	SULTAN	10	+
=53	331	DIAZ Rodrigo	ROYAL VINCKENBURG	11	+
=53	326	COUVE CORREA Tomas	UNDERWRAPS	11	+
=53	359	FERNANDEZ Federico	VICTORIA	11	+
=56	349	TWOMEY Billy	TINKA’S SERENADE	12	+
=56	329	MILTHALER Carlos	HYO ALTANERO	12	+
58	382	OFFEL Katharina	VIVANT	16	+
59	328	PAROT Samuel	AL CALYPSO	17	+
60	308	RAHIMOV Jamal	WARRIOR	18	+
61	325	CARRASCO Rodrigo	OR DE LA CHARBONIERE	22	+
62	380	HAMCHO Ahmad Saber	WONDERBOY	30	+
–	320	FOSTER Tiffany	VICTOR	DSQ	+