BRITAINS SHOW JUMPERS COME CLOSE SECOND IN ROTTERDAM

Friday 26 August 2011

The eighth and final leg of the FEI Top Level Nations Cup series took place in Rotterdam this evening bringing the 2011 series to a close.

With eight of the world’s best showjumping nations having battled their way across eight of the finest venues across Europe since the series commenced in May, this series is the hardest fought team series on the circuit. It is the series that all Nations participating desperately want to not only win, but also ensure they retain their position on by avoiding being one of the two nations that face relegation each year.

Great Britain having played a strategic game across the series had secured their place in next year’s league with their outstanding win at the previous leg in Dublin. Going into the final of the series at Rotterdam it was France, Belgium and USA that were all in the danger zone.

The team of four selected by Rob Hoekstra (World Class Showjumping Performance Manager) representing Great Britain were:

Michael Whitaker with Beatrice Mertens 11year old bay gelding GIG Amai II
Guy Williams with Lindsay Doran’s grey 8 year old gelding Depardieu Van Kiezelhof
Ben Maher with his own and Quainton Stud’s 9year old black stallion Tripple X III
John Whitaker with his own and Rebecca Stone’s 14year old bay stallion Peppermill

With only a handful of clear rounds in the first half of the competition which see’s all competitors jump before coming back into the arena to tackle the course again, Great Britain were in fourth position. Carrying 9penalities, they were just one fence behind the leaders Germany on 5penalties and 1penality behind France and the USA who were in joint second.

Trailblazer for the British Team, Michael Whitaker having incurred 8penalties and a time fault in the first round (becoming the drop score) came forward in the second round producing a foot perfect clear and showing the class act that they are. However, running just a fraction over the time meant they accrued a time penalty. A performance however Michael must have been happy with as they now focus on preparing for the Senior European Championships in Madrid next month.

Guy Williams with his eye-catching grey who in the first round carried 5penalties forward incurred the same in the second round with a fence down and a time fault. Performing at this level of competition (and as the youngest horse in the competition) is something that this talented horse is still very much on a learning curve with and his performance across both rounds will have instilled confidence in Guy’s already well regarded view that he has in this horse.

Tipple X III with Ben Maher were just one of the few combinations that had managed a clear in the first round. Still a horse relatively at the beginning of his international career, Ben rode him to absolute perfection once again in the second round making the course, which so many established combinations were struggling with, look absolutely effortless as they came through the finish with yet another clear. A performance that saw Rob Hoekstra punching the air with delight as they came through with both a double clear and within the time allowed.

No introduction was needed to John Whitaker and Peppermill as they entered the arena and back into the top level nations cup series. A combination that were the mainstay of the British Team a few years ago it was fantastic to see them back flying the flag for Great Britain. An unfortunate fence down in the first round left them carrying 4penalties however they came back in flying form in the second round producing a clear that so many had got used to seeing them produce. Turning tight where they could to stay within the time, they matched Ben’s faultless round putting Great Britain into an incredibly strong position of just carrying a single time penalty as their overall second round score.

Finishing with an overall score of 10penalties it was then a nail-biting wait to see how the three nations still to jump fared as if both France and USA faulted it could mean that Britain could find themselves in a possible jump-off position with Germany. This would also mean not only a fight for the podium position of the 8^th leg of the series but also for the overall title of the 2011 Top Level Nations Cup.

As riders faulted this is exactly what happened and it was Ben Maher and Ludger Beerbaum that were then selected to come forward for the third and final time. With the thousands of spectators falling silent as Ben entered the arena in a competition that couldn’t have been any more exciting you could have heard a pin drop such was the tension.

Ben having decided to put the pressure on Ludger by moving forward on a time that would mean Ludger wouldn’t be able to take his foot off the accelerator produced yet another superb round but an unfortunate fence down meant 4penalties being scored. As Ludger entered the arena you saw him weighing up what to do in his mind, but a faultess round in a fraction of a second faster than Ben’s meant that Germany took not only the title of the competition but also the entire series.

A nail-biting and dramatic finish to a fantastic season of competition saw Great Britain move up the final rankings into third place on 47 points just three points behind Germany who finished on 50 and 1.5 points behind the Netherlands.

Jubliant with their standings in the leagues knowing that they had achieved exactly what had been set as an objective at the start of the season, team GBR were incredibly pleased with their performance. The objective of retaining Great Britains position in the league going forward to 2012 and finishing at least mid-way on the final league standings was one that Rob Hoekstra had set in his mind alongside those of the riders that have made their appearances through the year.

Commenting after the competition Rob Hoekstra said “The series has been a phenomenal one and we have seen some tremendous horses come out for us giving us a depth and breath that we would never have envisaged a few years ago. We always said we wanted to finish midway in the league giving as many horses as possible the opportunity of gaining experience at this level. We have worked at this as a team and I can’t thank the owners and riders who have focused on achieving this with us enough. Our next focus is the European Championships next month in Madrid and then of course all our energy will be on getting ready for London 2012”.

The two nations being relegated for the 2012 series will be the USA and Denmark.

The British Showjumping Teams are strongly supported by the UK Sport Lottery funded BEF World Class Programme.

For all the latest news and information from the show in Rotterdam please visit www.chio.nl. For further information on the FEI Top Level Nations Cup series please visit www.fei.org

Rotterdam Placings
1. Germany 0
2. Great Britain (4)
    Michael Whitaker/GIG Amai II (9/1)
    Guy Williams / Depardieu Van Kiezelhof (5/5)
    Ben Maher/Tripple X III (0/0/4)
    John Whitaker/Peppermill (4/0)
3^rd France (12)
4^th NL   (17)
4^th BE (17)
6^th USA (18)
7^th EI (29)
8^th DK (33)

2011 FEI 2011 TOP LEVEL NATIONS CUP
Final Standings
1^st Germany (50)
2^nd Netherlands (48.5)
3^rd Great Britain (47)
4^th Ireland (41.5)
5^th France (40.5)
6^th Belgium (35)
7^th USA (31.5)
8^th Denmark (10)

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