JOE CLEE TAKES 2ND IN ZURICH MERCEDES CLASSIC GRAND PRIX FEI WORLD CUP QUALIFIER
Sunday 26 January 2014
It was Belgium based Joe Clee with his talented 11 year-old mare, Diablesse de Muze, who took the honour of being the highest placed Brit in the line up of the Zurich World Cup Qualifier earlier today with their 2nd place finish.
The first round which had been designed by Gerard Lachat and Rolf Ludi, consisted of thirteen fences with the triple combination being the one that caused the most challenge for many of the competitors coming forward.
A total of nine competitors produced a clear in the first round to qualify for the jump off but only three managed to produce another clear; one of whom was Joe accompanied by Pius Schwizer and Toulago for Switzerland and Christian Ahlmann and Aragon Z for Germany.
As the second rider of the nine to go in the jump off, Joe was determined to not only jump clear but also put his foot on the accelerator and post a fast time. With it all coming together exactly as planned they came through the finish with all fences left untouched and posting a time of 34.79 seconds and having done enough to force the many of the combinations coming behind him to fault due to trying to beat his time and obtaining penalties as poles fell.
Christian Ahlmann was the next competitor to produce a clear, but having opted for a steadier pace on course he stopped the clock slightly slower in a time of 35.56 seconds. It looked like Joe had done enough until Pius Schwizer, one of the last combinations to come forward, decided that he wasn’t going to be happy with anything other than knowing he had given it is all. As he broke the start line it was clear he was going to try and beat Joe’s time. Leaving all the fences standing, his time was so close it wasn’t until the clock stopped that spectators realised he had produced a home win in a time of 34.65 seconds, a mere 14/100’s of a second faster than Joe.
The FEI World Cup Standings now includes four GB riders in the Top 25. World No.1 ranked rider Scott Brash sits in joint first on 52 points, Tim Gredley in 10th place, Joe Clee in 14th and Dan Neilson in 23rd.
The CSI5* show in Zurich also saw further GB appearances in the line up. Laura Renwick with Marian and John Renwicks 13 year-old bay mare Beluga II secured the winning title of the opening 1.35m speed class along with a 5th place finish in the 1.35m Knock Out competition on Saturday. Laura also took a 5th place in the 1.50 Art on Ice Preix with her British Bred 8 year-old bay gelding Bintang II; this was the second placing for them at the show as they had been placed 6th the day before in the 1.45m Thermoplan AG speed class. Joe Clee would also have been pleased with his other ride, Fento Chin with whom he shared 5th place alongside Laura in the 1.35m Knockout class.
14kvaj7pl3106.jpg "Jonathan Egmore and Mollie Rose Smith are winners in the Equissage Pulse British Novice Second Rounds.")
1g50u2k8dpost.JPG "Lacey-Mae Russel seizes Victory in the STX-UK Pony British Novice Second Round at Felbridge Showground")
11dtw0hmsttk0.jpg "NAF Five Star Bronze and Silver League Qualifiers get underway at Speetley Equestrian Centre")
