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GREAT BRITAIN FINISH 2nd IN FALSTERBO
Friday 13 July 2012
The superb arena at Falsterbo played host to the Swedish leg of the FEI Top Level Nations Cup series this afternoon.
The event at Falsterbo is sandwiched between Aachen and Hickstead making it the 6th competition of the series that takes in eight of the finest venues across Europe and which is contested by the eight qualifying nations from last year’s competition.
The event at Falsterbo is sandwiched between Aachen and Hickstead making it the 6th competition of the series that takes in eight of the finest venues across Europe and which is contested by the eight qualifying nations from last year’s competition.
The field saw quite a mix in terms of experience and depth with Sweden pulling out their Olympic team in their hope of winning; having won it three times in the past nine years. Other nations however were also fronting new combinations across the course designed by Germany’s Franck Rothernberger. Great Britain being one of the Nations that felt it a suitable venue to introduce newer combinations to this level of competition with Alexandra Thornton and her own Calbellero 84 both making their debut in addition to Robert Smith introducing his new bay mare Voila IV to Top Level competition.
Round 1
With Great Britain drawn third to go it was William Funnell from Dorking, Surry with Julie Slade’s 9 year-old chestnut gelding Billy Angelo who took the role of pathfinder. A role that wouldn’t be envied by many, Will took it in his stride and produced the first clear round of the competition in 76.43 seconds which must have given the rest of the team watching on considerable confidence.
With Great Britain drawn third to go it was William Funnell from Dorking, Surry with Julie Slade’s 9 year-old chestnut gelding Billy Angelo who took the role of pathfinder. A role that wouldn’t be envied by many, Will took it in his stride and produced the first clear round of the competition in 76.43 seconds which must have given the rest of the team watching on considerable confidence.
Young Alexandra Thornton aged 19 with her own 10 year-old bay gelding Cabellero 84 making their debut lowered two fences and a foot in the water to finish on 12 penalties. Alexandra who bases herself in France during the summer before competing in Florida during the winter was only on her second appearance for Great Britain having competed in Copenhagen on the Promotional League Nations Cup team.
Tina Fletcher from Faringdon, Oxon with Ursula XII, an 11 year-old bay mare jointly owned by Lady Pauline Kirkham and Lady Pauline Harris looked extremely comfortable in the arena producing a superb clear round. Tina was recently announced as the travelling reserve for the team representing GB at the London Olympics with Hello Sailor, a horse jointly owned by Lord & Lady Harris and Lady Pauline Kirkham.
Anchorman Robert Smith from Warwickshire with his own 10 year-old bay mare Voila IV were, as a combination, making their debut at Top Level Nations Cup competition. An unlucky lowering of just one fence meant a finish on 4 penalties meant Great Britain finished the first round carrying just 4 penalties forward with Alexandra’s round being the drop score.
At the halfway stage France were leading the field going forward with zero penalties, whilst Great Britain shared 2nd place with Sweden and Germany on 4 penalties. Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and Ireland took 5th – 8th place respectively at this mid-way position.
Round 2
Will Funnell and Billy Angelo reproduced their foot-perfect performance of the first round by producing another clear ensuring Britain retained in as strong a position as possible going forward. Alexandra Thornton and Cabellero 84 found a couple of the lines still a problem for them resulting in a total penalty score of 17 having had a foot in the water, a couple of fences down and a need to circle in front of a fence knowing they were meeting it on an impossible stride.
Will Funnell and Billy Angelo reproduced their foot-perfect performance of the first round by producing another clear ensuring Britain retained in as strong a position as possible going forward. Alexandra Thornton and Cabellero 84 found a couple of the lines still a problem for them resulting in a total penalty score of 17 having had a foot in the water, a couple of fences down and a need to circle in front of a fence knowing they were meeting it on an impossible stride.
Tina Fletcher and Ursula XII lowered a pole jumping out of the combination and that along with another fence being lowered meant a finish score of 8penalties. With Alexandra’s score needing to be the drops core it meant that Tina’s penalties would need to count so it was now down to the rest of the teams notching up faults if Great Britain were to retain their position higher up the leader board and obtain those all important league points. Robert Smith and Voila IV put in another fantastic performance which left the commentators applauding this talented mare making her first appearance on 5* Nations Cup stage.
With Great Britain finishing on 12 penalties across the two rounds, a score they shared with Sweden it was then just down to France to ensure they jumped clear if they were to win. However, a jump down by France meant that a third round of a three-way jump off was going to have to be the decider as to which nation was going to win the title between Great Britain, Sweden and France all on 12 penalties.
With each of three Nation’s Chef d’Equipe’s having to select one combination to represent them it was a difficult choice for all. For Great Britain, Rob Hoekstra, World Class Showjumping Performance Manager selected Will Funnell and Billy Angelo.
Having to go first of the three nations the pressure was really on Will to not only jump clear but also in a time that would force others to perhaps make mistakes. Keeping the pace moving, Will and Billy Angelo turned and galloped to the last fence clearing it and coming through the finish in a time of 45seconds.
Having to go first of the three nations the pressure was really on Will to not only jump clear but also in a time that would force others to perhaps make mistakes. Keeping the pace moving, Will and Billy Angelo turned and galloped to the last fence clearing it and coming through the finish in a time of 45seconds.
Knowing they would need to keep the pace up if they were to beat him Sweden’s Jens Fredericson and Lunatic managed to come through the finish in a time of 37.62 which saw the home ground jump to their feet in excitement at the realisation that the home title could well be theirs. With last to jump Jerome Hurel from France with Ohm De Ponthual still to go, the crowd settled down but an early fence down by Jerome meant the Swedish home crowd found it impossible not to show their delight in winning the title for the fourth time this decade.
With France having an early fence down and incurring then carrying 4 penalties it meant that Great Britain finished in 2nd place giving them the valuable league points needed as the series moves towards the final stages.
Rob Hoekstra commented “We are very pleased with the result. We had three new horses for the first time in Top Level Nations Cup . Robert Smith’s horse jumped superbly and they look like they’ve got a great future ahead of them and today gave us exactly what we needed and also shows that we are in a solid position with the way the strength of our team keeps building and developing. Will Funnell produced three fantastic clear rounds and Billy Angelo is proving to be a great team horse the more experience he’s getting under his belt. When you consider that Sweden had their Olympic team out I’m just please that we came so close to them!”.
With France having an early fence down and incurring then carrying 4 penalties it meant that Great Britain finished in 2nd place giving them the valuable league points needed as the series moves towards the final stages.
Rob Hoekstra commented “We are very pleased with the result. We had three new horses for the first time in Top Level Nations Cup . Robert Smith’s horse jumped superbly and they look like they’ve got a great future ahead of them and today gave us exactly what we needed and also shows that we are in a solid position with the way the strength of our team keeps building and developing. Will Funnell produced three fantastic clear rounds and Billy Angelo is proving to be a great team horse the more experience he’s getting under his belt. When you consider that Sweden had their Olympic team out I’m just please that we came so close to them!”.
The competition now moves to Hickstead for the 7th leg of the competition which takes place on Friday afternoon the 20th July.
The Grand Prix will take place on Sunday where each of the British squad riders will be competing for the the lion share of the prize money on offer. For further information and full results from the event please visit www.falsterbohorseshow.se
For those that missed the live streaming of the event at www.feitv.org it will be available on both Eurosport and Horse & Country TV so you can still catch up with the action. Please visit the British Showjumping website at www.britishshowjumping.co.uk and click on ‘whats on tv’ to obtain an up-to-date schedule of broadcast times.
The British Showjumping Teams are supported by Exchequer and National Lottery funding via UK Sport.
Results
1st Sweden (12+ 0)
2nd Great Britain (12+ 0)
Will Funnell / Billy Angelo (0/0/0)
Alexandra Thornton / Cabellero 84 (12/17)
Tina Fletcher / Ursua XII (0/8)
Robert Smith / Voila IV (0/0)
3rd France (12 + 4)
4th Switzerland (16)
5th Germany (20)
6th Belgium (24)
7th Netherlands (28)
8th Ireland (34)
2nd Great Britain (12+ 0)
Will Funnell / Billy Angelo (0/0/0)
Alexandra Thornton / Cabellero 84 (12/17)
Tina Fletcher / Ursua XII (0/8)
Robert Smith / Voila IV (0/0)
3rd France (12 + 4)
4th Switzerland (16)
5th Germany (20)
6th Belgium (24)
7th Netherlands (28)
8th Ireland (34)
Standings after Leg 6 of the 2012 series
1st Germany (41)
1st Germany (41)
2nd Switzerland (30.5)
3rd France (30)
4th Sweden (28)
4th Sweden (28)
5th Netherlands (27.5)
6th Great Britain (27)
7th Belgium (25)
8th Ireland (19)
8th Ireland (19)
*the numbers in brackets denote total league points
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