It was another hot day in Aachen and the crowds flocked to the cross country
If the drama on Thursday unfolded early with the withdrawal of Chris Burton, there was plenty of it at the very last minute on cross country day in Aachen with surprises even after the competition had finished. Actually maybe not that much of a surprise as anyone watching the footage of Britain’s Holly Woodhead riding DHI Lupison would have wondered, as did the Ground Jury, did they pass through those flags?
The answer was no and, after reviewing video footage, the Ground Jury eliminated Holly for continuing after jumping the wrong side of a flag at the corner in the water. DHI Lupison had already picked up 20 penalties after a huge leap at the first part of the very influential Fence 16, which saw them run into trouble at Part B. However they was not the only ones to have trouble at this fence which Ingrid Klimke quite rightly predicted to be the bogey fence on course; Holly was one of 11 riders to pick up 20 penalties here and it was also here that Jock Paget parted company from Clifton Lush.
She was also not the only rider to be eliminated for continuing after jumping the wrong side of the flag with Germany’s Niklas Bschorer and Claas Hermann Romeicke also falling foul of the flags at fences 11 and 20B. However, despite this hiccup which has no doubt been educational, these are three young riders, aged 20, 21 and 22 respectively, that are ones to watch in the future
Trail blazer Francis Whittington and Easy Target had a good round but Francis has Blair Castle in his sights
The late elimination of Holly also resulted in the British team elimination as Flora Harris and Bayano had already incurred three refusals on the cross country. The two remaining British team members Francis Whittington riding Easy Target and Gemma Tattersall riding Quicklook V, two lovely grey horses, finished in 16th and 14th place, both jumping clear with only 7.2 and 10 time penalties respectively on a course where making the time was not easy.
Fourth placed Tim Price said that precise riding was what the course, created by the long standing Aachen course designer Rüdiger Schwarz, required “Precision is the right word. Right from the first fence I took the exact line that I wanted and it needed to be that way in order to make the time achievable without being too scrappy”
Tim Price and Wesko
This was the first proper outing for Wesko since Kentucky in April, where he finished second, and Tim rode a foot perfect round to move from ninth to fourth, finishing on their dressage score of 40.2. As Tim came in under time, his wife Jonelle was heading out on course to finish close behind him in sixth place on Faerie Dianimo, adding only 3.6 time faults to her dressage score to finish on 41. Sir Mark Todd and NZB Campino were eighth in 45.6 after also picking up time faults in the cross country; Toddy looked delighted with their performance as they cantered around the main arena at the finish, pumping the air with his fist. This is a man who still clearly enjoys his work! The New Zealand team finished in second place with a score of 126.80, giving them an important team confidence boost after some tribulations in the past few months
Tim Price
Ingrid and Horseware Hale Bob
But the main story of the day was of course Ingrid Klimke. One of the nicest and most talented riders on the circuit, Ingrid wanted to win this one and finish ‘on the plate’ which is exactly what she did. She didn’t hang around in the show jumping yesterday and today on cross country she performed the same way, coming in clear and under time on both horses to finish as the winner on FRH Escada JS and second on her team horse Horseware Hale Bob, both completing on their dressage scores of 32.10 and 37.
Ingrid made the course look easy and as she hopped off each horse at the finish there were kisses for the groom, pats for her horse and hugs for her daughter and husband; even though she had a second horse to ride, Ingrid took the job of walking each horse around as it cooled down at the finish.
German team members Sandra Auffarth, who finished in third place, and Dirk Schrade also both completed under time, making it four German horses and one New Zealander that were the only ones to do so, and with Michael Jung picking up only 2.4 time penalties the team victory was well and truly a German one with a score of 120.50. Originally Britain were third in the team competition but, with Holly’s elimination, the USA team moved onto the podium (figuratively speaking at the moment as the presentation is to take place on Saturday)
World Champions Sandra Auffarth and Opgun Louvo on their way to third place
Their team, consisting of Phillip Dutton and Fernhill Cubalawn, Lauren Kieffer and Veronica, Colleen Rutledge and Covert Rights, and Lynn Symansky and Donner had a final score of 192.90 with Phillip and Lauren finishing 12th and 15th although Colleen Rutledge and her nine-year-old thoroughbred cross gelding ran into some trouble and ultimately were eliminated when they fell in the water at the dreaded 20B
Phillip Dutton and Fernhill Cubalawn
"Time was tough to make, and that was probably the fastest he has gone, and I was happy with the way he handled it” said Phillip of the 12-year-old Holsteiner gelding Fernhill Cubalawn "This is as good a competition in the world as any, and overall it went well. Even a half a point makes a difference here, and we had some bobble in a couple dressage movements that cost us. He is a relatively inexperienced horse, but he shows a lot of promise, and I'm excited to see what is ahead."
Andrew Hoy and Cheeky Calimbo
Phillip’s Australian Olympic gold-winning team mate from Atlanta and Sydney, Andrew Hoy, also had a good day. Andrew finished in seventh place on Cheeky Calimbo, adding only 6.8 time penalties to their dressage score, even though Andrew opted to take the long option at the angled brushes at Fence 16 – a wise move from the very experienced competitor. Sadly Australia wasn’t on the podium with Chris Burton, who is on a roll at the moment, having to withdraw and Paul Tapner finishing in 21st place despite a very fast cross country round on Indian Mill and Kevin McNab finishing in 28th place. Kevin is one of the most stylish riders you will see on course and you don’t often see him taking a real pull, but Casperelli needed a few good half halts, especially towards the end of the course which cost them time and they were also another combination to have a run out at 16B.
Kevin McNab and the keen Casperelli
However Australia is still in third place on the overall leader board just behind Germany but it is Great Britain with a huge lead after five of the eight events
FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing 2015 Leaderboard after Aachen
1 Great Britain 47 points
2 Germany 29
3 Australia 28
2 France 27
4 Netherlands 21
6 Ireland 15
7 Sweden 10
8 New Zealand 9
9 Belgium 8
10 USA 7
11 Spain 6
12 Poland 4
12 Canada 3
