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Federation
Equestre Internationale News
Samsung Super League News : Top-Hats and Tails At Traditional
Dublin!
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The
Samsung Super League road show comes to Dublin next week with
France still holding the narrowest of leads over the Irish while
the British continue to gather pace. This promises to be one of
the most exciting legs of the series to date, with the host team
determined to oust the French from the head of the pack and the
British in bullish form after their success in Hickstead.
Dublin
is a heady mixture of horses, heroes and haute couture with emphasis
placed on tradition and judges, officials and special guests will
be attired in top-hats and tails while the ladies will don their
finest attire as the teams battle it out for the Aga Khan Cup
on Friday August 8th.
It’s
a festival of all that is good in equestrian sport and, after
130 years, it claims a special place in the Irish summer calendar.
The first Dublin Horse Show was staged in 1868 when hunting horses
competed over the "high leap", the "wide leap"
and stone walls on the Lawns of Leinster House, now Government
Buildings, in the heart of the city. After three days of competition,
sheep-farmer Richard Flynn from County Roscommon in the west of
Ireland was awarded the world’s first show jumping championship
title. The event moved to the Royal Dublin Society Showgrounds
in Ballsbridge in 1881 and it was here, in 1926, that the first
Nations Cup competition took place with Switzerland claiming the
honours.
The
Swiss will be sadly missed this year as they did not qualify for
the Super League but the show goes on and, with just three more
legs left in the Samsung series its coming down to the wire.
For
the French it’s really a matter of pride now that they should
stay out in front. They have been there from the start, they have
proven without doubt that they belong in the elite group of international
show jumping teams and they like holding the whip hand. This time,
team regulars Florian Angot, Michel Hecart and Christian Hermon
are joined by Super League newcomer Laurent Goffinet.
For
the Irish it’s only a matter of time before they take over
the lead. They have been stalking the French for some weeks now
and, just a half-point behind on the leaderboard, they are waiting
for a Gallic blunder which will give them the opportunity to pounce
on pole position. The Irish line-up is altered again with Peter
Charles side-lined in favour of Robert Splaine whose early performances
with the Irish Sport Horse stallion Coolcorron Cool Diamond were
nothing short of sensational and whose efforts really boosted
the Irish position.
The
rock-solid partnership of Kevin Babington and Carling King have
campaigned the entire Super League series so far and they line
out once more along with Cian O’Connor and Waterford Crystal
who were so impressive in Hickstead and Billy Twomey with Luidam.
The
traditional Anglo-Irish rivalry will be at an all-time high this
year after the recent controversies about horse-ownership and
horse-transfers and the Irish may have to suffer the irritation
of seeing Michael Whitaker lining out with the former Trevor Coyle
ride, Fleur. It had been hoped that Coyle would bounce back into
the Irish team effort with the American-owned mare this summer
but the British rider, who competed with Fleur much earlier in
her career, has her back in his yard. British tails are up after
their convincing win on their home ground and another good result
in Dublin would bring a dramatic change to the leaderboard so
Whitaker, William Funnell, Nick Skelton and Robert Smith will
be ones to watch next week.
Germany,
comfortably holding fourth position on the league table at present,
sends Franz-Josef Dahlmann, Fritz Fervers, Andreas Ripke and Rene
Tebbel but the Belgians, lying fifth, must be feeling far from
easy after their disastrous elimination in Hickstead. The Super
League series has been full of frustration for them, with the
Irish denying them victory in Aachen and then stops for both Dirk
Demeersman and Jean Claude Vangeenberghe leading to elimination
at the British fixture. Vangeenberghe, Jos Lansink, Philippe Lejeune
and Stanny Van Paesschen are likely to be in serious mood when
they ride into the Dublin arena.
Holland’s
Marc Houtzager won the Dublin Grand Prix last summer and returns
again with Jacomar but the Dutch are in that vulnerable bunch
at the bottom of the league table so along with Peter Geerink,
Wim Schroder and Eric Van der Vleuten he needs to give it everything
he’s got in the battle for the Aga Khan Trophy.
With
just 10.5 points on the board the Dutch are only a half-point
ahead of Sweden who are pulling no punches this time around and
are sending out a strong squad including Malin Baryard, Rolf-Goran
Bengtsson, Maria Gretzer and Helena Persson to try and retrieve
the situation as they battle to stay ahead of the Italians who
are bringing up the rear.
Italy
finished second in the Dublin Nations Cup last year but Super
League success has eluded them all season and they are trailing
the pack with just eight points so there is severe pressure on
Roberto Arioldi, Bruno Chimirri, Enrico Maria Frana and Massimo
Grossato to produce something special and save their side from
relegation. With only one further leg before the final in Barcelona
in September, time is quickly running out.
The
French are reigning Dublin champions. Almost as an advance warning
of how it would be at the World Championships in Jerez just a
few weeks later they produced five clear rounds to leave the result
in no doubt and they have hardly faltered since.
The
Irish however are well-known for their fighting spirit and, to
them, the Aga Khan Trophy is more precious than any other in the
world. World Champion, Dermott Lennon, has not returned to the
squad since the fall last March which left him with a badly-broken
arm but his mare Liscalgot is now back in work again and although
he will not be competing next week he may be making a guest appearance
in the interval between the two rounds of the Samsung Super League
when tenor Ronan Tynan, the Pavarotti of the Emerald Isle, will
also be entertaining the crowd.
The
Irish are hoping they will have even more to sing about when the
competition is over but there is so much at stake for so many
teams in this third-last leg of the Samsung series that it promises
to be one of the fiercest battles yet…
Keep
up to date with the latest news from Dublin Horse Show at website
www.rds.ie.
ALSO
PLEASE NOTE that the website for the SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE FINAL
IN BARCELONA in now up and running at www.barcelona.com.
SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE LEADERBOARD
1.
France - 37 points
2. Ireland - 36.5 points
3. Great Britain - 26 points
4. Germany - 21 points
5. Belgium - 13.5 points
6. Holland - 10.5 points
7. Sweden - 10 points
8. Italy - 8 points.
SAMSUNG
SUPER LEAGUE – NATIONAL PRIDE, INTERNATIONAL PASSION!
You
can access all the latest Samsung Super League news and information
on website www.samsungsuperleague.com and don’t forget that
Biographies on all Riders competing in the series are available
at http://bios.horsesport.org.
Want
to know more? You can check the full rules for the Samsung Super
League Series on the FEI website, section reference – rules
http://www.horsesport.org/fei/reference_03/ref_03_02.html.
The
Samsung Super League consists of the eight most prestigious horse
shows at which the world’s eight best national teams compare
their merit. The Super League is connected to the Samsung Nations
Cup Series through a promotion/relegation system at the end of
each season.
Samsung
Electronics, one of the world’s largest electronics companies,
is committed to supporting international sporting events thereby
returning corporate profits to the public and working towards
a more harmonious and equitable society.
www.horsesport.org
.
