FEI Classics™: Can Jung Conquer Pau As Well? #FEIClassics

Michael Jung (GER) is in the French Pyrenees to see if he can add the CCI4* at Les 4 Etoiles de Pau, first leg of the FEI Classics™ 2015/2016 – which unites the world’s top six four-star Eventing competitions – to his trophy cupboard.

Jung, the reigning Olympic and European champion and runner-up to Ingrid Klimke (GER) in last year’s series, has won at Kentucky (USA) and Burghley (GBR) this year, and is a previous victor at Luhmühlen (GER), as well as being a Badminton (GBR) runner-up.

His best result at France’s premier event so far is a third place in 2012, but German riders have a good record here, winning four out of eight times since the CCI4* began in 2007.

He is bringing the brilliant mare fischerRocana, his Kentucky winner and the horse on which he had a rare Cross Country mistake – an early fall in the water at Burghley last month. His other mount, Halunke FBW, the 2013 European champion, has been saved especially for Pau as it is thought Pierre Michelet’s (FRA) flat racecourse track will suit the 11-year-old German Württemberger gelding.

Sir Mark Todd had won his first CCI4* – Badminton in 1980 – before Jung was even born. New Zealand’s double Olympic champion has been in fine form this season and has an obvious chance to win at Pau on the 13-year-old German-bred NZB Campino, winner of two CIC3*s this year.

Todd’s compatriots have plenty of CCI4* form between them, especially former world and Olympic champion Blyth Tait, who has followed his old team mate out of retirement. Tait, who has never competed at Pau before, rides Bear Necessity V.

Eventing’s ‘power couple’, Tim and Jonelle Price (NZL), are also sure to make an impact. Tim has his Kentucky runner-up Wesko and has picked up a new ride on Julie Tew’s (GBR) Lord of the Owls, while Jonelle will be seeking her first CCI4* win. She has a great chance on the talented little grey mare Faerie Dianimo, fourth here in 2014 and second at Luhmühlen this year.

There hasn’t been a French winner since Nicolas Touzaint in 2007, so expectations will be high for the in-form Astier Nicolas, who rides Piaf de B’neville and the well-named Quickly du Buguet, plus former world champion Jean Teulere with the experienced Matelot du Grand Val.

Michael Jung (GER), reigning Olympic and European champion, is aiming to add Les 4 Etoiles de Pau, first leg of the FEI Classics™ 2015/2016 season, to his trophy cupboard (he is pictured here at the Burghley leg, which he won, of the 2014/2015 series). (Trevor Meeks/FEI)

Other competitors to watch include the 2010 winner Andreas Dibowski (GER), who rides FRH Butts Avedon, and Lucy Wiegersma (GBR), who will soon celebrate her marriage to Irish team rider Padraig McCarthy – she rides Mr Chunky.

Germany’s Claas Hermann Romeike (Cato 60), the son of 2008 Olympic champion Hinrich Romeike, and Britain’s Emily King (Brookleigh), daughter of the 2011 FEI Classics champion, Mary King, also make their débuts at Pau.

Ten nations will be represented and around 50 horses are expected to start in what promises to be a thrilling competition.

FEI TV – live action
Watch the entire FEI Classics™ at Les 4 Etoiles de Pau live on http://www.feitv.org

Live results – Les 4 Etoiles de Pau
See live results on http://www.event-pau.fr.

Kate Green

FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing 2015: Germany Comes Out On Top Again

The German national anthem rang out yet again as the team were victorious at Waregem (BEL), seventh leg of the FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing 2015, where they beat the home side of Belgium by nearly 50 penalties.

This was Germany’s third win this season, following victories at Houghton Hall (GBR) and Aachen (GER), but Britain, who have participated in the most contests, still head the FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing leaderboard by a significant nine points going into the last leg at Boekelo (NED) next month.

Germany led throughout at Waregem and was the only team to have all four riders complete Tom Ryckewaert’s (BEL) excellent Cross Country course.

Team members Andreas Ostholt (Pennsylvania 28), Julia Krajewski (Samourai du Thot), Anna-Maria Rieke (Petite Dame) and Andreas Dibowski on the veteran FRH Butts Avedon finished second, fifth, sixth and 15th respectively. Belgium’s best rider was Julian Despontin, in eighth place on Waldano 36.

The Netherlands finished third, with the experienced Tim Lips their best rider in 17th place on Trademark, more than 50 penalties behind Belgium.

The Cross Country phase proved influential – especially the elusive optimum time – and considerably re-ordered the leaderboard, producing a surprise individual CIC3* winner in British team member Nana Dalton (GBR) on Abbeylara Prince.

Waregem is not an easy track on which to make up time, as it has some wooded sections, and Dalton was the only rider to come home with time penalties in single figures; she had been only 26th after Dressage and 14th after a clear Jumping round.

Australia was second after the Dressage and Jumping phases by only 5.8 penalties, but the individual leader, Christopher Burton, retired Tempranillo after a couple of run-outs on the Cross Country and Andrew Hoy had three refusals at fence 18 on Algebra, dropping the team to fifth. Paul Tapner finished best of the quartet in individual fourth place on Bonza King of Rouges.

Britain ended up in fourth place after team member Sarah Bullimore had a run-out with Reve du Rouet in the water complex (fences 22-23). Her team mate Francis Whittington had a rider fall from West Side here, and Coral Keen also fell, at fence 19, from Wellshead Fare Opposition.

The scene is now set for a thrilling finale at Boekelo, which always attracts a strong field.

Great Britain will be under pressure to hang on for a second FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing victory since the series inception in 2012, but the mighty Germans, defending champions, will press them right to the line, and both nations will have to fend off challenges from Australia, France and the flying Kiwis.

Germany scored its third win in FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing this season, this time at Waregem (BEL), from left to right: Andreas Dibowski, Annamaria Rieke, Andreas Ostholt and Julia Krajewski. (Hanna Broms/FEI)

Results from Waregem

1 Germany, 179.0
Andreas Ostholt/Pennsylvania 28, 57.6; Julia Krajewski/Samourai du Thot, 59.9; Anna-Maria Rieke/Petite Dame, 61.5; (Andreas Dibowski/FRH Butts Avedon, 69.5)

2 Belgium, 227.6
Julian Despontin/Waldano 36, 63.8; Joris Vanspringel/Lully des Aulnes, 67.9; Pieter de Cleene/Havanna van’t Castaneahof, 95.9; (Virginie Caulier/Nepal de Sudre, RET Cross Country);

3 Netherlands, 280.5
Tim Lips/Trademark, 72.1; Alice Naber-Lozeman/Coral Estate Harry Belafonte, 102.3; Nienke Van Roekel/Coral Estate Sagnoi, 106.1; (Raf Kooremans/MC B Vulcano, EL Cross Country)

4 Great Britain, 1142.8
Nana Dalton/Abbeylara Prince, 59.6; Sarah Bullimore/Reve du Rouet, 85.9; Coral Keen/Wellshead Fare Opposition, EL Cross Country; (Francis Whittington/West Side, EL Cross Country)

5 Australia, 1147.9
Paul Tapner/Bonza King of Rouges, 58.4; Sam Griffiths/Foxdon Sunny Jim, 89.5; Christopher Burton/Tempranillo, RET Cross Country; (Andrew Hoy/Algebra, EL Cross Country)

6 France, 1174.5
Helene Vattier/Quito de Balière, 68.6; Regis Prud’Hon/Debiut, 105.9; Geoffroy Soullez/Qokery Ko, EL Cross Country; (Koris Vieules/Rejoind Moi, EL Cross Country)

FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing 2015 Leaderboard after 7 out 8 events
1 Great Britain 49 points
2 Germany 40
3 Australia 35
4 France 32
5 Netherlands 29
6 Belgium 17
7 Ireland 15
8 Sweden 10
9 New Zealand 9
10 USA 7
11 Spain 6
12= Poland 4
12= Canada 4

FEI Classics™: Ingrid Klimke Out To Make German History #FEIClassics

The talented German Olympian Ingrid Klimke, who already has the FEI Classics™ 2014/2015 Etoiles de Pau (FRA) victory under her belt, is now bidding to be the first representative of her country to win the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials (GBR), which takes place this weekend (7-10 May).

Only two riders from Continental Europe have won the world’s oldest horse trials: Hans Schwarzenbach (SUI) in 1951 and Nicolas Touzaint (FRA) in 2008. Klimke finished second (on Sleep Late in 2006), as have her compatriots Andreas Dibowski (2007) and Michael Jung (2013), but the German national anthem has never rung out on Badminton’s hallowed turf in the event’s 66-year history.

Klimke, daughter of the revered Olympic Dressage champion Dr Reiner Klimke, has an excellent chance of rectifying this omission. Currently second on the FEI Classics™ 2014/2015 leaderboard, she rides Horseware Hale Bob, the 11-year-old Oldenburg gelding from which she conjured the dazzling performance to win Pau (FRA).

Another rider bidding to make history is world number two William Fox-Pitt (GBR). No stallion has won a CCI4* in modern times, but the gentlemanly Chilli Morning, holder of individual bronze medals at world and European level, has the flair and the temperament to give Fox-Pitt a record 14th CCI4* victory and a second Mitsubishi Trophy to join the one he won in 2004 on Tamarillo.

The last British Badminton winner was Oliver Townend in 2009 (on Flint Curtis). He came close last year, finishing runner-up on Armada, on which he is entered this time. The 16-year-old Spanish-bred gelding is a brilliant Cross Country horse and a veteran of numerous CCI4*s under Townend and, previously, Andrew Nicholson (NZL).

Nicholson has won Burghley five times, plus Pau, Kentucky and Luhmühlen, but victory at Badminton has eluded this master horseman despite a record 33 completions over 30 years of trying. This time he’s back with the wonderfully consistent Nereo, third here in 2013, plus Calico Joe.

Nicholson’s very first visit to Badminton was as groom to Sir Mark Todd (NZL) when he won, at his first attempt, on Southern Comfort 35 years ago. Now, nearly 40 years separates the youngest rider in the field, 20-year-old newcomer Niklas Bschorer (GER), riding Tom Tom Go 3, and 59-year-old Todd (NZL), who went on to win three more times – in 1994, 1996 and, during his ‘second career’, in 2011. This time he rides Leonidas ll and Oloa, on which he is drawn last of the field.

Ingrid Klimke (GER) and Horseware Hale Bob, winners of the first leg of FEI Classics™ 2014/2015 in Pau (FRA), and currently second on the leaderboard, are now set to tackle the fourth leg of the series at the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials. (Trevor Holt/FEI)

The defending champion, Sam Griffiths (AUS), is back with his winning mare, Paulank Brockagh, plus the hugely experienced Happy Times, on which he was third at Burghley last year.

The 2013 winners, Jock Paget (NZL) and Clifton Promise, runners-up at Burghley last year, will also be in action, and Paget has a second ride on Clifton Lush.

A star-studded field includes four more former winning riders. For Britain, three-time victor Pippa Funnell (2002, 2003 and 2005) rides Redesigned and Second Supreme and Mary King (1992 and 2000) has her home-bred mare Kings Temptress, winner of Kentucky (USA) in 2011.

For Australia, Andrew Hoy (2006) has taken on Lanfranco TSF from Bettina Hoy (GER) (she is entered, on Designer), and also rides Rutherglen, and Paul Tapner (2010) is first to go on Kilronan and later has Indian Mill.

Around 80 horses from 12 nations are expected to start for what promises to be a thrilling fourth leg of the FEI Classics™ 2014/2015.

Kate Green

Fei Classics™: New Season Starts At Pau With All-Star Cast

An elite group of riders have gathered in south-west France for Les Etoiles de Pau (FRA), the start of the FEI Classics™ 2014/2015. The premier French event is the first of the popular series that links the world’s six CCI4*s.

World number one William Fox-Pitt (GBR), who won the FEI Classics™ 2013/2014 with victories at Pau and Kentucky (USA) last year, is bidding to stamp his authority on the new season. He has entered two former CCI4* winners: Parklane Hawk (Burghley 2011 and Kentucky 2012) and Seacookie, the horse he rode to victory in Pau 12 months ago.

Andreas Dibowski (GER) is another former winner of the French four-star, in 2010 on another mare, FRH Fantasia. This time he rides FRH Butts Avedon, an 11-year-old gelding that finished ninth at Luhmühlen (GER) last year.

Dibowski’s compatriot Ingrid Klimke, a member of the all-conquering German team at the last four senior championships, has another CCI4* horse in the making in Horseware Hale Bob, a 10-year-old Oldenburger gelding which completed Luhmühlen this year.

Pau has received 35 entries from 10 nations, with key combinations to watch including the Kentucky 2013 runners-up, Lauren Kieffer (USA) with Veronica, and Jock Paget (NZL) on the former Andrew Nicholson ride Shady Grey. Fellow New Zealander Jonelle Price, fourth at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014 in Normandy, is also aiming to make her mark in Pau with the nine-year-old mare Faerie Dianimo, recent winner of the Young Horse CIC3* at the Fidelity Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials.

From the home side, France’s Pascal Leroy will be a force to be reckoned with on the seasoned Minos de Petra, fifth at Badminton (GBR) earlier this year.

World number one William Fox-Pitt (GBR), winner of last year’s FEI Classics™ – the popular Eventing series linking the world’s six four-star events – will take on an elite group at Les Etoiles de Pau (FRA), the first leg of this year’s series, with two former CCI4* winners Parklane Hawk (pictured) and Seacookie, the horse he rode to victory in Pau twelve months ago.

And there is a strong British contingent. Louise Harwood (GBR) has been having a good season with Whitson, on which she was second at Tattersalls CCI3* and third at Blair Castle CCI3* this year, and Francis Whittington (GBR), fresh from celebrating his first CCI3* win, at Blenheim, rides West Side at Pau.

These two will be joined by the very experienced Pippa Funnell on the magnificent chestnut Redesigned, on which she was unlucky to be unseated at Badminton when challenging for a place, and Mirage d’Elle. Nicola Wilson, who went so well across country at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ on CCI4* first-timer One Two Many will also challenge in Pau.

Dressage Startlist

The Dressage phase of the first leg of the popular FEI Classics™ series starts tomorrow at 14.00 CEST, with Cross Country on Saturday from 14.00 CEST and Jumping on Sunday from 14.30.

Follow Live Action

Follow live results from Pau on http://www.event-pau.fr and watch the entire event live on FEI TV.

Notes

Kate Green