FEI Secretary General Sabrina Ibáñez has today voiced her full support for the actions of FEI Officials at London Olympia on Monday night (21 December) when Irish rider Bertram Allen was disqualified after blood was found on the flank of his horse, Quiet Easy.
“I have absolutely no doubt that the protocols regarding blood on the horse were followed correctly at London Olympia on Monday night”, Sabrina Ibáñez said.
“Of course this incident has created a considerable amount of discussion on social media because Bertram Allen would otherwise have won the Grand Prix, so there is a high level of sympathy for him, but the FEI Officials were in Olympia – as they are at every event run under FEI Rules – to ensure a fair and level playing field and that the welfare of the horse is protected.
“Blood was found on the flank of Bertram Allen’s horse and, under FEI Jumping Rules, that results in mandatory disqualification. The situation was reported to the Ground Jury by the FEI Steward who had conducted the normal post-competition check on the horse and Bertram Allen was then informed of his disqualification in person by the President of the Ground Jury and the Foreign Judge.
“Let me be clear, disqualification under this rule does not imply that there was any intent to injure the horse, but it is crucial that the rules are enforced in order to ensure that horse welfare is protected.
“It is very easy for any sports official to be criticised when they are simply doing their job. Everything at Olympia was handled correctly and in accordance with the rules, but there is no doubt that it was an unfortunate end to a wonderful event.”
Boyd Exell (AUS) put down an extraordinary performance again to win his fourth consecutive FEI World Cup™ Driving competition of this season at London Olympia (GBR). Exell had already won at Stuttgart, Stockholm and last week in Geneva, where he competed with three borrowed horses to spare his own team for his wild card start in London. The Australian’s biggest opponent IJsbrand Chardon (NED) finished second, while Sweden’s Fredrik Persson drove very steadily for third.
It was the first time this season that the three favourites – Boyd Exell and Dutchmen IJsbrand Chardon and Koos de Ronde had competed against each other. Dutch level 4 course designer Johan Jacobs had laid out a very good course with fast and technical elements, which remained exciting until the very last moment. All drivers were extremely happy with the event in Olympia, for which the tickets were sold out five weeks in advance. The stands were full with enthusiastic fans, who supported the drivers throughout the whole competition.
Regular team
Exell drove his regular team of horses at London Olympia and admitted he could have been a bit more accurate in the first round, where one of his leader horses knocked a ball off one of the cones. But his speed in the second round, which ran over the same course, was unbelievable and Exell flew round the arena, leaving all elements in place, to secure his fourth win of this season.
Risk-free rounds
IJsbrand Chardon, last to go in the Winning Round, had driven a new leader horse in the two previous classes in Olympia, but decided to take no risks and put his experienced leader horse in for the FEI World Cup™ competition. The four-time individual World Champion gave everything he had and drove a clear round, but was unable to beat Exell’s time to slot into second place. As Exell was competing with a wild card and was therefore not entitled to points, the 10 points went to Chardon, moving him up to second in the standings behind Exell. Both top drivers have already secured their ticket for the Final in Bordeaux.
Boyd Exell (AUS) secured his third FEI World Cup™ Driving win of the season in Geneva Photo: Karl-Heinz Frieler/FEI.
Confident
While Exell, Chardon and de Ronde fought it out, it was Fredrik Persson who used tactics and a steady pace to claim the third place in the Winning Round. Persson drove his team of old horses, the youngest one is 17 years old, clear and at good speed through the course. In the Winning Round the driving teacher from Sweden’s National Stud, Flyinge, took a bit too much risk and knocked three balls down in the last phase of the competition, but he was still happy with his performance.
Fine-tuning
Koos de Ronde competed with the same team of horses that he steered to victory in the FEI World Cup™ Driving competition in Budapest (HUN). The team gold medallist from the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ in Normandy (FRA) put down the second fastest time in the first round, but three knockdowns prevented him from getting into the Winning Round. De Ronde is aware that his new team still needs some time for fine-tuning.
Lack of speed
Young driver Glenn Geerts (BEL) started off in flying form at London Olympia by winning the first class, which did not count for the FEI World Cup™. But he was unable to get his special indoor team of Lipizzaner horses into the right speed in the qualifier to finish fifth ahead of bronze individual medallist in Caen Theo Timmerman (NED). Timmerman, who will move to a new yard in Varsseveld in the Netherlands next month, swapped his leader horses around, but didn’t have the necessary speed in the marathon type obstacles and came sixth.
Film horses
Daniel Naprous (GBR) earned the second wild card by winning the British indoor qualifiers at Merrist Wood, Bury Farm and the British Masters at Addington Manor. The 37-year-old stuntman previously had a wild card at Olympia in 2012. Boyd Exell kindly lend Naprous a bay leader horse for his indoor team at Olympia, which was made up of two of his film horses and an older outdoor horse. Naprous really enjoyed competing in Olympia and was pleased despite the fact that he had no front brakes on his carriage during his round. This resulted in four knockdowns and a seventh-place finish.
Quotes
Boyd Exell (AUS): “This indoor team is going to become like my old and famous indoor team with Bill. They have got the top line speed that Bill brought to my team. I’ve just got to have a bit more accuracy and a bit more reliability. The second round I could drive safe and fast whilst in the first round I fumbled a few loops. I didn’t give them their best ride, but they got me out of trouble. The second round I gave them a good ride and they operated.”
IJsbrand Chardon (NED): “I could not go any faster with this team in order to stay clear. Today’s competition was very important for me, I needed the World Cup points so that is why I decided to use my experienced leader horse again. At the moment it is very difficult to win from Boyd. I gave everything I had and I am now in the Final so I can test my new leader horse at my last competition in Leipzig.”
Fredrik Persson (SWE): “I tried to stay clean in the first round and I was lucky that I did. In the Winning Round I took some risk and had several knockdowns, but I am still very happy. The feeling in the arena at Olympia is amazing, the spectators are fantastic, they really help you by creating such a great atmosphere. The feeling is in the air.”
Results FEI World Cup™ Driving, London (GBR), 20 December 2014:
Boyd Exell (AUS) 240.44
IJsbrand Chardon (NED) 244.11
Fredrik Persson (SWE) 266.59
Koos de Ronde (NED) 136.63
Glenn Geerts (BEL) 139.78
Theo Timmerman (NED) 140.12
Daniel Naprous (GBR) 154.35
FEI World Cup™ Driving, standings after 5 of 7 events:
1 Boyd EXELL AUS 30
2 IJsbrand CHARDON NED 24
3 Koos DE RONDE NED 15
4 Christoph SANDMANN GER 14
5 Fredrik PERSSON SWE 14
6 Jozsef DOBROVITZ HUN 13
7 Glenn GEERTS BEL 10
8 Georg VON STEIN GER 6
9 Werner ULRICH SUI 5
10 Theo TIMMERMAN NED 4
Reigning world and FEI World Cup™ Driving champion Boyd Exell (AUS) won his third consecutive series event of the season in Geneva (SUI) yesterday. Exell drove to victory an alternative team of horses in the Palexpo arena ahead of the very strong wildcard driver Jérôme Voutaz (SUI) and Christoph Sandmann (GER).
Enthusiastic fans
Home driver Jérôme Voutaz drove an efficient first round and was seven seconds faster than Exell in the first competition on Friday. In the second competition on Sunday the Australian top driver was four seconds faster than Voutaz. This put him in the lead before the Winning Round for which Christoph Sandmann had qualified as well. Sandmann took every risk he could and had three knockdowns, which put him in third place.
Cheered by many fans from his hometown, the Swiss four-in-hand champion 2013 did his best with his team of fast Freiberger horses. He crossed the finish line recording a fast time but knocking down two balls, which gave Exell some air.
Boyd started off fast but had a ball down in the first half of the course, designed by Dutch level 4 course designer Johan Jacobs, much to the excitement of the enthusiastic spectators. Exell had however learned a lot from the previous two nights and pushed his new team towards a record time, securing his third consecutive FEI World Cup™ Driving win of the season and his seventh in Geneva.
Koos De Ronde (NED) won his first qualifier of the FEI World Cup™ Driving 2014/15 season held at Budapest (HUN) Photo: Krisztina Hadju/FEI.
B-Team
Exell has been successful in Stuttgart (GER) and Stockholm (SWE) this season and will compete with a wildcard in London Olympia (GBR) this week. The competitions follow week after week and this busy schedule proved to be too much for the horses. He agreed with fellow driver Daniel Schneiders (GER), who competed with a wildcard on home ground in Stuttgart in November, to use the German’s indoor team in Geneva. Exell used three of Schneiders’ horses and a wheeler horse that belongs to him.
Change of plans
Christoph Sandmann was pleasantly surprised with his results in Geneva. The multiple German champion and world championship medal winner scored seven World Cup points for his third place in Geneva since Voutaz was a wild card driver. Sandmann is currently second on the standings and has a fair chance to remain in the top six and qualify for the Final. He will compete again in Mechelen (BEL) and is now considering a change of plan to start making preparations for the series Final in Bordeaux.
Expensive mistakes
József Dobrovitz (HUN) made an expensive mistake by taking a short turn on the course and knocking down a ball from an obstacle, which he had already passed, which cost him a place in the Winning Round. Dobrovitz finished fourth with his team of Lipizzaner horses and has one remaining competition in Leipzig (GER). The Hungarian driver is currently in fifth place on the standings.
Georg von Stein (GER) was well on his way to a good performance but lost precious seconds at the last water gate, which made him drop to fifth place ahead of Werner Ulrich (SUI).
Boyd Exell (AUS) secured his third FEI World Cup™ Driving win of the season in Geneva (SUI) over the weekend. Photo: Karl-Heinz Frieler/FEI.
Wildcards
Young Swiss driver Cyril Maret competed for the first time in the FEI World Cup™ Driving in the impressively large arena in Geneva and enjoyed his debut very much. The farrier by profession drove his team of Swiss, Hungarian and Dutch horses to the seventh place. Maret, who lives very close to Geneva, was thrilled to compete in his first year as an international four-in-hand driver.
Benjamin Aillaud (FRA) is a regular wildcard driver in Geneva. Aillaud competed with his team of black Dutch and French horses but had several knockdowns and finished in eight place.
Quotes Boyd Exell (AUS): “This team of horses is already very good, I just had to get used to them. I train with Daniel but there is a big difference between training and competing with horses. I got to know them better every day and I am very pleased with their performance. Also for Daniel!”
Jérôme Voutaz (SUI): “It was my second time as a wildcard driver in Geneva and it was an incredible experience. My horses did very well and the fans were amazing. They actually felt like the fifth horse to me, they really made me stronger. It is difficult to get close to Boyd, but he has been very helpful to me. He gave me a tip on the first night and that also helped me today.”
Christoph Sandmann (GER): “My team gets better with every competition. I had planned that Mechelen would be my last World Cup competition, but now it looks like as I might qualify for the Final and I have to change my plans.”
Results FEI World Cup™ Driving, Geneva (SUI), 14 December 2014:
Boyd Exell (AUS) 289,57
Jérôme Voutaz (SUI) 307,51
Christoph Sandmann (GER) 326,38
József Dobrovitz (HUN) 160,19
Georg von Stein (GER) 165,86
Werner Ulrich (SUI) 174,35
Cyril Maret (SUI) 177,88
Benjamin Aillaud (FRA) 187,04
FEI World Cup™ Driving, standings after 4 of 7 events:
1 Boyd EXELL AUS 30
2 IJsbrand CHARDON NED 14
3 Christoph SANDMANN GER 14
4 József DOBROVITZ HUN 13
5 Koos DE RONDE NED 10
6 Glenn GEERTS BEL 7
7 Fredrik PERSSON SWE 7
8 Georg VON STEIN GER 6
9 Werner ULRICH SUI 5
10 Theo TIMMERMAN NED 2
The 2014/2015 FEI World Cup™ Driving series now moves on to London Olympia (GBR) on Saturday, 20 December.
The FEI World Cup™ Driving competition in London Olympia will be broadcast live on FEI TV, the FEI’s official video platform, on 20 December at 20.05 CET.
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