The question is, what will it take to beat Boyd Exell (AUS) this season? He and his talented team are on such invincible form that not even a broken bone in his left foot can hamper Boyd’s dominance of the FEI Driving World Cup™. Winning by clear margins after the drive-offs on Friday and Saturday in the Friends Arena, Stockholm (SWE), the defending champion has already secured the maximum thirty qualification points in the rankings table. Making his rounds look relatively easy, he produced two double clears on Saturday to win decisively in a time of 156.88 seconds.
“At the weekend I wrestled with an arena door and lost, and damaged my foot. But the horses were so incredible and really looked after me as they could feel that I wasn’t as confident as normal. But once they settled into their rhythm, they were just beautiful,” said Exell.
Four wins from four starts
When asked about how his season is shaping up with four wins in the World Cup rounds at four events, Boyd was rueful saying, “It’s happened before then I’ve lost the final, so I’m quite happy to lose a competition!”
Then he paid credit to his incredible horses – the 22-year-old Bundy who is his talented, mainstay leader, coupled with the mare Katydid Duchess who was new to his team last year, and the reliable but powerful wheelers Mad Max and Barney – and stated, “These horses are so clever, so fast and so agile and I can only say thank you to them. Because when you have the fastest racehorse or the fastest indoor team in the world, you just have to look after them.”
And when questioned if it ever ‘gets old’ winning in front of a big crowd at an indoor event, Boyd replied, “No, it’s three stories high here with the public right at the top, so it was really good. I tried to slow down again but horses wouldn’t let me, so I just kept driving!”
Dutch legend Ijsbrand Chardon was the best of the rest and sealed second place in both competitions. Using the same combination of experienced Lipizzaners as in Lyon (FRA), when he was also second behind Boyd, he cruised into both drive-offs in Stockholm. Assured of a welcome contribution of seven points towards his place in the final, it didn’t matter too much that he knocked three balls in Saturday’s drive-off to add 12 to his time of 163.19 for a total of 175.19.
A debut drive-off
It was a special occasion in Stockholm for Anna Sandmann (GER) who is making her World Cup debut this season when she produced such a forward and fluid round on Saturday evening that she gained her first, coveted chance to be in a drive-off. Assured of at least third place in the competition, and although she too had 12 to add to her time, she totalled 189.83 which was a great achievement at only her third event.
Her team was boosted by the addition of Boyd’s experienced indoor horse Neapolitano Nimrod who must have felt reassuring on the reins and helped guide the rest of the team confidently round the course.
Keeping the Swedish crowd satisfied was their homespun hero Fredrik Persson (SWE) who was there as a wild card and gave his Lipizzaners such a superb drive on Friday night that they made it onto the drive-off, and ultimately third place behind Boyd and Ijsbrand. Sadly for Fredrik, one ball rolled during his first round on Saturday which added four to the time and meant he was only 0.07 behind Anna, finishing in fourth on 178.98. It was a bittersweet situation which denied him another drive-off place while giving Anna her first – but that’s sport!
Completing the line up were Christoph Sandmann (GER) and Anna Mareike Meier (GER). Christoph hasn’t quite found the sweet spot that was his opening competition in Maastricht (NED) when he won – even beating Boyd – and a corrected error of course on Friday meant that he was at the bottom of the placings. He rose to fifth after his second outing on Saturday, having added eight penalties to his time to tally 186.93.
Mareike also couldn’t replicate Stuttgart (GER) form when she was third in the World Cup, and in Sweden swapped places with Christoph, adding 12 to her time on Saturday for sixth on 193.86.
The clever course was designed by Johan Jacobs (NED) and was notable for providing so many options, with double-lettered gates in the marathon-style obstacles and the temptation to thread back through the obstacles to get to the cones, which added to the jeopardy. During the first competition, the drivers took a broader range of routes, but were more uniform by day two, having observed in the playbacks what seemed to work best.
The Sweden International Horse Show marks the first of the four Christmas shows for the FEI Driving World Cup™ and the festive atmosphere, enhanced by a brilliant, glittery display of Western style riding before Saturday’s Driving class, ensures that the big crowd is totally invested in the sport. Each of the shows has its own unique feel and identity, and the SIHS celebrates family fun and the pure enjoyment of the horse-human relationship.
It’s the glitzy Geneva (SUI) show next for the fifth leg, when the rivalries will hot up even more as Boyd lines up against former champion Bram Chardon (NED) and title contender Dries Degrieck (BEL). Joining them are Fredrik and Jérôme Voutaz (SUI), plus wild cards Benjamin Aillaud (FRA) and Koos de Ronde (NED). Don’t miss it!
Full results here.
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