Olympic champion, Steve Guerdat, led a Swiss victory gallop at the second leg of the Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping 2014/2015 Western European League in Helsinki, Finland today. A new venue presented a real challenge for both horses and riders due to restricted space. But the 32-year-old, and the gelding with which he claimed individual gold at the London 2012 Olympic Games, the enigmatic Nino des Buissonnets, used that to their advantage and left the result beyond doubt with a superb run when second-last to go against the clock.
Last man in was Martin Fuchs, and the 22-year-old steered PSG Future into runner-up spot ahead of Pius Schwizer in third. The Swiss were understandably buoyant at the end of the day. “We Swiss are in good shape right now!” said Schwizer this evening.
New venue
As the 30th Helsinki Horse Show moved to the Helsingin Jäähalli, the city’s oldest indoor ice rink, course designer, Frenchman Frederic Cottier, had to be at his creative best. Guerdat explained, “the arena is quite tight, the length is ok but if it was three or four metres wider then it would be easier. The fences came up really quickly for the horses and riders, but the courses got better every day and we got more used to it. Today’s was the best course of the weekend, and this was definitely the best class” said the man who is now heading the Western European League leaderboard, and well on the way to qualification for the series Final in Las Vegas, USA next April.
Making the cut into the jump-off was not an easy task as there was no room for adjusting stride patterns throughout the 12-fence track. Once riders committed themselves to going on a certain distance they had to stick to their decision even if the fences didn’t come up right, and Italy’s Franco Francesco was eliminated for a fall when the line he took to the penultimate oxer left him too far away, and his grey mare, Banco Popalare Bari Cassandra, decided to slam on the brakes.
With 15 through to the timed round however the 7,000 spectators were guaranteed an exciting battle, and it more than lived up to expectations.
Copybook tour
Great Britain’s Yasmin Pinchen had produced a copybook tour when posting the first clear of the competition with her bay mare Ashkari, but it all went wrong for the 21-year-old Londoner at the second fence on the jump-off track. Riders needed to make a sharp turn to this vertical if they were to be in with any chance of a good placing, but the British pair met it all wrong and racked up a total of 23 faults.
Going later in the draw was an advantage as riders could work out where time could be saved as they moved on to the oxer at fence three and swung left-handed to the planks at five which had taken a significant toll in the first round. From there it was on to the water-tray oxer at six which had also proven influential before a roll-back to the first two elements of the former triple combination. Once that was behind them there was only the final Longines fence, changed from an oxer to a vertical this time around.
Third to go, it was young Brazilian star, Marlon Zanotelli, who set the early target with a great round from Extra van Essene in 36.18 seconds. And his lead wasn’t threatened by a nice, but cautious, clear from Finland’s Anna-Julia Kontio and the elegant grey, Fardon, or by French 23-year-old, Alexandre Fontanelle, who, however, was most impressive with breaking the beam in 39.27 seconds with Prime Time des Vagues.
Five-stride distance
Norwegian veteran, Geir Gulliksen, was the first to attempt a five-stride distance instead of six from the second to the third fence with the hard-pulling Edesa S Banjan, but his time of 37.66 seconds still left Zanotelli out in front. However when, four horses later, Schwizer did the same he swept way into the lead with his stunning eight-year-old Sixtine de Vains who stopped the clock on 35.33. Now it was a matter of who could beat that, and although Frenchman Kevin Staut, with another eight-year-old Ayade de Septon et HDC, gave it his best shot as did Germany’s Christian Ahlmann with Cornado ll, it took last week’s winners, Jur Vrieling and Zirocco Blue, to oust the Brazilian from pole position when crossing the line in 35.78 seconds.
The Dutchman’s chances of doing a back-to-back double were instantly dashed however by Guerdat’s super-smooth run with Nino who was in his element as he soared home in 34.96 seconds. And when fellow-countryman, Fuchs, gave chase with PSG Future and sealed runner-up spot when crossing the line in 35.10, there were big smiles all round in the Swiss camp.
Very happy
“I’m very happy! When I saw Pius I knew we would have a Swiss win and I did what I could but I’m very happy with second place!” said Fuchs afterwards.
Talking about the challenge of riding in today’s relatively small arena, Guerdat joked, “Switzerland is a small country so we are used to small things!” And discussing the jump-off, he pointed out that his ride was more difficult than it appeared. “When I saw Pius go, I thought I can go faster than that if I don’t fall asleep! But when I was riding it then it seemed quite far from fence to fence and it felt quite slow. But Nino is so quick, there were not too many options and I could still add a stride from 2 to 3 and be quick enough” he explained.
With 35 points already on the Western European League leaderboard, the Olympic gold medallist has only a little more to do in order to guarantee his place in the Las Vegas start-list next April. He intends to pick the last few points he needs over the next few weeks.
“Next week I will take Concetto Son to Lyon (FRA) and I will change horse for Verona (ITA) the following week. I’ll go back on Nino for Stuttgart (GER) but I won’t be taking him to the Final. I want to save him for one more championship” he explained.
Results
1, Nino des Buissonnets (Steve Guerdat) SUI 0/0 34.96; 2, PSG Future (Martin Fuchs) SUI 0/0 35.10; 3, Sixtine de Vains (Pius Schwizer) SUI 0/0 35.33; 4, VDL Zirocco Blue NOP (Jur Vrieling) NED 0/0 35.78; 5, Extra van Essene (Marlon Zanotelli) BRA 0/0 36.18; 6, Cornado ll (Christian Ahlmann) GER 00 36.57; 7, Ayade de Septon Et HCD (Kevin Staut) FRA 0/0 37.24; 8, Edesa S Banjan (Geir Bulliksen) NOR 0/0 37.66; 9, Prime Time des Vagues (Alexandre Fontanelle) FRA 0/0 39.27; 10, Fardon (Anna-Julia Kontio) FIN 0/2 41.11; 11, Sea Coast Forlap DC (Daniel Deusser) GER 0/4 35.90; 12, Gotha FRH (Henrik von Eckermann) SWE 0/4 35.97; 13, Casello (Douglas Lindelow) SWE 0/8 36.50; 14, Connery (Luca Moneta) ITA 0/12 36.48; 15, Ashkari (Yasmin Pinchen) GBR 0/23.
Full result here
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