The spectators at the Soers enjoyed top sport on Saturday morning, Sept. 18th, at CHIO Aachen during the cross-country portion of the SAP-Cup, a CCIO4*-S. The British riders were able to reconfirm their current supremacy and William Coleman from the USA made the statisticians happy.
The sponsors of the competition, SAP, developed the SAP Prediction Centre together with Equi Ratings, which calculates the probability of the winners based on historical results. And the figures don’t lie; the system predicted the 26% probability of William Coleman winning – the highest probability of all participants.
Time decided the rankings and Coleman was the fastest in the cross-country, which enabled him to move up from third place after the dressage and jumping to the top of the field. His became the first eventer from the US to win the SAP-Cup since its inception in 2007. His name will now appear on the Winner’s Board at the entrance of the main stadium. “The names on the winners’ board are the best in our sport,” Coleman said. “I consider myself very lucky to be up there with them. I am totally overwhelmed!”
Coleman has a rather special relationship to his horse, the 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Off the Record. He explained, “Off the Record is unique. His effort is what makes him so special. It took me time to figure that out. We have a good relationship now, but when he is full of energy, he is difficult, he can buck and rear, but because he is so highly strung it is the way it comes out, but he is not malicious. Figuring that out has helped us.”
Team classification
The victorious British team was comprised of two newcomers to Aachen, Emilie Chandler riding Gortfadda Diamond and Kirsty Chabert with Classic VI, as well as two pairs with plenty of experience at the Soers, Laura Collett and Zara Tindall, who claimed the World Championship title here in 2006. Collett opted for Mr. Bass for the team and also had a second ride with Dacapo, while Tindall saddled the 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse, Class Affair.
The individual results underline how well the British riders performed as a team: Emilie Chandler and Gortfadda Diamond finished third, and she commented, “I didn’t really know what awaited me in Aachen, but my expectations were exceeded in every respect.” Collett and Mr. Bass came fourth (with her second horse, Dacapo, the team Olympic gold medallist ranked second in the individual classification). Tindall and Class Affair worked their way up to 18th place after the cross-country, and Kirsty Chabert, who was the overnight leader and sent off as the last rider on the track, looked like she was going to be the only rider to finish within the time, until Obstacle 22 where she had a run-out with Classic VI. The pair ended up with the scratch result for the team after finishing 23rd.
Coleman’s heroic round, together with the tenth place of Tamra Smith with Mai Baum and 16th place of Ariel Grald with Leamore Master Plan, secured the US second place in the team ranking. Sydney Eliott was the scratch result for the team with QC Diamantaire (26th place).
Third place in the team standings went to the Irish riders: Elizabeth Power with Azure (9th), Cathal Daniels with Rioghan Rua (13th), Joseph Murphy with und Calmaro (17th) and Sam Watson with Ballybolger Talisman as the drop score (35th).
The course designer, Rüdiger Schwarz, was satisfied with the day as his strategy paid off. “There are three things that are important to me: That we see exciting sport, that the best riders top the ranks and that nothing happens. That worked well today.”
Individual results here.
Team results here.
~ with files from CHIO Aachen
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