FEI EVENTING WORLD CUP UPDATE

The 2004 FEI Eventing World Cup season is at its height and three very different yet equally exciting qualifiers took place over the last fortnight in Moscow (RUS), Luhmhlen (GER) and Strzegom (POL).

MOSCOW ESTABLISHES ITSELF ON THE INTERNATIONAL EVENTING CALENDAR

The Olympic training base Planernaya hosted the Moscow FEI Eventing World Cup qualifier for the 2nd time from 17 to 20 June. Thirteen riders representing Russia, Ukraine and Belarus began and nine finished the event.

Pavel Sergeev of Russia and the 11-year old gelding Polus were 2nd after Dressage with 59.35 penalty points. Thanks to a bold Cross Country which they literally flew over loudly cheered by supporters and despite an average Jumping round where they collected 11 penalties (2 rails down and a 3 time penalties), the pair came in first with a final result of 99.15 points. This result is a progress for both horse and rider who were 4th in last year's FEI Eventing World Cup leg in Moscow.

Runner up position was taken by fellow Russian Adrey Grishin on the 10-year old gelding Skampolo with 118.50 points. Ukraine's Vitaly Stytsko on Argument placed 3rd with 130.19 points.

Riders from that part of the world have been virtually absent form international Eventing for the last decade, but thanks to the unremitting efforts of the Russian equestrian community strongly supported by the government of the city of Moscow, better days lie ahead. In response to the country's commitment, the FEI has included Russian Eventing in its development educational and training programmes. As a result, the World Cup Cross Country track was entirely rebuilt by Cross Designer Roland Alexander to match international standards with the financial assistance of the FEI Development Fund. A larger scope project including, apart from Russia, Eastern European countries such as Ukraine, Belarus and Bulgaria, coordinated by Andrew Griffiths, FEI development officer in Eastern Europe, is currently being put into place. The goal is to technically upgrade existing competitions and allow riders from these countries to qualify at home for international events, such as European Championships, avoiding costly travel abroad. New talents will then be making their entry to the international Eventing scene.

NERVE-RACKING FIGHT IN LUHMHLEN

Australia's world class rider Andrew Hoy riding the 12-year old gelding Mr Pracatan won the much disputed FEI Eventing World cup qualifier held at Luhmhlen (GER) from 17 to 20 June. A 39,50-penalty Dressage score placed the pair in 8th position, in a tie with Great Britain's Zara Phillips on Springleaze Marcaroo and well behind Linda Algotsson of Sweden, winner of the 2003 FEI Eventing World Cup Final, on Stand by Me 4 (35.90). In front of some 12,000 enthusiastic fans, Linda took the lead after a faultless Cross Country, followed by Zara Phillips and Hoy. The final result then lay with the Jumping test. With a clear round, Hoy clearly became the winner. Hoy's performance is all the more remarkable given that he also placed 6th on Yeoman's Point with 48 points. With 120 points, he is now 2nd in the FEI Eventing World Cup standings only 3 points behind the leader Darren Chiacchia (USA) with 123 points and 2 points ahead of Matthew Grayling (NZL) with 118 points.

With one rail down, Linda Algotsson took runner-up position finishing with 39.90 points, only 0.40 points behind the winner. An incredibly speedy Jumping round (70.87s. with time allowed of 88s.) cost Zara Philips three fences finally putting her in 7th place (51.50 points).

Dirk Schrade, 26, of Germany, who performed the event's best Cross Country finishing only 0:01 second before the optimum time of 7:54, placed 3rd on Sindy 43 with a final score of 41.70 penalties. He is followed by Bettina Hoy on Ringwood Cockatoo, also with 41.70 (3.20 time penalties in the Cross Country.

The full results are available on the event's website http://www.luhmuehlen.de (direct link http://www.luhmuehlen.de/anhaenge/216/erges010.pdf).

The outstanding organisation of the event should be noted. "Luhmhlen is a place with a special atmosphere for us all," Andrew Hoy commented. "Everything here is done for the good of riders and horses."

BRILLIANT GERMAN TRIO WIN AT STRZEGOM

Germany's Andreas Dibowski riding one of his two potential Olympic horses, the 13-year old gelding Little Lemon B, came in first at the FEI Eventing World Cup qualifier held at Strzegom, South-western Poland from 24 to 27 June. His final result was of 60.8 penalty points, 10.1 points ahead of runner-up fellow countryman Bernd Knorr. Dibowski, who also became the event's best rider, began with a convincing Dressage score of 46.6 penalty points (68.92%). He moved on to first place after a clear Cross Country scoring 11.2 penalties for exceeding the optimum time by 28 seconds (optimum time 7m 36s.), which he kept thanks to a clear Jumping round (3 time penalties). This result combined with his performance at Luhmhlen places him in fourth place in the FEI Eventing World Cup standings with 114 points.

Bernd Knorr on Chrischona was only 17th after Dressage with 56.1 penalty points (62.61%), but thanks to his excellent Cross Country (5.6 penalties for exceeding the optimum time), he moved to runner-up position which he kept despite the 9 penalties in the Jumping test.
Nicole Grimm on Gandus was 3rd with a final result of 72,9 points and is closely followed by Sweden's Linda Algotsson on My Fair Lady in 4th position with 74.5 points and Katrin Norling on Cacao Af Tollstad, 5th with 75.7 points.

German Cross Country Course Designer Christian Zehe was closely assisted by Marcin Konarski, very experienced international rider and organiser of the event. Their compact track proved rather trying allowing no clear rounds within the time. "It is a very fair 3-star cross," Dibowski said, "requiring some riding. The ground's slight natural unevenness has been cleverly used and I am sure more than one rider was surprised." Virtually all refusals occurred at narrow box type fences requiring accuracy and placed on a slightly curving line.

A special tribute should be paid to the organisers for a putting on a perfect event.

The full results are available on http://www.voltahorse.pl/articles.php?id=254

After ten qualifiers the leaderbord of the FEI Eventing World Cup is as follows:

1. Darren Chiacchia (USA) - 123
2. Andrew Hoy (AUS) - 120
3. Matthew Grayling (NZL) - 118
4. Andreas Dibowski (GER) - 114
5. Phillip Dutton (AUS) - 110
6. Andrzej Pasek (POL) - 101
7. Sonja Johnson (AUS) - 100
7. Robyn Fisher (USA) - 100
7. R. de Gouveia Jr. (BRA) - 100
7. Pippa Funnell (GBR) - 100
7. Pavel Sergeev (RUS) - 100
12. Linda Algotsson (SWE) - 90

The full standings are available on the FEI's website www.horsesport.org (section consult/results/eventing)

The next FEI Eventing World Cup qualifier will take place in Malm (SWE) from 16 to 18 July.