The defending champions from France send out a strong squad in an effort to secure the Samsung Super League title for the second consecutive season as the 2004 series comes to an exciting conclusion in Barcelona next weekend. Patrice Deleveau, Christian Hermon, Laurent Goffinet, Jean Marc Nicolas and Ludovic Leygue will be hoping to make it a double-victory but have a tough battle ahead of them and cannot afford the kind of collapse experienced by their counterparts last year when France finished last in the final competition of the 2003 season. The British, lying second after the penultimate round in Dublin last month, have selected a mixture of experienced and rising talent for their side which includes veterans Nick Skelton and Robert Smith along with Scott Smith and cousins Ellen and Robert Whitaker. Skelton, who came so frustratingly close to an individual medal in Athens only to be denied in the closing moments, can always be relied upon to produce his best on the big occasions and Robert Smith is very much on form having slotted into fifth place individually in Greece. Scott Smith is no stranger to the Spanish fixture having won the Barcelona Grand Prix in 2001 and, with a little help from the younger generation of the world-famous Whitaker family, Britain could just pull off a surprise at this late stage in the 2004 series. Pia-Luise Aufrecht, Heinrich Hermann Engemann, Ulrich Kirchhoff and Rene Tebbel fly the German flag and, only 0.2 behind the British and 12 points behind the leaders from France, are well within reach of their first Samsung Super League title. The Netherlands squad of Peter Geerink, Wout Jan Van der Schans, Harry Smolders, Emile Tacken and Eric van der Vleuten are less than three points further behind and with double-points available in Barcelona will be keeping the pressure on the leading pack. Dirk Demeersman, Marc van Djick, Ludo Philippaerts, Jean-Claude Vangeenberghe and Nick Vrins line out in a Belgian side that boasts experience and strength but the same cannot be said for the Irish selection which is, in the main, relatively unexposed. Marion Hughes has plenty of recent top-class mileage on the clock but Trevor Coyle has been conspicuously absent from the Irish line-up since parting company with the super-stallion Cruising several years ago. Captain Shane Carey was reserve rider for the Irish Olympic team but has only just begun to realise his potential with the gelding Killossery while Marie Burke, who coped well when lining out in her very first Nations Cup competition at last season’s Samsung Super League final in Barcelona, is called up again along with new recruit Dave Quigley. The Americans, lying second-last and only 0.5 points behind the Irish going into the final, are taking no chances and have called up their new Olympic bronze medallist Chris Kappler, Judy Garofalo who has been rock-solid throughout the 2004 season, veteran Norman dello Joio and their 2002 World Games bronze medallist Peter Wylde to keep them in the frame. It’s all or nothing for the Italians next Sunday and Roberto Arioldi, Natale Chiaudani, Bruno Chimirri, Juan Carlos Garcia and Andrea Heroldt will be under the heaviest of pressure as they attempt to save their country from what appears to be inevitable demotion to the Samsung Nations Cup series. Circling like vultures are the Swiss and Swedes who are battling it out for supremacy in the ordinary nations cup series and, with just three legs of that left to go, there is still only two points separating these two nations so the results from Zagreb later this month, Athens in October and Buenos Aires in November will be all-important in deciding who will be elevated to Super League status for 2005. CSIO Barcelona begins on Thursday and the Longines Grand Prix takes place on Friday followed by the Queens Cup-Lexus Trophy on Saturday so there is plenty of high-class competition ahead of the 2004 Samsung Super League finale on Sunday afternoon. Ludger Beerbaum claimed the Lexus car on offer in last years Queens Cup while Bruno Broucqsault took the 30,000 euro top prize in the Grand Prix which has been won by Spanish riders on 61 occasions since the show’s inception all the way back in 1902. Germany won the final leg of the inaugural Samsung Super League series last September but the French still carried off the title and they will be hoping to do just that once again next Sunday afternoon when, after a long, hard season of outdoor jumping, toughness, durability and determination may well be the key to both survival and success. For full details about the 2004 Samsung Super League final at Barcelona on Sunday 19 September telephone: + 34 932031008 or fax: + 34 9320556616. Show Director is Hanspeter Vogelsanger and you can email him at hanspeter@hpwood.com. Press Officer is Isabel Suter and you can visit the CSIO Barcelona website at www.csiobarcelona.com. SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE 2004 LEADERBOARD (AFTER ROUND 7 IN DUBLIN): France – 44.3 Great Britain – 32.5 Germany – 32.3 The Netherlands – 29.5 Belgium – 28.3 Ireland – 25.5 USA – 25.0 Italy – 10.0. SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE 2004 CALENDAR OF EVENTS: ROUND 1, La Baule (Fra) 6-9 May; ROUND 2, Rome (Ita) 27-30 May; ROUND 3, Lucerne (Sui) 3-6 June: ROUND 4, Rotterdam (Ned) 17-20 June; ROUND 5, Aachen (Ger) 13-18 July; ROUND 6, Hickstead (GBR) 21-25 July; ROUND 7, Dublin (Irl) 4-8 August; ROUND 8 and FINAL, Barcelona (Esp) 16-19 September. SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE – NATIONAL PRIDE, INTERNATIONAL PASSION!