Delaveau delivers super second-leg victory at Longines qualifier in Helsinki: Luciana Diniz placed fifth
Patrice Delaveau produced a stunning victory with Orient Express HDC at the second leg of the Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Western European League 2013/2014 series in Helsinki, Finland this afternoon. Second-last to go in the eight-horse jump-off against the clock, the French partnership snatched victory from London 2012 Olympic champions Steve Guerdat and Nino des Buissonnets from Switzerland.
Ireland’s Shane Breen steered his talented 10-year-old stallion, Balloon, into third ahead of Sweden’s Malin Baryard-Johnsson and H&M Tornesch in fourth. This was a most impressive result for the Swedish rider’s horse, as he had an eye surgically removed only a few short months ago, but seems to have lost nothing of his talent or of his zest for his job on his return to top-class competition.
Fifth place went to Luciana Diniz who enjoyed another spectacular day with her lovable grey stallion Winningmood, and the Portuguese rider now lies second on the Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Western European League leaderboard at this early stage of the 11-leg series, while Steve Guerdat is well out in front having already collected 34 points to date.
Particularly Tough Challenge
The ice-hockey ring at the Hartwall Arena at Helsinki always presents a particularly tough challenge for the world’s best Jumping horses and riders, and an equally-difficult task for the course designer. Before the competition began, Baryard-Johnsson said the “tiny arena” comes as “a bit of a shock” after a summer of jumping outdoors, “and the first few indoor shows are always quite hard anyway” she added. It didn’t stop herself and her big, brave stallion from posting the first clear of the day however when second into the ring.
Aki Ylanne sent them off over a twisting track that included a double – vertical to oxer – and a treble – oxer, vertical, oxer – at fences four an 11 which both proved particularly influential. The height of the poles and the stretches over the big, wide oxers were challenging enough, but it was the relentless pace at which the fences came up, often off corners and without any possibility of a last-minute adjustment of any kind, that really racked up the pressure.
It was a quick-fire affair from the outset, and poles dropped at various points around the arena, but while four riders opted to retire, a total of 12 made it home leaving just one fence on the floor, while eight went forward to the timed round. A notable four-faulting duo were three-time FEI World Cup™ Jumping champion Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum from Germany and her fabulous mare, Bella Donna, who put in a copybook performance only to hit the very last.
Lovely Second Clear
Baryard-Johnsson led the way in the jump-off with a lovely second clear from the 13-year-old H&M Tornesch whose recovery from his operation in July has been quite spectacular. The stallion had been battling with an eye issue for the last eight years and when it became more problematic this summer it was decided to remove it, so the top Swedish lady rider had to step down from her national side for the PSI FEI European Jumping Championships at Herning, Denmark in August. She said before today’s competition that she wasn’t sure what to expect this afternoon, but she was in for a very pleasant surprise as her horse showed all of his usual flair and power as he crossed through the finish line in 38.03 seconds to set the early target.
The new course began over the oxer at fence nine and swept left-handed to the water-tray vertical at five and water-tray oxer at six before swinging right-handed to the vertical at three. The speed with which riders could make the roll-back to the second two elements of the former triple combination was critical, and from there it was on to the penultimate oxer at fence 12 and a long gallop to the final vertical, the former fence 10 jumped in the opposite direction.
Switzerland’s Martin Fuchs and Conte Della Caccia lowered the water-tray oxer at fence six to return with four faults in 40.95 seconds, but Spain’s Julio Arias and Quinai des Chayottes were clear and super-fast until hitting the very last. Their time of 36.11 seconds showed there it was more than possible to improve on Baryard-Johnsson’s target, and Steve Guerdat backed that up when scorching into the lead in 35.99 seconds.
Valuable Seconds
It seemed that Luciana Diniz might give the Swiss rider a run for his money until an awkward jump over the second of the remaining two elements of the triple combination saw her scrambling for her reins on the landing side which cost valuable seconds. Her brilliant stallion, Winningmood, however, wants nothing more than to please his rider as he demonstrated with conviction in the opening round, and despite the momentary confusion he just galloped on to leave all the fences intact and to break the beam in 38.20 seconds which was always guaranteed to pick up valuable points.
With just three now left to go, it seemed possible that Guerdat would go one better than he did at Oslo last weekend where he had to settle for runner-up spot, and would take the maximum 20 points on offer this time around. Ireland’s Shane Breen produced a fantastic run from his ever-improving stallion Balloon to stop the clock on 37.14 seconds which posed no threat to the leader, but Delaveau was always a danger. This is a man with an inbuilt speedometer, and with his stallion, Orient Express HDC, living up to his name and going like a train they shaved 1.5 seconds off the leaders thanks to amazing cornering skills and the ability to run and jump without the slightest hesitation. The scoreboard showed the French partnership in the lead in the time of 34.23 seconds as Britain’s Michael Whitaker set off with Amai, and when the final element of the former triple combination hit the floor it was all over, and Delaveau had indeed delivered.
Difficult to Overcome
He said afterwards “I saw Steve take the lead two horses before (in the jump-off), and I knew he would be quick and very difficult to overcome.” The French rider added “I really had to perform at my best to beat him today, and I’m delighted I did!”
Second-placed Guerdat said “ I have one of the few horses that is airborne! To be honest, I should have taken more risks today. I rode a very safe jump-off without taking any risks. I didn’t know whether I was going to ride today until the very last moment, and in the end, I am very happy with the result”.
Shane Breen was more than happy with third place partnering his promising stallion. “Balloon was terrific this weekend” said the Irishman who lives at the Hickstead showgrounds in Great Britain. “I saw Steve go and I know how quick he is – it was going to take something special to beat him today. I was a bit wide at the double (the remaining two elements of the triple combination in the jump-off) but I’m delighted with my clear. Patrice was always going to be really fast, and I am thrilled to have come third!” he pointed out.
Breen also finished third in yesterday’s Grand Prix at the Finnish fixture. “It is my first time here in Helsinki and I am really happy with my placing in both competitions. The courses were quite tricky and the lines were severe – you had to be accurate and on the ball, while your horses really needed to stretch and make an effort on the course.
My horse is getting better and better. I am delighted with him. He is 10 years old and every year is improving – if he can improve 10 per cent again next year, then we’re going to do great things!” he added.
Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping 2013/2014 Western European League – Standings after Round 2 at Helsinki (FIN):
1. Steve Guerdat SUI – 34
2. Luciana Diniz POR – 25
3. Scott Brash GBR – 24
4. Patrice Delaveau FRA – 20
5. Marcus Ehning GER – 15
5. Shane Breen IRL – 15
7. Malin Baryard-Johnsson SWE – 13
8. Geir Gulliksen NOR – 12
9. Julio Arias ESP – 11
9. Edwina Tops-Alexander AUS – 11
11. Kevin Staut FRA – 11
12. Athina Onassis de Miranda GRE – 10
12. Michael Whitaker GBR – 10
14. Simon Delestre FRA – 10
15. Marlon Zanotelli BRA – 9
15. Martin Fuchs SUI – 9
17. Maikel van der Vleuten NED – 9
18. Frank Schuttert NED – 8
19. Angelica Augustsson SWE – 7
20. Hans-Dieter Dreher GER – 6
20. Pius Schwizer SUI – 6
Facts and Figures:
39 horse-and-rider combinations lined out in today's second leg of the Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Western European League at Helsinki, Finland.
18 nations were represented.
8 riders qualified for the second-round jump-off against the clock.
12 horse-and-rider combinations collected just four faults in the first round.
4 retirements in the first round.
Course designer was Finland's Aki Ylanni.
Winning rider, Patrice Delaveau from France, is 48 years old and lives in the small village of Le Pin, Calvados in the Basse Normandie region of France.
Olympic champion, Switzerland's Steve Guerdat, finished second and leads the Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Western European League table going into the third leg of the series at Verona, Italy on 10 November.
Today’s competition took place at the Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, which is an ice-hockey ring.
Quotes:
Tom Gordin, Helsinki Show Director: “It is amazing for us that the best riders in the world come to Helsinki. It is very challenging for the horses geographically speaking, so we have to ensure we produce something that is up to par for the occasion.
The riders here are all role models, and we had the biggest world cup audience ever today – 8,000 spectators in total. We have had 951,000 visitors since the inception of the show and we hope to break the 1 million mark in 2014. The competition will be taking place next year from 23rd – 26th October 2014.”
Aki Ylanne, Course Designer: “We need to have lighter material for the next years. The arena is a bit small for this level of competition. This is one of the biggest courses we have built because of the level of the competition this year. We had a good number of horses qualify for the jump-off which is always a positive thing – the level of show jumping today was top class.”
Steve Guerdat (SUI): It is an amazing show and one that improves year after year. The arena is beautiful, the additional of a new warm-up arena is fantastic and the prize money is great. A massive well done to the organizers.
Anna-Julia Kontio (FIN) who collected just four faults with Fardon to finish in 19th place:
“I actually made the same mistake today as I did yesterday. I knew the triple combination was going to be the trickiest part of the course. The horse was a bit too fast and went a bit too forward unfortunately. I am planning to ride the Zurich World Cup but we’ll see, I don’t know yet.”