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Britain remains in touch at the FEI Jumping European Championships in Italy

Wednesday, 30 August 2023

The first qualifying round of the  FEI Jumping European Championship 2023 got underway under the Milano sunshine, with the main arena was a green carpet after the deluge of rain on Sunday and Monday. The preliminary competition is a ‘speed and handiness’ class, which sorts the 85 jumping combinations into a starting position. Rails down are added as four seconds to the time, so an economic clear is the goal but, with a long week of competition ahead, you don’t want to exhaust the energy supplies too early on. The time of the round, included any added seconds for poles down, is then converted to points using a coefficient of 0.50 and subtracting the leader’s score.

Today’s course was designed and presented by Uliano Vezzani and his team, and it was a good day one championship test – plenty of twists and turns, with some technical lines. With a maximum height of 1.50 metres and 16 jumping efforts, it featured plenty of airy, wide oxers, a water fence, a wall, water trays and bright colours.

Sam Hutton and Oak Grove's Laith

The role of British team pathfinder was given to championship debutant Sam Hutton and, with the Caramello Company’s Oak Grove’s Laith, he took to it well. They were quick to get in to a good, forward rhythm which was comfortable for the 12-year-old stallion by London, and they were going well. At fence 11– some upright rails set on wings resembling Roman columns with a water tray behind on a four stride distance from a double at fence 10 – they just caught the rail behind to add four seconds. Next up was a wide, square spread fence featuring the colours of our international governing body, the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI) and, in a bid to shave time, Sam took a tight line but paid the price as the pole fell for another four seconds to add. They stopped the clock at 77.34 seconds and, with the eight to add from the fences down, their day one score was 85.34 –a final points tally of 6.68 for 53rd place individually.

“I was really happy with how my horse started today. Unfortunately, towards the end we had two in a row down – hopefully the next two days we’re going to come back stronger. There’s a lot of tight turns and the horses have to be thinking really quick and the oxers are quite wide – it’s not really tall today.  It was really annoying, he was jumping so well until then and unfortunately it wasn’t our day today,” reflected Sam.

He continued; “He felt really good in the ring. I must say, I had a really good feeling of how he was jumping so I’m looking forward to tomorrow and the next day. I think the first one was really unlucky, I think he was just anticipating the turn a bit because he just clipped it behind, and then the roll-back he just slightly dropped it at the front. Honestly, I didn’t see anyone go before I went, but the double of oxers took a bit of jumping – it's wide enough and the oxer after the open water is quite an airy jump and, after the big stretch on the water, the horses are a little out of balance, so it’s just airy.”

Donald Whitaker and Di Caprio

Next up was our individual combination, Donald Whitaker and Di Caprio, owned by Reitsportanlange Dagobertshausen GmbH and CO.KG, who are also making their senior championship debut. It was a promising start, with the 12-year-old stallion settling to his task, but they just made up some distance in the second double, themed in the colours of the Italian flag and the blue their national sports teams wear, and just gave the front rail of the second element the slightest of rubs to send the pole to the floor, meaning it was four to add. That was quickly put behind them and they flowed in a good rhythm, meeting each fence spot on and they were clear the rest of the way, finishing on 80.13 seconds – with the seconds added for the fence down, a final time of 84.13 left them on 6.08 points in 50th place.

“Generally, he was very good. He was a little bit fresh – just as we went in, there was a new leader, so he got lit up a bit because of the crowd and everything but, other than that, I’m very happy with him. It’s his first championship,” Donald explained.  “He’s fantastic, I’m very fond of him. He’s jumped his heart out there, hopefully he’ll do it again tomorrow. He’s actually owned by my girlfriend [Nicola Pohl] and her parents – she rode him originally. I started riding him about two and a half years ago, and we’ve done a lot together. We’ve been to Aachen, he’s done very good in the Grand Prixs all year and last year also. He’s a very solid horse, but it’s a new championship for him.”

When asked about his senior championship debut, Donald beamed; “It’s amazing. You’re only here with one horse, so there’s a lot of waiting around, all for 60/ 80 seconds in the ring – the adrenaline kicks in all at once, I just can’t wait to get back in there! It was very good to get going, I’ve been sat there twiddling my fingers a little bit, but I’m very happy with it, it’s all very new and exciting.” 

Tim Gredley and Medoc de Toxandria

Following some impressive Nations Cup performances this year, Tim Gredley finds himself back in British championship team colours some 17 years after making his debut at the World Equestrian Games at Aachen in 2006. Riding Medoc de Toxandria for Unex Competition Yard Ltd, he set off with good intent, but the 11-year-old just wasn’t quite looking his sparky self. At fence two, they knocked the front rail as they took off and that was followed by the same at the next fence, the first part of the double at three –it was eight to add. They picked up and negotiated the next few without fault. At eight, a big feature oxer for sponsors Longines, the gelding tapped the front rail with his back legs and it was a further four to add. The remaining fences were all left in place and the watch stopped at 76.95, but the 12 faults added bumped it to 88.95 seconds, equatingto a final points total of 8.49 for 66th place at the end of day one.

“I’m disappointed. At the first fence, he just didn’t make the jump he normally makes and then he just made two mistakes he never normally makes. In hindsight, he’s a bit tired – he’s had a long year, but he’s been jumping so good up until now. Hopefully, the other guys can get a couple of scores in. He finished off good, which is maybe the only positive from today. Tomorrow is another day, but I’m very disappointed – I wasn’t really expecting it to be honest,” Tim lamented.

He continued; “If I didn’t know who I was riding, I would have just thought it was two very green mistakes at the beginning because he wasn’t even looking at where he was going. I thought I’m not going to make mistakes, we made a plan and we’ll pick ourselves up to do better tomorrow. Medoc is a fantastic horse, I've had him a year now – a big jumping Grand Prix horse, but these speed classes don’t really suit him because he’s not really a fast horse. He’s got me from doing two-stars last year to a championship this year, so you’ve got to look on the bright side – he’s been amazing for my career,” he said in praise of his equine partner.

Harry Charles and Casquo Blue

It was then the turn of Harry Charles with a new team partner this time around in Stall Zet’s Casquo Blue, a buzzy bay who’s produced two double clears at two Nations Cup fixtures this season. ‘Casper’ is naturally quick across the ground and, with his high head carriage, doesn’t always give his rider an easy job, but Harry has formed a great partnership with him. They set off at a good pace, with the Chacco Blue-sired gelding keen to get on with things. Harry expertly piloted him around,  but at fence eight, he just grazed the front rail of the Longines oxer, removing it with his stifles. They were beautifully clear the remainder of the course, with the horse neatly tucking his knees at every fence and eating up the ground between the jumps. The clock stopped at 73.20 seconds – one of the fastest rounds of the day – but the four seconds to add for the rail gave a final time of 77.20 seconds to leave them in 22nd, and best of the Brits, on 2.61 points.

“Not the start that the team would have wanted, but I’m really happy with my ride. It wasn’t super easy with the ground, it’s not the nicest conditions for jumping in, but we’re having to make do and I'm very happy on the round I jumped. So, fingers crossed,” Harry said honestly.

“It’s a very hard one to judge – you don’t want to be too fast, you want to leave something for the week, and hopefully I got it about right. I didn’t go anywhere near as fast as I could have, so I've left a bit in the tank for the two bigger rounds tomorrow and Friday – it’s a long championship. It’s quite warm here as well, so more things we’ve got to factor in. When I walked the course this morning, the ground was pretty good but, in the first quarter of the competition, the ground has changed quite a lot – you can see lots of chunks coming up with horses and, for the riders, it’s a very different course. It’s hard for a championship being on grass because it’s not the same for everyone, but it’s things you’ve got to deal with and factor in. I went for a few stud changes, so it wasn’t too bad in the end.  

“If you’re going to knock a jump down, today is the best day to do it because you get penalised the least for it. Try and jump two clear rounds, and we’ll be set up for the week. Obviously, the team isn’t having the best of days, but it’s alright – we’ve got Olympic qualification in the bag, so the pressure was a little bit off for this championship. We did still obviously want to come here and do as much as we can, but it's not all lost on the first day – it’s still all to play for. There are two bigger rounds tomorrow and Friday, so we’ll see what we can do. 

“He’s feeling pretty good – he’s a very brave and bold horse, so this arena suits him. If I was on a more careful one, I wouldn’t like it as much – I could feel the ground underneath him a bit, especially towards the end of the class, so I think with a lot of horses it’s coming up, which is not ideal on the first day. We’ll see how it plays out. Hopefully the weather stays good and the guys will look after it,” he concluded.

Ben Maher and Faltic HB

Our anchorman, as is often the case, was Ben Maher, with his 2022 World Championship partner, Faltic HB, whom he jointly owns with Charlotte Rossetter and Pamela Wright. As a pivotal part of the team bronze and a fifth place individually in Herning last year, Faltic has proven championship credentials and the staying power required to go the distance. The KWPN by Baltic VDL isn’t renown for being quick, but he is careful and they were looking good early in the course, meeting everything in their stride. Ben opened Faltic up for the water, which he cleared with ease, but then just didn’t quite get a good shot into the Longines oxer at number eight, which had caught a number of combinations out through the course of the class, and Faltic caught the back rail with his hind feet on the way down. The remainder was textbook and the pair crossed the line full of running in a time of 74.24 – with the four seconds added for the pole, it was finally tally of 78.24 seconds. This equated to 3.13 points and 31st position individually.

“I was happy enough with the round, it went relatively to plan, he’s not the fastest horse. I tried to take some time where I can, but jumping out of the first double it was quite a big jump and he hung a little bit which altered my plan to the Longines vertical. But on the whole, I was happy, I felt like I met the Longines oxer how I wanted to, but I just didn’t quite get the power that I needed to there and it was a very light touch,” Ben said afterwards.

“He’s amazing, I kept him pretty carefully this year to aim for certain things, not the perfect start that I had hoped for today but it’s a long way to go and he feels fit and we try again tomorrow.”

Competition standings

Sweden lead the way in the team standings on a total score of 1.51, with all four of their combinations inside the top 12. Hot favourites Switzerland is just 0.41 points adrift, while Germany complete the podium placings on 5.31 points. The British quartet is in 10th on 12.42 points and, with the remaining rounds back to traditional scoring of four faults for a fence down, it’s still all to play for.

1. SWE 1.51
2. SUI 1.92
3. GER 5.31
4. IRL 6.00
5. AUT 8.77
6. ITA 9.42
7. DEN 9.84
8. FRA 10.47
9. BEL 10.50
10. GBR 12.42

Individually, Jens Fredricson leads the way on a zero score with Markan Cosmopolit for Sweden after a clear in 71.98 seconds. Switzerland’s Martin Fuchs and the grey Leone Jei are second on 0.28 points and, to mirror the flags on the team podium, third is Philipp Weishaupt riding Zineday for Germany.

To come on day two

Tomorrow’s round one team and individual qualifier where the maximum height of the fences is raised to 1.60m, so it’s going to be a real jumping test. The individual combinations, including Donald and Di Caprio, get underway at 12:15 BST (13:15 local time), with the team combinations starting at 13:30 BST (14:30 BST) after a short break. Here’s where the British combinations fall in the running order…

• Donald Whitaker and Di Caprio = 14
• Ben Maher and Faltic HB = 45
• Tim Gredley and Medoc de Toxandria = 55
• Samuel Hutton and Oak Grove’s Laith = 65
• Harry Charles and Casquo Blue = 75

All the action will be available to stream live with English commentary on FEI.TV via a subscription to ClipMyHorse.TV.

Running orders and results are available from Longines Equestrian Timing.

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Image © British Equestrian / Adam Fanthorpe