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Top ten finish for Britain as Sweden takes European jumping gold in Milan

Friday, 01 September 2023

Spectators at the team medal finale at this year’s FEI European Jumping Championship certainly got a tense afternoon of sport in Milan’s Ippodromo Snai San Siro grand ring, with nations swapping on and off the podium with every round. It went down to the wire, but Sweden continues their dominance of championship jumping to take the gold. Britain’s quartet had mixed fortunes, but finished a creditable ninth overall in strong company.

Today’s team final, which also acts as a third individual qualifier, traditionally is the day when course designers set a test of power and athleticism, with the poles set at their maximum dimensions – Uliano Vezzani and his team didn’t disappoint. The 490-metre course was more flowing, with less technicality and related distances, but it was, as you’d expect, big with plenty of unforgiving lighter poles and planks set up to 1.60 metres. The combinations had 13 obstacles, with 16 jumping efforts to tackle, and a tight time allowed of 74 seconds.

Ben Maher and Faltic HB

The remaining individuals got the day’s action underway before a short break for arena maintenance, and then it was British pathfinder Ben Maher to get the battle for team honours underway. With his own, Charlotte Rossetter and Pamela Wright’s Faltic HB, Ben was not only looking for a clear round to strengthen  his own individual campaign, but also to give the team a good, confident start.

The duo is forming quite the partnership since their championship debut at the World Championship in Herning last year and it’s clear that this format suits the style of the Baltic VDL-sired stallion. At the double at fence five, Ben pushed a little extra and the athletic little Faltic answered with a huge leap to clear the sizeable oxer at the second effort. It didn’t impact their rhythm one bit and they sailed neatly down the related distance of four strides to fence six. Onlookers had a bit of a scare when  fence 10, a maximum 1.60 metre imposing upright, received a rattle, but the pole stayed firmly in its cups. They were foot-perfect through the treble and down the final line to secure the clear they wanted. This kept Ben in the hunt individually, but also boosted his teammates to come.

“Faltic jumped incredibly yesterday and today. It [the course] was big, probably bigger than yesterday, but you can get to the jumps and there’s quite a nice start. I think the triple combination, for my horse in particular, is quite a stretch in the middle there, but it’s a fair course and as you can see already there’s a few clear rounds today. He gave me a very good feeling on the first couple of lines and had a little bit of a touch coming out of the triple – he landed quite steep in the third part, but he really tried hard over the final two. I’m very positive for the rest of the week – I’m very happy, I feel confident, so we keep going,” Ben said.

Tim Gredley and Medoc de Toxandria

Second up for Britain was Tim Gredley who, after a much improved round yesterday with Unex Competition Yard Ltd’s Medoc de Toxandria, was hoping for a clear to end his championship on a high. ‘Medoc’ isn’t the quickest horse – he’s a power jumper – so Tim set off mindful of the tight time, taking economical lines and keeping up the pace. They had a beautiful jump at the FEI oxer at two and then three, then opened up around the corner to four – one place on the course you could make up some time. They kept up the forward rhythm and the bay gelding was jumping well. At the treble, Medoc just gave the front rail of the spread in a light rub, and it was dislodged for four faults. Tim held his nerve and they cleared parts two and three, then were fault-free down the final tricky line. Despite Tim’s best efforts, they also clocked one time penalty to finish on five faults – not the clear he desperately wanted, but it was a score in the clubhouse for the team.

“I’m really frustrated with myself. That’s probably the best he’s jumped all week,  but he just slipped at the vertical before the combination and I ended up too deep. Apart from that, he’s probably jumping better today than he has all week.  You feel a bit sorry for your horse when he could have jumped a clear round, but this is my first championship for a long time and his first, so there’s a lot of pluses to come out of it,” Tim explained.

In reflecting on his first championship experience for 17 years, Tim said; “The horse was brilliant, just on the wrong side of a couple of fences this week, otherwise we could’ve been right in there. He has been amazing in fairness. I don’t know what the first day was about, the ground maybe, but he now knows it’s proper jumping and even working in this morning he was more alert, and I wish I had another two days to go, but I don’t. It’s been good, it’s probably not going to get a lot bigger than this week, so we know the height is not a problem and we’ll just give him a good break now. We know he’s a championship horse now and can try and aim him at those every year. I’ve learnt a lot as well, it’s just disappointing–  it could have been a lot better.” 

After two riders from each of the 10 teams, Britain kept their tenth place, but there had been a shake-up on the podium after leaders Germany lost their pathfinder Marcus Ehning after he withdrew Stargold, who wasn’t quite feeling 100%, and then their second rider, Philipp Weishaupt, lowered a rail with the nine-year-old Zineday. A clear from Wilma Hellström and Cicci BJN meant that Sweden moved back up to the gold medal spot, with Switzerland into second and Ireland joining the podium after a clear from Michael Duffy and Cinca 3.

Samuel Hutton and Oak Grove’s Laith

After a 10-minute break to give the arena footing some attention, it on to Samuel Hutton and the Caramello Company’s Oak Grove’s Laith. The duo haven’t been blessed with luck on their championship debut this week, so today was a chance to finish on a high. They started brightly and were clear over the first five fences, but they just didn’t get enough air over the tall vertical at six and the pole crashed into the water tray beneath. They were clear at the following oxer, but Laith just flattened at the flimsy plank at and took the top with him, which was four more to add. Through the taxing treble effort they took the front rail of the spread at the first, and the back rail of the second, but cleared the last. The duo held their nerve and left the remaining two fences standing, but it was a disappointing 20 penalties. This is a new pairing, having only come together earlier in the year, but the potential is clearly there for a bright future.

“I don’t know if it’s the heat or maybe he doesn’t like being in Italy! He’s not jumping so well here, he’s been really consistent every show I’ve been up to here, but he doesn’t seem so happy –  I don’t know what it is. 

“The other boys are doing great, and I'll be there supporting them. It’s great to come here and ride against the best riders in the world. Unfortunately, we haven’t performed as well as I'd have liked and it hasn’t gone as well as we were hoping, but we’ll be there to fight another day.  The whole experience has been great, apart from the result, but it’s been great to get here and jump some of these courses with the pressure,” reflected a disappointed Sam.  

Harry Charles and Casquo Blue

Anchorman Harry Charles didn’t have the pressure of a medal hunt, as Britain was out of contention, but after not had the best week with Stall Zet’s Casquo Blue, the 25-year-old was in search of some consolation. The unconventional bay was trying his heart out with some spectacular leaps over the first few fences, but at the in part of the double, a vertical, he just didn’t get the required air and took the pole with his belly, but made a big effort to clear the second fence. They were looking good, and clear as they headed to the treble. Harry got a good shot in but ‘Casper’ just didn’t quite make the back bar and gave it a light tap, which was enough to bring it down. They left the tricky final two standing to finish with eight faults against their name – not the championship the uber-talented duo had hoped for.

“It’s not very good to be honest, same as the rest of the week. The horse jumped okay, I rode okay and it’s the end of a disappointing championships,” Harry said honestly.

“He’s coming away, most importantly, in good shape and very happy and healthy. This week doesn’t reflect how good he is, which is a bit disappointing for him and us, but he has bigger things still to come.”

Medal decider

As is often the case in showjumping, things went right down to the wire – the final combination into the ring was Gerrit Nieberg and Ben 431, who carried the podium hopes of their home nation. Germany had been working their way up and down the medal placings for most of the day, starting the day in gold and now clinging to bronze after the withdrawal of March Ehning and Stargold, but they would need a clear round from Gerrit to bring it home. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be – the round started well, albeit with a few rattles, but their luck could only hold for so long. One down relegated Germany into fourth place, pushing Austria up into bronze for a historic first ever European Championship medal. Ireland was confirmed in silver, while Sweden added another gold medal to their overflowing trophy cabinet – they now concurrently hold the Olympic, world and European titles. Britain had to settle for ninth, moving up one placing from the start of the day.

In addition to medals, precious Paris 2024 quota places were on offer this week. These go to Austria, Spain and Switzerland as the three top-placed nations who haven’t already secured a spot through last year’s FEI Jumping World Championship and FEI Jumping Nations Cup series.

The final words on today must go to Chef d’Equipe Di Lampard, who summed up the past few days: “It hasn’t been our week, but the aim was always to come here and give valuable championship experience to some new riders and horses ahead of Paris 2024, and I feel we’ve achieved this. There will be plenty to analyse as we move forward and make a plan for the next 12 months.

“All eyes are now on Ben Maher and Faltic HB ahead of the individual final. They’ve been on brilliant form so far and hopefully they can carry this through to Sunday,” she concluded.

Final team placings:

1. Sweden – 9.51
2. Ireland – 18.00
3. Austria – 22.77
4. Germany – 25.31
5. Spain – 25.59
6. Switzerland – 25.92
7. Netherlands – 26.29
8. France – 34.47
9. Great Britain – 37.42
10. Italy – 40.42

British individual placings:

5. Ben Maher and Faltic HB – 3.13
37. Tim Gredley and Medoc de Toxandria – 17.49
40. Harry Charles and Casquo Blue – 18.61
61. Samuel Hutton and Oak Grove’s Laith – 18.68

Thanks to their superb double clear over the two team rounds, one of only five combinations to do so, Ben Maher and Faltic HB will progress to the individual final on Sunday in fifth position on a score of 3.31. The individual final consists of two rounds – round A will see the top 25 combinations jump a full 1.60m track, then the field will be whittled down to the top 12, who will jump again to decide the medal placings. With the current top five combinations all within a fence of each other, it promises to be a thrilling climax to the week in Milano.

Tomorrow is a rest day before Sunday’s final decider, which gets under way with round A at 1:00 BST (12.00 local time).

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