Sweden secures super Furusiyya victory in Sopot
Malin Baryard-Johnsson and Baltimore jumped double-clear to help Sweden to victory in the twelfth leg of the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping 2013 series at Sopot in Poland today. Photo: FEI/Monika Chrzan.
Written By Louise Parkes
The Swedish team recorded a convincing victory in the twelfth leg of the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping 2013 series at Sopot in Poland today to move within one point of the leading Belgians on the Europe Division 2 league table. Sylve Soderstrand deliberately selected a strong side for this qualifier with the intention of boosting his country’s position at this stage in the series, and with his sights set on a return to Europe Division 1 next season.
A clean sheet for all four of his riders first time out put them firmly in the driving seat at the end of the first round, and anchorman, Peder Fredricson, was not required to jump a second time when team-mates Malin Baryard-Johnsson and Emma Emanuelsson recorded two of the three double-clears of the day to clinch it. Belgium finished second despite the elimination of Ludo Phillipaerts who took a fall first time out, but perhaps the biggest and most heartening surprise of the day was the third-place result for the Hungarian side who finished with just one fault more than the Belgians as the exciting competition drew to a close.
A total of 13 teams started in round one, but only six returned for the second round and it was the Norwegians who slotted into fourth ahead of The Netherlands who slipped from second to fifth in the closing stages as their performance deteriorated. Switzerland finished sixth, but, like the Dutch, their second-round effort was considerably less impressive as they added 32 additional faults to complete on a big total of 41.
Perfect Test
The Hippodrome at the seaside town of Sopot, which lies on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, was bathed in bright sunlight throughout the class, and course designer, Poland’s Lukasz Jankowski, set them the perfect test. The all-weather arena, which measures just 50 x 80 metres, was packed with fences but the lines were all very rideable and while the open water proved the bogey of the day, faults were also accrued at other points around the cleverly-created 12-fence track. The double of verticals at fence five saw plenty of action, as did the triple combination at fence 10, and several riders found themselves with a long ride ahead after hitting the very first fence on the track, a simple 1.45m oxer.
The Longines timing system played an important role as the time-allowed of 78 seconds proved influential, and it was the single time penalties collected by Hungary’s last-line rider Laszlo Toth that prevented his side from overwhelming the second-placed Belgians. But Toth and his lovely 10-year-old grey, Isti, whose water-jumping expertise was second to none, demonstrated the inspirational quality of this series which is exposing talent and potential in a way that has never previously been possible. Team-mate Emil Orban and Lacapo set his country on the road to a great result with a trail-blazing clear, and while many teams with much more experience wilted in the closing stages, the Hungarians remained impressive to the end.
First Round Concluded
As the first round concluded the Dutch were only a single penalty-point adrift of the leading Swedes. Michel Hendrix was double-jobbing as both pathfinder and Dutch Chef d’Equipe, and, partnering Wait and See, showed the way with just that single time penalty. Bart Heselbekke (Wigeunerin) and Stephanie Brugmann (Waldo) were both foot-perfect so Wesley Heydens wisely decided to retire after Dallas du Domaine Z had three fences down.
The Hungarians were in third carrying just five faults when counting a single error from third-line rider Gabor Szabo (Timpex Cabale), Toth’s first time fault and benefitting from Orban’s opening clear, with the 17 collected by Szabolcs Krucso (Chacco Boy) discounted.
Next in line were four teams carrying nine faults, but with only six qualifying places for round two, both the host nation and Denmark were squeezed out when the combined times of the best three riders were taken into account. Also sidelined at this stage were Germany with 13 already on the board, Finland and Czech Republic with 17 apiece, Argentina with 19 and Italy who finished last with a first-round total of 25.
Uncharacteristic
Swedish confidence was given a sharp jolt by an uncharacteristic two fences down, the opening oxer and the vertical at fence three, for the Olympic partnership of Jens Fredricson and Lunatic as round two began. But the second outing proved much more difficult for almost all the other remaining teams too, with three of the Dutch going into the water en route to their additional 20 penalties which put them right out of contention. Norway added nine more despite a very happy clear from Ole Kristoffer Meland and CC Top, and the Swiss really fell apart with an additional 32, anchorman Beat Mandli retiring after lowering the triple bar for a second time and then faulting at the water with Croesus.
Clears from Jos Lansink (Santa Maria) and the second part of his double-clear from Dirk Demeersman (Bufero van het Panishof) strengthened the Belgian challenge so they only had to count one of the single errors from Phlippaerts and Rik Hemeryck (Papillon Z) this time out. This saw them rocket up the leaderboard, yet this top-class team still only finished with the narrowest of advantages over Hungary whose pathfinder, Orban, made it all the way to the very last fence before leaving that on the floor. Hungary could only count three scores when Krucso didn’t line out this time, so Szabo’s mistake at the water therefore had to be added to their tally as did Toth’s time fault for a total of 14 faults.
Meanwhile Jens Fredricson’s shaky second-round start was swept aside by two more glorious clears from Baryard-Johnson with the spectacular Baltimore and Emanuelsson with the ever-improving and very promising Titan to seal it for Sweden however. A clear from Jens’ brother, Peder, could have seen them finish with a totally clean sheet but by now it was unnecessary for him to return to the ring as the job was done, and very neatly indeed.
Important Victory
Swedish team manager, Sylve Soderstrand described today’s success as “a very important victory for us if we want to be at the top – this is our big goal this year”. And he had a lot of nice things to say about the venue at Sopot which has been hosting Nations Cup competitions for the last 60 years.
“The reason we came (to Sopot) is because we have seen the progress the show has made in the last few years. We asked to compete in this competition because it has grown in reputation a lot, as has the quality of the organisation” he explained.
Baryard-Johnsson was delighted with Baltimore’s performance. “It is his first Nations Cup ever – he is a great horse for the future” she said. Last-line rider, Peder Fredricson, said he didn’t have a problem with not having to come back to the ring for the second round – “I have been riding since 8 o’clock this morning!” he said with a laugh.
While the Fredricsons and Baryard-Johnsson are multiple medallists and steeped in experience, it is only the beginning of Emanuelsson’s career and she is blossoming into some considerable talent this season. Successful at Junior and Young Rider level, she went on to compete in Senior competition only to lose her top horse to injury. “That left me out of the loop for almost two years” said the 27-year-old rider today, “so I just had to concentrate on producing young horses instead”. One of those young horses was Titan however, and with this reliable grey she has already shown real progression throughout this Furusiyya season. A rider-error led to a stop in Drammen, Norway last month but this is a trusting partnership and Titan lost none of his confidence that day, simply popping easily over the same fence when re-presented and finishing with a flourish. In Copenhagen, Denmark three weeks ago they produced a clear and a four-fault effort and today they never touched a pole.
Sweden now lies just one point adrift of Belgium at the top of the Europe Division 2 leaderboard, but there are still five more legs to go in this Division before the line-up for the inaugural Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping final takes place. Budapest in Hungary is the next port of call in Division 2 in July, but before then the Furusiyya action resumes next Friday, 21 June, with the Europe Division 1 fixture in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Category: International, News, Show Jumping
