Sticky moment for Ben Maher at Europeans

The path to Rio 2016 for Great Britain’s Showjumpers came one step closer today when they continued their campaign for the three Olympic qualifying places at stake at the FEI European Championships in Aachen.

The three Olympic tickets will be awarded tomorrow to the three highest placed nations, disregarding those already qualified, the highest of whom at the end of Day 2 is Great Britain! The state of play at the end of this afternoon’s competition sees Great Britain in 4th position behind France, The Netherlands and Germany who take 1st, 2nd and 3rd place respectively.

It was a long afternoon of competition, which saw a total of ninety two listed starters and twenty one teams on the start list for the first round of the Nations Cup format competition where scores count towards both the Team and Individual medals on offer.

Split into two sessions, with the latter consisting of the Top Ten teams as of the end of play yesterday, the Brits were one of the last to come forward having had a solid start yesterday to leave them sitting high on the standings; in 3rd place as a Team and Joe Clee in 3rd Individually whilst Ben was listed as Individual 7th.

The first session had only seen seven clear rounds achieved across the first fifty competitors. The 1.60m course, designed by Germany’s Frank Rothenberger was both long, winding and testing taking in thirteen obstacles requiring sixteen jumping efforts. 

As the second session started the atmosphere changed and so did the leader-board as each rider broke the finish line. It was primarily two obstacles that took the riders prisoner; the combination early on and the final fence, a double heading towards home. Ben Maher, from Bishops Stortford with Tatiana Korsokova’s  British Bred chestnut mare Diva II were one of the combinations to fall victim at the final fence when Diva took a stride out in the double.

Fortunately, both were fine but they certainly had the thousands of spectators in the grandstands on the edge of their seats for a moment or two!  Finishing on 4 penalties Ben said afterwards “Diva had put in a great round and it’s really unfortunate that this happened. She’s still young, it has been an experience for her and if I had the chance to do it again there isn’t anything else I could have done.”

For second rider Jess Mendoza, aged 19 with her mother Sarah’s British Bred Spirit T it was an unfortunate 12 penalties when she was caught at the second and final part of the Combination along with a vertical towards the latter part of the course.

It was Joe Clee and Ludwig Criel’s bay stallion Utamaro d’Ecaussines that delivered the first clear for Great Britain. Their brilliant performance made light of the course that had proved difficult for many, putting GB back in the running. “It’s been a fantastic two days“ said Joe “and my horse has been jumping brilliantly.” 

With so much to play for, all eyes turned to Michael Whitaker from Whatton, Nottinghamshire with Beverley Widdowson’s impressive grey stallion Cassionato.  A master in the extreme, Michael delivered exactly what GB needed, a foot-perfect clear to give a finish score for the team of just the 4 penalties and a final 4th placing after Day 2. Cassionato looked incredibly impressive this afternoon, a view which was mirrored by Michael when he said afterwards “I’ve got a lot of confidence in my horse, he’s never been in this ring and he’s never been under that kind of pressure, but he rose to the occasion as I knew he would.”

Talking to World Class Performance Manager, Di Lampard after the event she commented  “This just shows how focused the team are. To come back from the shock at the start with Ben and Diva when they had looked home and dry shows just how tight the team are, team spirit really couldn’t be better.  We came here to qualify for Rio, we are two thirds of the way through and in a strong position to deliver.  We are now looking ahead to tomorrow.”

From an Individual perspective the news for GB was also a great one with Joe Clee retaining his Individual 3rd place position whilst Michael Whitaker moves from 41st position into 19th. Ben Maher now sits in 22nd place which puts three of the four riders into the running in terms of being eligible for the Final on Sunday when the Individual medals will be fought for across the top 25 riders.

Day 2 Team Results
1.  France  (5.70)
2.  Netherlands (7.82)
3.  Germany (8.4)
4.  Great Britain (10.99)
5.  Ukraine (13.03)
6.  Switzerland (14.23)

Day 2 Individual Results
1.  Penelope Leprevost (FRA) – 0.00
2.  Ludger Beerbaum (GER) – 0.75
3.  Joe Clee (GBR) – 1.00
4.  Gregory Wathelet (BEL) – 1.04
5.  Sergio Alvarez Moya (ESP) – 1.47
6.  Cassio Rivetti (UKR) – 2.31

For full results and information on the Championships please visit www.aachen2015.de.