FEI PRESS NEWS 29/03
9 SEPTEMBER 2003
FEI EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING
The Executive Board met on 8 September 2003 in Warendorf (GER).
The 2004 budget was reviewed and it will be presented to the Finance
Committee at its forthcoming meeting.
The Executive Board approved the agenda for the Bureau meeting to be held on
4 and 5 December 2003 in Jerudong (BRU).
The principal decision related to the 2006 World Equestrian Games. Having
consulted the Eventing Committee and received its support, the Executive
Board decided that the Eventing competitions of the Aachen WEG would be held
in the new short format.
The formula of the World Cup Jumping for the coming season of the Western
European League will remain the same as used for the 2002/2003 season (i.e.
one round and one jump-off with a maximum of 38 riders).
The next meeting of the Executive Board will be held on 21 October 2003 in
Lausanne.
SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE
Barcelona CSIO will host the final event of the Samsung Super League Nations
Cup which will take place on 21 September at the Real Club de Polo.
It was evident from the very beginning of this first season that, with
national pride at stake, the competition would be very keen indeed but
no-one could have anticipated the degree of enthusiasm and determination
with which the series has been embraced. From the outset the tension and
excitement has been unusually high and the build-up to the final in the
Spanish city which played host to the 1992 Olympic Games is intense.
A total of eight teams qualified for the League which takes place over eight
rounds of competition at eight different venues. After seven competitions
the Samsung Super League standings are as follows:
1. France - 52.30 points
2. Ireland - 41.75 points
3. Great Britain - 36.00 points
4. Holland - 25.00 points
5. Germany - 23.75 points
6. Belgium - 18.50 points
7. Sweden - 16.30 points
8. Italy - 13.80 points.
The French have held the advantage from the very start but have been obliged
to fend off a strong challenge from the Irish whose Chef d'Equipe, Tommy
Wade, made it quite clear from the beginning of the season that the Samsung
Super League title was his main goal for 2003.
France won the first round on their home soil in La Baule in early May and
then confirmed supremacy when also topping the next leg in Rome two weeks
later. The Irish began to look dangerous however with victories at both St
Gallen, Switzerland and Aachen, Germany the following month before the
British flexed their muscles with a show of strength on their home turf in
Hickstead in July. The Irish were firm favourites to win at Dublin but a
disappointing performance saw them having to settle for joint-third along
with the Dutch as the British slotted into runner-up spot behind the French
and a disastrous outing in Rotterdam last week has left the Irish now
looking more than a bit vulnerable.
The result in Rotterdam was unexpected. The Dutch team had been struggling
at the lower end of the League table but with the course reduced in size due
to problems over poor grounds conditions they triumphed, consequently
promoting themselves to a considerably better position at this late stage of
the series.
Germany too looks comfortable enough but Belgium, Sweden and Italy are
facing a desperate fight to avoid relegation at the end of the season.
The team finishing bottom of the table will drop down to normal Samsung
Nations Cup competition in 2004 while the highest-finishing nation in that
series will be promoted to Super League level, so a great deal hangs in the
balance going into the final in Barcelona where double-points are available.
The Swiss, hugely disappointed that they did not make the cut for 2003, have
campaigned long and hard this summer and led the Samsung Nations Cup Series
standings since the beginning. Everything changed after Spruce Meadows,
where the US team scored 10 points, moving up to 1st place of the Samsung
Nations Cup Series with a total of 43 points (same as Switzerland, but with
a greater number of victories). The host team of Barcelona, Spain is 3rd on
the score board with 26 points.
Surprises, however, have been the order of the day in the inaugural Samsung
Super League. There was never any doubt about the strength of the French who
are reigning World Champions and who ride many of the best horses in the
show jumping world today, but their sheer consistency has been awesome. If
the French have been brilliant however the Italian teams were at the other
end of the equation until, quite suddenly in Rotterdam, they jumped
themselves into runner-up spot with a very impressive performance. Still
holding last place on the leaderboard they may yet escape relegation if they
can follow through with another good result in Barcelona so it is all still
to play for.
As host country, Spain joins the action at this final leg where there is so
much at stake.
Visit www.csiobarcelona.com and www.samsungsuperleague.com
PIPPA FUNNEL (GBR) WINS BURGHLEY CCI 4* AND THE ROLEX GRAND SLAM OF EVENTING
Pippa Funnell of Great Britain became the first rider in history to win the
Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing when she rode Primmore's Pride to victory at
the Burghley Masterfoods Horse Trials which took place last week-end in
Great Britain.
Following back-to-back wins in the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event last April
and the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials in May, Funnell completed
the sweep of the three CCI 4* events at Burghley to win $250,000 and a Pink
Gold 18-carat Rolex watch, the largest ever purse in Eventing history. She
won the Rolex Kentucky Four Star in late April on Primmore's Pride and the
Badminton Four Star in England in early May on Supreme Rock.
The two-time defending European champion and member of Silver Olympic and
Silver World British team received her award from the Princess Royal, FEI
Honorary President.
FEI EVENTING WORLD CUP
Piia Pantsu (FIN) wins last qualifier before the Final
The 18th and last FEI Eventing World Cup qualifier was held in Sweden in the
framework of the Malmö City International Horse Trials from 28 through 31
August.
The city of Malmö is located in southern Sweden and the show ground known as
Ribersborg is a well-established sea-side recreation area.
Piia Pantsu of Finland won the CIC 3 stars on Ypäjä Karuso with a total of
45.0 penalties. The couple had created the surprise at the 2002 World
Equestrian Games in Jerez (ESP), by winning the bronze medal. The 32 years
old Finnish rider earned her qualification to the first World Cup Eventing
Final to be held in Pau (FRA) from 22 to 26 October 2003.
Piia Pantsu finished in third position after the Dressage with 70.00% (45.0
penalty), and cleared the Jumping course without faults, to find herself
second before the cross country test, just behind Beeke Kaak from Germany.
However, the latter gad a disastrous cross country test, with 20 obstacles
faults and 8.8 time penalties in the cross country, to drop down to 16th
place.
Linda Algotsson (SWE) with My Fair Lady finished second with 54.9 penalties,
ahead of Pawel Spisak (POL) on Weriusz.
308 riders participated in the first season of the FEI Eventing World Cup,
and 108 obtained points.
A total of 50 riders will start in the 1st FEI Eventing World Cup (45
qualified during the season and 5 wild cards allocated by the World Cup
Committee).
The participating field of the Final will be announced shortly. In the
meanwhile, the final rankings of the FEI Eventing World Cup can be found on
the FEI website, section consult, results, eventing.
GERMANY WINS SPRUCE MEADOWS NATIONS CUP
A record Saturday crowd of 57,210 watched the BMO Financial Group Nations
Cup of Spruce Meadows, part of the Samsung Nations Cup Series, designed by
Olympic Course Designer Leopoldo Palacios.
The Americans defence of the Nations' Cup title, which would have been their
seventh in the event, was denied by the reigning Olympic and European
Champions from Germany. The German Team was made up of 4 seasoned
international veterans that represented an incredible collection of World,
Olympic, World Cup and Continental Championship medals (Ludger Beerbaum,
Otto Becker, Markus Ehning and Soren von Ronne).
Great Britain, ten time winners in Calgary, finished second and was followed
by the United States in third place. Belgium, France, Canada and Switzerland
finished up fourth through seventh respectively.
All results on www.sprucemeadows.com
Samsung Nations Cup Series standings
1. USA 43 pts
2. Switzerland 43 pts
3. Spain 26 pts
4. Portugal 18 pts
5. Denmark 14.5 pts
Next Nations Cup: Podebrady (CZE) from 12 to 14 September. www.cjf.cz
JACK'S CORNER
WORLD DRIVING PAIRS CHAMPIONSHIP
JARDY (FRA) 17 to 21 September 2003
Twenty-three Nations and 64 drivers have announced their participation to
the World Driving Pairs Championship which will be held in Jardy from 17 to
21 September 2003.
The host nation, France, which placed only 9th at the previous Championship
in Riesenbeck, have progressed a lot these last two years and will be among
the favourites. The leader of the Top Driver Award for Pairs, Pierre Jung,
will be among the six French riders entered for the Championship.
Ben Gosschalk (NED), World No 3, will be leading a Dutch team which is also
among the favourites, like are the title holders of the Hungarian team.
The participating nations: Argentina, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Czech
Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy,
Luxemburg, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, Poland, Romania, Slovakia,
Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, USA:
The Marathon will be held on Saturday.
FEI WORLD CUP JUMPING
TENTATIVE CALENDAR
Western European League
2003
October 16 - 19 Helsinki FIN
October 24 - 26 Oslo NOR
November 06 - 09 Verona ITA
November 13 - 16 Berlin GER
December 04 - 07 Geneva SUI
December 18 - 22 London GBR
December 26 - 30 Mechelen BEL
2004
January 22 - 25 Leipzig GER
Jan. - Feb. 29 - 01 Amsterdam NED
February 06 - 08 Bordeaux FRA
February 12 - 15 Vigo ESP
March 05 - 07 Paris-Bercy FRA
March 25 - 28 den Bosch NED
April 09 - 12 Göteborg SWE
Central European League
2003
May 16 - 18 Wroclaw POL
July 11 - 13 Piatra Neamt ROM
July 17 - 20 Sofia BUL
July 18 - 20 Riga LAT
July 25 - 27 Bojourishte BUL
July 25 - 27 Vilnius LTU
July / August 31 - 03 Budapest HUN
August 07 - 10 Bratislava SVK
August 29 - 31 Kiev UKR
September 04 - 07 Moscow RUS
September 11 - 14 Podebrady CZE
September 11 - 14 Istanbul TUR
September 24 - 27 Zagreb CRO
October 02 - 05 Athens GRE
October 10 - 12 Tallinn EST
December 05 - 07 Poznan POL
2004
March 19 - 21 Warsaw POL
USA East
Coast League
2003
August 24 - 31 Hampton
September 11 - 14 Devon
September 17 - 21 Lexington
September - October 29 - 05 Upper Marlboro
October 09 - 18 Harrisburg
October 21 - 26 Washington
November 25 - 30 Palm Beach
2004
February 18 - 22 Palm Beach
March 03 - 07 Palm Beach
March 24 - 28 Tampa
March - April 31 - 04 Tampa
USA West Coast League
2003
August 27 - 31 San Diego (Showpark)
September 10 - 14 San Juan Capistrano
September 17 - 21 Los Angeles (Griffith Park)
September 24 - 28 Del Mar (Racetrack)
November 12 - 16 Los Angeles (Griffith Park)
2004
Jan. - Feb. 28 - 01 Indio
February 04 - 08 Indio
February 18 - 22 Indio
March 03 - 07 Indio
Canadian League
2003
May - June 28 - 01 Fort Langley
June 17 - 22 Bromont
July 02 - 06 Blainville
July 23 - 27 Caledon
September 18 - 21 Cedar Valley
November 07 - 16 Toronto, (Royal Winter Fair)
South American League / Southern Part
2003
April 24 - 27 Porto Alegre (Best Jump) BRA
May 15 - 18 Buenos Aires (Sol de Mayo) ARG
June 12 - 15 Belo Horizonte BRA
Oct. 02 - 05 Sao Paulo (Indoor) BRA
Oct. 09 - 12 Rio de Janeiro BRA
Nov. 14 - 16 Buenos Aires (El Capricho) ARG
Nov. 21 - 24 Buenos Aires (San Jorge) ARG
South African League
2003
May 27 - 31 Pietermaritzburg
June 14 - 16 Midrand
August 29 - 31 Pretoria
November 06 - 09 Blue Hills, Gauteng
November 27 - 30 Cape Town
New Zealand League
2003
October 18 Gisborne
October 25 Hastings
October 27 Masterton
November 08 Palmerston North
November 16 Cambridge
November 30 Kawerau
December 20 Taupo
2004
January 04 Kelly Park
January 18 Levin
January 25 Ti Papa
Australian League
2003
April 20 Sydney Royal
August 02 Caboolture (Indoor)
August 14 Brisbane (Royal)
September 03 Adelaide (Royal)
September 06 Mallala
September 13 Adelaide Metropolitan)
September 26 Melbourne (Royal)
November 02 Canberra
November 09 Shepparton
November 15 Wodonga (Indoor)
November 23 Melbourne (Equitana) (Indoor)
November 30 Sale
December 06 Tonimbuk (Indoor)
2004
January 04 Bega
January 17 Dapto
January 24 Kiama
January 31 Sydney (Int. Eq. Centre)
Central Asian League
2003
April 25 - 27 Bishkek KGZ
May - June 29 - 01 Almaty KAZ
August 28 - 31 Almaty KAZ
September 19 - 21 Tashkent UZB
Japan
League
2003
May 17 Hyogo
May 18 Nasu
July 18 - 20 Shizuoka
Open Tokyo
November 07 - 09 Tochigi
November 21 - 23 Shizuoka
South East Asian League
2003
July 24 - 27 Kuala Lumpur, 3 Q MAS
August 07 - 10 Kuala Lumpur Bukit Kiara MAS
August 21 - 24 Kuala Lumpur, 3 Q MAS
Sept. 04 - 07 Kuala Lumpur Selangor MAS
Sept. 24 - 26 Bangkok (Paradice) THA
Oct.-Nov. 31 - 02 Bangkok (Horseshoe Point) THA
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Muriel Faienza, FEI Communications
FEDERATION EQUESTRE INTERNATIONALE
