British showjumping team named for Euros
The British Showjumping team has been named for the upcoming FEI European Championships in in Aachen, but world number one Scott Brash is absent from the line-up.
Team
Scott’s Olympic team mate Ben Maher has been selected with the quirky but talented mare Diva. They are joined by World Equestrian Games team member Joe Clee (Utamaro d’Ecaussines) and Michael Whitaker, whose grey Cassionato is proving to be incredibly reliable at leaving all the poles up, but who has picked up time faults during both its latest Nations Cup appearances.
“Cassionato came out at the start of the season at La Baule quite green and he has just improved consistently,” said Michael. “He is a horse that just wants to learn and learn quickly. His scope is unbelievable and I honestly don’t think anyone will ever build a course he couldn’t take on.”
The team is completed by teenage star Jessica Mendoza. At just 19, Jessica has impressed since her move on to horses, and she recently finished in fourth place in the prestigious Longines King George V Gold Cup at Hickstead to be best of the Brits. She rides her mother’s Spirit T.
“Spirit’s jumped absolutely brilliantly this summer and deserves it. It was never in my plan at the beginning of the year but she kind of made it the plan as she just kept getting better and better each time we stepped up a level,” said Jess.
The travelling reserve is Guy Williams and Titus II, while the non-travelling reserves are cousins Robert and William Whitaker.
Scott
Brash had already made it clear that he was not making his showjumping megastar Hello Sanctos available for the championships. Instead he hopes to go to Spruce Meadows with the aim of winning the $1million Rolex Grand Slam prize.
Brash does have a number of other promising rides, including rising stars Hello Forever and Hello M’Lady, but neither has been named on the Europeans team.
Other notable absentees are Ben Maher’s grey mare Cella – who has been ruled out through injury – and John Whitaker’s Argento, who apparently jumps better in smaller arenas instead of the vast, challenging scale of Aachen’s great stage.
Essential
It’s hugely important that Britain puts in a good performance at the Championships, because their appearance at next summer’s Olympics depend on it.
While the dressage and event riders have safely qualified, the showjumpers missed out on their qualifying slot with a below par performance at last summer’s Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Normandy. The Europeans will be their last chance to qualify as a team.
“We are all entirely focused on the job we have ahead of us. Qualifying for Rio is at the forefront of our minds and we are absolutely committed to giving Great Britain the chance to defend the team gold title which was won at London 2012,” said British Chef d’Equipe Di Lampard. “We move forward to Aachen as a strong united team and are looking forward to the Championships and all it brings.”
Focus
Di Lampard has produced some superb results since taking over from Rob Hoekstra as the World Class Performance Manager for Jumping. Winning Nations Cup rounds in Rome and Rotterdam has seen them qualify for the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup Final in Barcelona next month.
But the team dropped down the placings to sixth at both of the final two legs, Hickstead and Dublin, and the Longines Global Champions Tour series and the busy international showjumping calendar has placed plenty of demand on our leading combinations.
But the team – with Di’s now trademark blend of age and experience – remain buoyant about their hopes of success in Aachen.
“Utamaro is in great form; we have been building up to this all season and he’s in top condition for it. I think we’ve got a super team; it’s the same team that won at Rotterdam and a mix of fast horses and big jumpers. You need some luck on the day but we’re all motivated to deliver,” said Joe Clee, 37.
Likewise, Ben Maher’s mare Diva has been impressive since she ‘came of age’ with a superb win at Olympia’s Grand Prix in December. “Diva has been a great horse to me over the past twelve months and has proved herself to be a good team horse. Hopefully we can play a strong part in qualifying Great Britain for the Olympics,” said Ben.
Format
The showjumping competition at Aachen runs from 19-23rd August. It starts with a speed round on the Wednesday, before the team competition is held on the Thursday and Friday. The top 25 contest the individual medals, which are decided following Saturday and Sunday’s competition.
Equestrian Team GBR is supported by the UK Sport National Lottery funded World Class Programme.
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