30/12/14 11:13 AMEquestrian Life - Print - Jumping Verona Results 2014

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Jumping Verona Results 2014

Jumping Verona Results 2014

By Phoebe Tilelli The FEI World Cup show jumping competition was held from Friday 7 to Sunday 9 November in VeronaItaly at the Fiera di Cavalli or Festival of Horses. In the city where tourists come to see Juliet’s balcony andfollow Shakespeare’s tragic romance to Juliet’s tomb, there were no tragic endings for Bertram Allen thisweekend. Irish 19-year-old Allen won the Italian crown during his first ever world tour on Sunday. ThisWestern European league of the cup is said to be the toughest competition and the most selective of the 16leagues. Fierce competitors in attendance at Verona included 2014 World Cup winner Daniel Deusser fromGermany and 15 of the top 17 riders in the world. This made it an exciting few days keeping all spectatorson the edge of their seats and scores remained very close. Allen on his 11 year old mare Molly Malone Vraced through the finish line of the jump off round in 34.89 seconds, Maikel van der Vleuten (NED) on VDLGroep Verdi screeching in just behind in 35.52 seconds and third place Marcus Ehning (GER) on CornadoNRW in 35.77. When Allen is asked how he keeps such focus under pressure at such a young age heresponds “I have quite a bit of experience with ponies but I think you have to be able to deal with thatnaturally.” Van der Vleuten who only missed out on the victory by 0.63 seconds reflected on how he may have lostthat miniscule amount of time “if I compare my round to Bertrams I think he had a quicker turn to thesecond last jump but I was happy the way my round went.” Experienced rider Ehning said he is pleasedwith his horses development at the moment “you can feel that he is getting older so he’s more relaxed andmature” he said. The competition was definitely heated on Sunday and these three burned up the course. The only Australian representative on the day was Edwina Tops-Alexander, top ranked female show jumperin the world. After a knocking a rail at the sixth fence and the jump tumbled down underneath her horseFair Light van T Heike he seemed quite rattled going into the next jump. She then retired from the courseand quietly left the ring. Even champions have their off days and Verona wasn’t a triumph for Tops-Alexander but she did Australia proud all the same. Ranking 17th in the Premio Miasuki and 13th in thePremio Fixdesign she held her own against the best European riders in the world. The FEI World Cup started in 1978 with a show jumping competition that has grown larger every year withmore countries joining the leagues. This circuit of events has a loyal following among the equestriancommunity and is held all year round. The event hosts are prepared for rain hale or shine providing sandarenas and indoor sport centres to facilitate the competition and cater to the large crowds. For this reasonboth horse and rider have to adapt to different sized circuits and surfaces from week to week allowing themost versatile to excel. Verona’s course designer Uliano Vezzani said that what he liked most about the arena was that because ofthe generous size - 40 x 75 metres the spectators don’t sit too close to the ring allowing the horses torelax and remain more focused. Vezzani aimed to challenge the riders “with the technical questions, aboutdistances for example, but I like the horses to leave the arena feeling proud of themselves, and feelinghappy!”

30/12/14 11:13 AMEquestrian Life - Print - Jumping Verona Results 2014

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With events on both the Thursday and Friday offering 60 000 Euros in prize money and 410 000 Eurosoverall to win in Verona there was a lot riding on these days of the competition. Friday’s ‘Premio Prestige’was a mixed competition at 1.55m won by French rider Penelope Leprevost on Nice Stephanie. Saturday’s‘Premio Miasuki’ mixed competition at 1.50/1.55 m was won by Lorenzo de Luca and his chestnut mareZoe II. Riding on his home turf gave him just the boost he needed in the jump off with Italian supporterscheering him on after the final hurdle. Great Britain’s William Whitaker set the standard in Saturday’s‘Premio Miasuki’ mixed comp at 1.50/1.55m with the first to go clear and a confident time of 39.97 secondsplacing 4th. Every twist and turn around this course challenged the riders to remain at top speed whilestaying well balanced and collected. Zoe II did just that in the fastest time of 38.50 seconds. This year was the 116th edition of the Fiera where many horse events, shows and entertainment wereheld. The Fiera is basically a tribute to all things ‘horsy’ making it the perfect place to host the showjumping world cup sponsored by watchmaker Longines. The Verona leg of the competition is expected tohave topped last year’s attendance of 158 000 spectators. Judging by the stands that were overflowingwith show jumping enthusiasts waving their countries flag and holding their breath for a clear round I’d saytheir numbers are correct. This year the halls of every event on at the show were rammed with horse lovers finding everything fromcompetitions through to equestrian tourism and product shows. True to the Italian’s passion for food therewas even complementary wine and food tasting from the Veneton region. I don’t quite know how thisrelates to the horses but with the finest vineyards of Verona putting their best bottles on show I wasn’tcomplaining. The final for the Western European League will be held in Goteborg Sweden, from February 26th to March1st. Then the top riders from each league will compete in the World cup final 15-19 April 2015 being heldin Vegas USA.

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