Britain finish in the top 10 on day one at the European Championships
Wednesday 30 August 2023
It didn’t go according to plan for the British team in day one’s qualifying round at the FEI Jumping European Championships in Milano, Italy, and, unfortunately, a clear round was not forthcoming, but the team are still in touch, standing in 10th position.
A total of 85 competitors from 25 nations jumped course-designer Uliano Vezzani’s 13-fence 1.50m Table C speed and handiness (four seconds added for each knockdown) track with three doubles, numerous turns and tricky lines. Although sunny today, a two-day deluge of rain affected the going.
British pathfinder and debutant Sam Hutton came home with two rails on the floor aboard the Caramello Company’s 12-year-old stallion Oak Grove’s Laith, the vertical over a water tray and the following oxer on a rollback falling. Tim Gredley jumped a round he found disappointing as Unex Competition Yard Ltd’s 11-year-old Medoc De Toxandria returned with three down – the front bar of the second fence and front rail into the following double and the ‘airy’ oxer after the open water on a dog-leg line, unbalancing some of the horses.
Both Harry Charles on Stall Zet’s Casquo Blue and Ben Maher with Charlotte Rossetter and Pamela Wright’s Faltic HB were also caught by the influential midway Longines oxer following the open water but made no other mistake.
Great Britain currently stand 10th in the teams on 12.42 penalty points while leaders Sweden are on 1.51. Harry is best Brit so far standing 22nd and Ben sits in 31st – but it is all to play for.
Individual rider Donald Whitaker only tapped out the front rail of the second double with Reitsportanlange Dagobertshausen GmbH and CO.KG’s Di Caprio.
Sam Hutton: “I’m really happy with how he started but unfortunately, towards the end he had two down in a row. At the water tray after the double of oxers he was really unlucky, I think he was anticipating the turn and just clipped it behind, and the rollback to oxer he rubbed in front. But he felt good today and I hope to come back stronger tomorrow and Friday.
“There were lots of turns and the horses had to think really quick. The oxers are quite wide but not really tall today and the double of oxers took some jumping but he was jumping well, it just wasn’t our day. It was the first day, a new arena and getting used to everything.”
Tim Gredley: I’m disappointed. The first fence [2nd oxer] he had down was not a normal mistake he makes and the other two mistakes he wouldn’t usually make. If I didn’t know the horse I was riding better, I’d have thought they were two green mistakes. He wasn’t looking where he was going but on hindsight, I could have gone one extra stride from one to two. He’s a big-jumping Grand Prix horse and Table C classes don’t suit him – he’s not a speed horse but he’s got me from two-star competitions last year to a championship this year – he’s amazing.
“On hindsight, he’s a bit tired and it’s been a long year but he’s been jumping so good up until now. He finished off good – my only positive from it. Today was not the day. I’m very disappointed and wasn’t really expecting it but I’m going to pick myself up and do better tomorrow.”
Harry Charles: it’s not the start I wanted but I’m pretty happy with my round. It was OK, the course isn’t super easy with the ground how it is; not the nicest conditions but you have to make do.
“The speed round is a very hard one to judge; don’t be too fast and leave some for the rest of the week and hopefully, I got it about right. I wasn’t as fast as I could be but left some in the tank for the two rounds tomorrow and Friday. It’s a long Championships and quite warm here – all these things have to be factored in.
“I walked the course this morning and it was pretty good but after the first quarter had gone, it changed quite a lot, you could see chunks coming up with the horses. With a late draw the footing changed and it was a very different course. I could feel the ground, especially towards the end.
“A Championship on grass is not the same for everyone. There are things you have to deal with and the ground made it pretty hard work for a 1.50m class. I did change my plan. I walked two courses, one if I went clear and the other if I had a fence down and quickly activated the second, taking out a stride to the double of oxers so I wasn’t too far down the list. He’s very brave and bold so it suits him.”
Ben Maher: “It went relatively to plan. He’s not the fastest horse and I tried to save time where I could but he jumped big out of the first double and hung [in the air] a little bit which altered my plan for the Longines vertical. I felt like I met the Longines oxer how I wanted to, but I didn’t get the power I wanted because of the ground and it was a very light touch.
“I’ve kept him carefully this year to aim him for certain things but here, the ground caused the problems. The first 20 horses jumped better than the last 40 and it made it not a level playing field. Not the perfect start, but he feels fit and we’ll try again tomorrow.”
Donald Whitaker: He was a little bit fresh but I’m happy with him. The crowd lit him up a bit cheering a new leader just before I went in but it was very exciting, the adrenalin kicked in and I want to get back in there. It’s his first championship and he jumped his heart out in there. He’s been to Aachen, St Gallen, and 5* GP he’s a very solid horse, genuinely easy and a pleasure to ride.”
Sweden lead the way on 1.51 with Switzerland just behind on 1.92. Germany sit in third on 5.31 followed by Ireland in fourth with 6.00. Austria are fifth (8.77), Italy stand sixth (9.42), Denmark take seventh (9.84) with France in eighth (10.47), Belgium are ninth (10.50) and Britain take 10th on 12.42.
Tomorrow’s (Thursday) round one team and individual qualifier – with the fences raised to 1.60m – will be a jumping test and will get underway at 12.15pm (BST). The British running order is:
Donald Whitaker & Di Caprio – 14
Ben Maher & Faltic HB – 45
Tim Gredley & Medoc De Toxandria – 55
Sam Hutton & Oak Grove’s Laith – 65
Harry Charles & Casquo Blue – 75
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Image: Harry Charles & Casquo Blue Credit: VLV Media
