Tag Archives: Boyd Exell

Boyd Exell Writes History at Bordeaux

Boyd Exell (AUS) has written history at Bordeaux by winning the FEI World Cup Driving title for the fourth consecutive time. ©Rinaldo de Craen/FEI

BORDEAUX (FRA), 5 February 2012 – Boyd Exell (AUS) has entered the history books by winning the FEI World Cup Driving Final for the fourth consecutive time.

Dutch drivers IJsbrand Chardon (NED) and Koos de Ronde (NED) fought like lions but were unable to beat Exell, who was simply unbeatable.

Class of his own
Last starter Boyd Exell felt the pressure on his shoulders despite his 8-second head start on Chardon after the first competition on Friday evening. Boyd however proved to be in a class of his own again, cheered on by the many enthusiastic spectators. The triple FEI World Cup Driving Champion put down an amazingly fast and clear round with his solid team of horses and widened the gap further on Chardon and De Ronde, who were in second and third place.

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Boyd Exell Takes the Lead in FEI World Cup Driving Final in Bordeaux

Boyd Exell is on his way to win the FEI World Cup Driving Final for the fourth consecutive time. ©Rinaldo de Craen/FEI

BORDEAUX (FRA), 4 February 2012 – Triple World Cup winner Boyd Exell (AUS) has taken the lead in the FEI World Cup Driving Final in Bordeaux (FRA) after the first competition on Friday 3 February.

Many spectators attended the first competition of the FEI World Cup Driving Final despite it ending close to midnight. Boyd drove an excellent round in a thrilling competition which kept the spectators on the edge of their seats. The defending World Cup champion managed to put a 15-second lead between himself and Jozsef Dobrobitz (HUN), who was leading the competition. Exell drove a clear round, using the same four-in-hand team with which he amazingly won at Mechelen (BEL) at the end of December 2011, using his best horse Bill.

Flat out
Second into the arena Jozsef Dobrovitz took a risk by using a completely new horse to lead his team. The seven-year-old bay gelding Horus Alom only arrived at Dobrovitz’ stables last October. Dobrovitz drove the horse in his team at an indoor competition last weekend and got so excited that he decided to bring it to Bordeaux. Dobrovitz went flat out through the rather technical course, designed by German course designer Falk Böhnisch, setting the time to beat.

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Fourth-in-a-Row Win for Boyd Exell

Boyd Exell (AUS), winner of the sixth FEI World Cup Driving 2011/2012 qualifier held in Mechelen (BEL) this weekend. ©Rinaldo de Craen/FEI

Mechelen (BEL), 31 December 2011 – Boyd Exell proved to be of a different class again in the sixth leg of the FEI World Cup Driving in Mechelen, Belgium. Exell remained untouched throughout the competition and stayed far ahead of his rivals Tomas Eriksson (SWE) and IJsbrand Chardon (NED). Mechelen is Boyd’s fourth consecutive win of the season after his victories at Stockholm, Budapest and Geneva. With only the Final in Bordeaux left for the triple FEI World Cup winner, Boyd can relax and enjoy his well-deserved holiday in his home country Australia for the next few weeks.

Exciting until the last moment

It was one of the best FEI World Cup Driving competitions ever in the Nekkerhal, which remained exciting until the very last moment. No less than eight drivers battled for a place on the podium. Second starter Georg von Stein drove a fast clear round, which more experienced indoor drivers like Koos de Ronde and Jozsef Dobrovitz were unable to beat. Tomas Eriksson was the first to beat Von Stein’s time and secured his place for the winning round. IJsbrand Chardon caused even more excitement by knocking a ball off the first obstacle, but finished only 0.48 seconds behind Eriksson and also qualified for the winning round. Boyd Exell finished the job without any hesitation and took the lead.

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Boyd Exell Does Magic in Geneva

Boyd Exell (AUS), winner of the fifth FEI World Cup Driving 2011/2012 qualifier held in Geneva (SUI) this weekend. ©Rinaldo de Craen/FEI

Geneva (SUI), 10 December 2011 – Boyd Exell (AUS) won the fifth leg of the FEI World Cup Driving 2011/2012 in Geneva, Switzerland, this afternoon. Exell competed in the Swiss city for the fourth time winning every edition. The crowd and the electric atmosphere in the arena today contributed to another magic performance. Dutch drivers Koos de Ronde and Theo Timmerman finished in second and third place.

Difficult enough

Falk Böhnisch of Germany had designed a difficult course for the seven drivers competing in Europe’s largest indoor arena, known for its unique features such as the water and the small slope, which make it resemble an outdoor marathon course. Böhnisch and President Ground Jury Hans Peter Rüschlin made some small adjustments to today’s course making it better and smoother for the horses.

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Excellent Exell to the Fore Again in Budapest

Boyd Exell (AUS), winner of the fourth FEI World Cup Driving 2011/2012 qualifier held in Budapest (HUN) this weekend. ©Rinaldo de Craen/FEI

Budapest (HUN), 4 December 2011 – Just a week after his first FEI World Cup victory of the season in Stockholm, Boyd Exell (AUS) repeated that winning performance by scoring at the fourth leg of the FEI World Cup Driving 2011/2012 in Budapest, Hungary today. Exell stayed ahead of home driver and favorite Jozsef Dobrovitz (HUN) and Stuttgart-winner Koos de Ronde (NED).

Change of horse
It was by no means a certainty that Exell would win again, however. One of his experienced leader horses, the 17-year-old gelding Spitfire, did not pass the first horse inspection due to a minor injury in his foot and Exell was forced to put his spare wheeler horse Clinton Star in the lead of his four-in-hand. Exell put Clinton Star to the test in the warm-up competition and the prizegiving ceremony on the first day, when he finished second behind Koos de Ronde. Exell’s gamble paid off and Clinton Star got even faster in today’s FEI World Cup Driving competition and contributed to the Australian’s second victory of the season. Following wins in 2008 and 2009, this was Exell’s third win in Budapest. Local hero Jozsef Dobrovitz, from the nearby village of Vecsés, was cheered on by his enthusiastic home crowd in the Laszlo Papp Arena and drove his team of Lipizzaner horses to a well-deserved second place.

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Exell Uncontested Winner in Stockholm

Boyd Exell (AUS), winner of the third FEI World Cup Driving 2011/2012 qualifier held in Stockholm (SWE) this weekend. ©Anna Vähäkuopus/FEI

Stockholm (SWE), 27 November 2011 – Triple FEI World Cup Driving Champion Boyd Exell (AUS) is the uncontested winner of the third FEI World Cup Driving competition of the season in Sweden’s capital Stockholm. Exell drove two fluent clear rounds and finished well ahead of wild card driver Tomas Eriksson (SWE) and IJsbrand Chardon (NED).

Practice rounds

After two ‘practice competitions’ in Hannover and Stuttgart where he competed with a wild card, Boyd collected his first World Cup points of the season. He began using a new horse this season to replace some of the older horses on his four-in-hand team. After two competitions and some good advice from the previous owner Jozsef Dobrovitz, the eight-year-old trotter Bajnok is now a reliable member of Boyd’s team.

Fire works

Boyd drove two impeccable rounds in the Globen Arena in Stockholm where the enthusiastic spectators contributed to a fantastic atmosphere. Sweden’s Dan Henriksson had challenged the drivers by designing a technical course with many different options. This resulted in a very exciting competition the highlight of which was the fireworks going off when the competitors crossed the finishing line on the bridge.

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Eleventh Season of the FEI World Cup Driving Attracts World Class Field

FEI World Cup Driving title holder Boyd Exell of Australia. © Kit Houghton

Lausanne (SUI), 12 October 2011 – After an exciting outdoor season with the FEI Open European Driving Championships for Four-in-Hand in Breda (NED) as its highlight, the sport of four-in-hand Driving moves indoors for the 11th season of the FEI World Cup Driving.

Ten top class drivers will battle it out for the ultimate title of FEI World Cup Driving champion. Germany, who was absent from the series for the past two seasons, is making a significant comeback and will now be represented by two drivers, Rainer Duen and Georg von Stein.

New comer
The qualification season consisted of 14 competitions held throughout Europe with the top 10 drivers qualifying for the 2011-2012 season. Amongst these, there is one new comer: Georg von Stein from Germany. Von Stein competed as a wild card in the FEI World Cup Driving Final 2011 in Leipzig where he finished sixth.

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Exell Continues Success Story in Aachen

Four times Aachen winner Boyd Exell continued his success story at Aachen © FEI/Rinaldo de Craen.

Aachen (GER), 17 July 2011 – Top driver Boyd Exell (AUS) has continued his amazing success story in Aachen. Crowned World Champion at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky last year and winner of the FEI World Cup Driving Final for the third consecutive time in Leipzig in April this year, the Australian has won this year’s prestigious CAIO Aachen for the fourth time in his career. Boyd first won Aachen in 2003 and was unbeatable in 2009, 2010 and now in 2011.

Five competitions
The CAIO in Aachen consisted of five competitions for all drivers this year; the first dressage test (FEI Test 8a) counted for the individual classification, the second dressage test (FEI test 6a) counted for the team classification and was also compulsory for individual drivers like Boyd Exell and Chester Weber (USA). The first cones competition counted for the individual classification, the marathon counted for both the individual and the teams and today’s final cones competition counted for the teams and was again compulsory for the individuals.

First dressage
Boyd Exell had a head start in the first dressage test, which was driven in the pouring rain in the Aachen driving stadium on Wednesday. Boyd drove his team of black geldings owned by Támas Vincze from Hungary to a winning score of 35.97 penalty points. After a great start, Exell’s left wheeler horse became very excited during the latter part of the test, but this did not prevent Exell from getting the best score of the day. First into the arena, Chester Weber the USA put down a very solid test with his two new leader horses Splash and Uniek.

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Boyd Exell Claims Hat-Trick in FEI World Cup Driving Final

Leipzig (GER), 1 May 2011 – Boyd Exell from Australia has successfully defended his FEI World Cup Driving title in a thrilling finish in Leipzig (GER) to become only the second driver to score a hat-trick of World Cup victories. The popular Australian sped to victory in front of an enthusiastic and ecstatic crowd that packed the Leipzig Messe to capacity. Hungary’s Jozsef Dobrovitz drove two brilliant rounds with his team of Lipizzaner horses to finish second, ahead of IJsbrand Chardon from the Netherlands.

Happy to be first
Jozsef Dobrovitz was happy to go first in the Final round. In Budapest he had won the warm-up competition but made mistakes in the Final round, so he felt the starting grid Leipzig would favour him. His only goal in the first round was to equal Boyd’s time on the first night and to stay clear as well. Dobrovitz put in an amazing performance to meet both his goals and pile the pressure on his opponents.

No expectations
Second starter IJsbrand Chardon was determined to make up for his mistake on the first night, but his leader horses started pushing against each other in the warm-up arena and there was not enough time left for IJsbrand to fix it. The result was three knockdowns on course, but Chardon kept on driving at such high speed that he finished in a record time of 113.89 seconds, to slot into second behind Dobrovitz. Chardon had no expectations of making it to the Winning Round but Georg von Stein (GER), Werner Ulrich (SUI), Koos de Ronde (NED) and Tomas Eriksson (SWE) all made mistakes, which kept Chardon in second place. After Exell had conquered the course in a fast time despite one knockdown, it was clear that the colourful trio was going to battle it out in the Winning Round.

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Exell Sets the Tone in Leipzig

Boyd Exell on his way to victory in the warm up round of the FEI World Cup Driving Final in Leipzig. Photo: FEI/Rinaldo de Craen

Leipzig (GER) 29 April 2011 – Title defender Boyd Exell from Australia has won the warm up round of the FEI World Cup Driving Final in Leipzig this evening. The current four-in-hand World Champion was the only driver who finished the course in a clear round. Sweden’s Tomas Eriksson came second driving his brand new marathon carriage. Dutch driver Koos de Ronde finished third.

Ring rusty
The competitors were all a bit ring rusty after a break of several months. Some drivers competed in the last World Cup competition in Bordeaux at the start of February; others had an even longer break after the show in Mechelen at the end of December.

Wild card replacement
Home driver Georg von Stein replaced wild card driver Christian Plücker who unfortunately had to withdraw only two days ago because of two injured horses. Plücker had won the special indoor competition at the German Equestrian Centre in Warendorf in February and had herewith claimed the wild card. Von Stein finished second and was therefore the first candidate to replace Plücker. Von Stein had kept on training his horses so it was not difficult for him to prepare his team for his first ever World Cup start. Von Stein finished fifth in tonight’s competition, behind Switzerland’s Werner Ulrich.

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