Defending European Champion and German anchorman Michael Jung trots up Halunke FBW at the first horse inspection for the HSBC FEI European Eventing Championships in Malmö (SWE). (Photo: Kit Houghton/FEI).

Lausanne (SUI), 28 August 2013 – The stage is set for a memorable HSBC FEI European Eventing Championships as some of the greatest talents in the sport gather in the unique seaside setting of Malmö, Sweden.

This is the first time since the biennial Championships began 60 years ago that it has been held in Sweden, a nation with a proud Eventing heritage, and clearly a superb effort has been made to produce a relaxed yet beautifully presented event.

A total of 61 combinations representing 15 nations will start the competition; 10 nations are fielding teams and, as host nation, Sweden will have six individual riders in addition to a team of four.

Competitors range from veterans such as William Fox-Pitt (GBR) and Kristina Cook (GBR), who both made their European Championship debuts 20 years ago in 1993, to 21-year-old Althea Bleekman, who competes for the Netherlands for the first time, having switched from British to Dutch nationality.

Four former individual champions are competing: Great Britain’s Pippa Funnell (1999 and 2001), France’s Nicholas Touzaint (2003 and 2007), Kristina Cook (2009) and Germany’s defending champion, Michael Jung (2011), who will ride fourth for his team on the nine-year-old Halunke FBW.

Kristina Cook’s Miners Frolic, a 15-year-old Thoroughbred gelding, has the distinction of being easily the most medalled horse in the field. The son of Miners Lamp holds dual Olympic bronze medals (from 2008) as well as dual European gold (2009), World team gold (2010) and Olympic team silver (2012).

The first horse inspection was held this afternoon in bright sunshine in front of the Ground Jury: President Marilyn Payne (USA), Christina Klingspor (SWE) and Christian Landolt (SUI).

The only cloud on proceedings was the disappointment for young Tom McEwen (GBR), due to make his senior championship debut but whose horse, Diesel, did not pass the horse inspection.

Three other horses were sent to the holding box but were accepted: Nemetis de Laiou, ridden by Lionel Guyon for France; Tubber Rebel (Dag Albert, SWE) and Nodin d’Orval (Stefano Fioravanti, ITA).

The Germans, drawn first to go in the team competition, announced their team order as Dirk Schrade on Hop and Skip, followed by Ingrid Klimke on the nine-year-old FRH Escada JS, Andreas Dibowski (FRH Butts Avedon) and reigning Olympic, World and European Champion Michael Jung as anchorman on Halunke FBW.

All four horses are new to championship level, but this is unlikely to be a handicap to the reigning Olympic and European Champions – Hop and Skip has CCI4* form and Escada and Halunke have both won CIC3*s.

France, silver medallists on German soil in 2011, has named Karim Florent Laghouag as pathfinder with Punch de l’Esques. Astier Nicolas goes second with Piaf de b’Neville, followed by Donatien Schauly on Seculaire, and finally Nicolas Touzaint with Lesbos.

Great Britain, which won eight consecutive European team gold medals between 1995 and 2009, and took bronze in Luhmühlen two years ago, fields a mix of old and new. Their pathfinder is Pippa Funnell, making her first British team appearance since the Athens Olympic Games in 2004 and selected with team newcomer Mirage d’Elle.

She is reunited with her old friends Kristina Cook and William Fox-Pitt – the three have been team mates since Junior days – plus Lucy Wiegersma, who makes her senior team debut on Simon Porloe, fourth in the CIC3* at Malmö in 2011.

Sweden, which won European team gold 20 years ago in Achselschwang (GER), fields Frida Andersen (Herta), Nicholas Lindback (Mister Pooh), Olympic silver medallist Sara Algotsson-Ostholt on Reality 39 and Ludwig Svennerstal on Shamwari 4.

The HSBC FEI European Championships take place, like the London Olympic Games last year, in a public park, and the amount of work that has been done on the Cross Country footing cannot be underestimated.

“The organisers deserve huge credit for the amount of work they have achieved in such a short time,” comments Technical Delegate Patricia Clifton (GBR). “The going is perfect. In fact the whole event is so well-presented, which is a remarkable effort when you consider that they’ve really only had about two weeks’ access to the site, much of which is still open to the public.”

A thrilling contest is assured and it all begins at 10.02am tomorrow (CEST) when Dirk Schrade and Hop and Skip open proceedings in the Dressage arena.

Follow the action on http://malmoeventing.com.

Download the HSBC FEI European Eventing Championships press kit: www.feipresskits.org.

Watch the action LIVE on FEI TV: www.feitv.org/live:
29 August – Dressage Part 1: start time 09:55
29 August – Dressage Part 2: start time 13:25
30 August – Dressage Part 3: start time 09.55
30 August – Dressage Part 4: start time 13.25
31 August – Cross Country: start time 09:55
1 September – Jumping Part: 1 start time 10:55
1 September – Jumping Part: 2 start time 13:25

HSBC & Equestrian Sport

HSBC, the platinum partner of the FEI and global sponsor of Eventing, has supported the world’s largest events on the international Eventing circuit since 2008. These events include the:

• HSBC FEI European Eventing Championships 2011 (Luhmühlen, Germany)
• HSBC FEI European Eventing Championships 2013 (Malmö, Sweden)
• HSBC FEI Classics Series, which unites the top end of the international Eventing circuit, and offers the biggest prize pot in the sport of Eventing on an annual basis.

For more information on HSBC and equestrian sport, go to the HSBC FEI hub here, where you can also access information on:

HSBC Rankings

The HSBC Rankings – the global Eventing rankings – were launched in 2008, when HSBC became the global sponsor of FEI Eventing. The rider at the top of the HSBC Rankings at the end of the 2012/2013 Eventing season receives a 50,000 USD bonus. The current leader of the HSBC Rankings is Andrew Nicholson (NZ).

HSBC Training Bursary

As part of HSBC’s support of the HSBC FEI Classics Series, a Training Bursary is presented to the highest placed rider at each event never to have previously completed a 4-star level event. The training voucher is to the value of $1,000 and goes towards performance development with a trainer of the rider’s choice, approved by the FEI and National Federation. Winners of the HSBC Training Bursary are profiled in the HSBC FEI hub.

By Kate Green

Media Contacts:

At Malmö:

Lotta Amnestal
+46 709 795635
lotta.amnestal@ridsport.se

At FEI:

Grania Willis
Director Media Relations
Grania.willis@fei.org
+41 78 750 61 42

Ruth Grundy
Manager Press Relations
ruth.grundy@fei.org
+41 78 750 61 45

(left to right) Silver medallist Ivan Dobrev (BUL), gold medallist Miroslav Iliev (BUL) and bronze medallist Viorel Bubau (ROM). Photo: FEI/George Isfan.

Sighisoara (ROM), 28 May 2013 – It all fell into place for Bulgaria’s Miroslav Iliev who claimed individual gold at the FEI Balkan Eventing Championships 2013 at Sighisoara, Romania last weekend with a stalwart performance riding Lazuren.  At the 2012 fixture staged in Eskisehir, Turkey, his medal chances were shattered by three fences down in the final Jumping phase, leaving fellow-countryman, Ivan Dobrev, to take the title.

But, this time around, Iliev moved into the lead on cross-country day and held on tight, while Dobrev had to settle for silver as the host nation’s Viorel Bubau claimed the bronze.

A total of eight riders from three countries battled it out for the 2013 individual title, and there were no team medals distributed as only two countries – Bulgaria and Turkey – could field a full side.  According to FEI Rules, team medals can only be awarded at Championships of this calibre “if at least three National Federations and/or Regional Teams are represented at the first Horse Inspection”, which did not happen on this occasion.

Strong Connections

Sighisoara has strong connections to Vlad lll, Prince of Wallachia, whose fierce reputation inspired Bram Stoker’s vampire character Count Dracula. However the city is better known as a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to the exemplary preservation of the features of a small medieval fortified town. Its tradition of great craftsmanship and its authentic medieval architecture have ensured its important status within the region.

The FEI Balkan Eventing Championships are staged at CCI 1* level, and this year the cross-country course-designer was Ireland’s Andrew Fell while his brother, Peter, was Technical Delegate.

It was Turkey’s Kadir Celik who head the advantage after last Friday’s dressage phase when posting a score of 54.38 with Antalya, but Iliev was competitive from the outset when slotting into second, just over a single penalty point in arrears, followed by fellow-Bulgarian Svetlin Krastanov in third on 56.46 and Dobrev in fourth having registered a mark of 57.50.

Unwelcome Storm

Cross-country day began with nice weather but it deteriorated rapidly and developed into an unwelcome storm. The riders carried on regardless however, and three managed to return clear of cross-country time penalties including Romania’s Viorel Bubau and Arcitic who had been lying fifth after dressage and improved to fourth going into the final day.

Meanwhile Celik’s grip on pole position was lost by the addition of 20 cross-country fence penalties, and this allowed Iliev to take the lead ahead of Dobrev when both Bulgarians completed their run across the solid obstacles with nothing to add.  Having collected just two time penalties, Krastanov was lying third as the jumping phase began.  And the bad weather returned to add to the test on the final day, with driving rain during the climax of the competition.

None of the nine riders managed to leave all the coloured poles intact and, with four fences on the floor, Krastanov found himself relegated from a medal position to a frustrating fourth place. Bubau had two down, but that was still good enough to move up and snatch the bronze while Dobrev’s two errors ensured that it would be Iliev’s turn to take the gold when adding just four faults to his tally.  It was an impressive result for the Bulgarians who filled three out of the top four placings at the end of the competition, while all of the nine starters posted a completion score.

Very Remote

The Championship was staged as part of the Transylvania Horse Show, and despite the fact that the action took place in a very remote location outside Sighisoara, almost 2,500 people turned up to witness the excitement on cross-country day.  Event Director for the show is the enthusiastic and energetic Mihnea Gabriel Virgolici, and the fixture was held on his farm which also hosts equestrian holidays and is situated near a village called Prod which is home to just 220 people.

“The remote nature of the area and the pure beauty of it is extraordinary,” TD Peter Fell said afterwards.  “It is very rural, and horses and carts are still part of daily life for many of the people there.  The setting is magnificent; it is in a valley the Carpathian Garden, surrounded by hills topped with trees, and the landscape is completely unspoiled.  It was a pity we didn’t have more teams, because the team competition would have helped to boost the Championships, but we still saw a great competition and Miroslav Iliev’s lovely grey horse, Lazuren, really stood out,” he added.

Catrin Norinder, FEI Eventing and Olympic Director, said she was “really impressed” by the Championships.  “The organising committee did a great job and it is good for the region to have Championships like these.  In the future we hope that more regions, and more countries, will take part so we can further improve the sport in the region,” she added.

Result:

FEI Balkan Eventing Senior Individual Championship 2013:  GOLD – Lazuren (Miroslav Iliev) BUL 59.42; SILVER – Solaris (Ivan Dobrev) BUL 65.50; BRONZE – Arcitic (Viorel Babau) ROM 67.38.

4, Nazir (Svetlin Krastanov) BUL 78.46; 5, Carnaval ll (Irimia Bogdan Constantin) ROM 89.37; 6, Antalya (Kadra Celik) TUR 90.38; 7, Zambo (Feri Simge Ozaltindere) TUR 117.70; 8, Akdeniz (Mustafa Sahin) TUR 186.80.

By Louise Parkes