20 December 2014
London Olympia: Exell extraordinary again at London Olympia
Boyd Exell (AUS) put down an extraordinary performance again and won his fourth consecutive FEI World Cup™ Driving competition of this season at London Olympia. Boyd won before in Stuttgart, Stockholm and last week in Geneva, where he competed with three borrowed horses to spare his own team for his wild card start in London. Boyd’s biggest opponent IJsbrand Chardon (NED) finished second, Fredrik Persson (SWE) drove very steadily and finished third.It was the first time this season that Boyd Exell and Dutchmen IJsbrand Chardon and Koos de Ronde, who are considered as the favourites, competed against each other. Dutch level 4 course designer Johan Jacobs had laid out a very good course with fast and technical elements, which remained exciting until the very last moment. All drivers were extremely happy with the event in Olympia, for which the tickets were sold out already five weeks ago. The stands were full with enthusiastic fans, who supported the drivers throughout the whole competition.
Last starter in the Winning Round IJsbrand Chardon had driven a new leader horse in the two previous classes in Olympia, but decided to take no risk and put his experienced leader horse in for the World Cup competition. The four-times individual World Champion gave everything he had and drove a clear round, but was unable to beat Boyd’s time, which put him into the second place. Since Boyd competed with a wild card and is therefore not entitled to points, the 10 points went to Ijsbrand which moved him to the second place in the standings behind Boyd. Both top drivers have already secured their ticket for the Final in Bordeaux.
Boyd drove his regular team of horses at London Olympia and admitted he could have been a bit more accurate in the first round, where one of his leader horses knocked a ball off the cones. But his speed in the second round, which took place over the same course, was unbelievable and Boyd flew through the arena, leaving all elements in place, securing his fourth win of this season.
While Boyd, Ijsbrand and Koos fought it out, it was Fredrik Persson who drove very clever and steadily and was the third driver placed for the Winning Round. Persson drove his team of old horses, the youngest one is 17 years old, clear and at good speed through the course. In the Winning Round the driving teacher from Sweden’s National Stud Flyinge took a bit too much risk and knocked three balls down in the last phase of the competition, but he was nevertheless happy with his performance.
Koos de Ronde competed with the same team of horses as with which he won the FEI World Cup™ Driving competition in Budapest. The speed of his team is very good, the golden team medallist of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ in Normandy put down the second time in the first round, but three knockdowns prevented him from getting into the Winning Round. Koos realises his new team still needs some time for fine-tuning.
1. Boyd Exell (AUS) 240,44
2. IJsbrand Chardon (NED) 244,11
3. Fredrik Persson (SWE) 266,59
4. Koos de Ronde (NED) 136,63
5. Glenn Geerts (BEL) 139,78
6. Theo Timmerman (NED) 140,12
7. Daniel Naprous (GBR) 154,35
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Photo: Rinaldo de Craen
Young driver Glenn Geerts started off very well at London Olympia by winning the first class, which did not count for the World Cup. In the FEI World Cup™ Driving competition however, Glenn was unable to get his special indoor team of Lipizzaner horses into the right speed and finished on the fifth place, ahead of bronze individual medallist in Caen Theo Timmerman. Timmerman, who will move to a new yard in Varsseveld in the Netherlands next month, swapped his leader horses around, but missed the necessary speed in the marathon type obstacles and came sixth.
Daniel Naprous (GBR) earned the second wild card by winning the British indoor qualifiers at Merrist Wood, Bury Farm and the British Masters at Addington Manor. The 37-year-old stuntman received the Wild Card at Olympia before in 2012. Boyd kindly lend Daniel a bay leader horse for his indoor team at Olympia, which was made up of two of his film horses and an older outdoor horse. Daniel, who is a stuntman by profession, enjoyed competing in Olympia very much and was pleased despite the fact that he had no front brakes on his carriage during his round. This resulted in four knockdowns and Dan finished on the seventh place.
Quotes:
Boyd Exell (AUS): “This indoor team is going to become like my old and famous indoor team with Bill. They have got the top line speed that Bill brought to my team. I just got to have a bit more accuracy and a bit more reliability. The second round I could drive safe and fast whilst as in the first round I fumbled a few loops. I didn’t give them their best ride, but they got me out of trouble. The second round I gave them a good ride and they operated.”
IJsbrand Chardon (NED): “I could not go any faster with this team in order to stay clear. Today’s competition was very important for me, I needed the World Cup points so that is why I decided to use my experienced leader horse again. At the moment it is very difficult to win from Boyd. I gave everything I had and I am now in the Final so I can test my new leader horse at my last competition in Leipzig.”
Fredrik Persson (SWE): “I tried to stay clean in the first round and I was lucky that I did. In the Winning Round I took some risk and had several knockdowns, but I am still very happy. The feeling in the arena at Olympia is amazing, the spectators are fantastic, they really help you by creating such a great atmosphere. The feeling is in the air.”
1 Boyd EXELL AUS 30
2 IJsbrand CHARDON NED 24
3 Koos DE RONDE NED 15
4 Christoph SANDMANN GER 14
Fredrik PERSSON SWE 14
6 Jozsef DOBROVITZ HUN 13
7 Glenn GEERTS BEL 10
8 Georg VON STEIN GER 6
9 Werner ULRICH SUI 5
10 Theo TIMMERMAN NED 4
