Margie Engle continued her winning ways as she and Quervo Gold got the US off to a great start in the Super League Competition with a clear ride within the time allowed. It was the first clear ride of the day.
Germany followed the US and Ludger Beerbaum aboard L’Espoir kept pace with Engle when he managed the second clear of the afternoon.
Neither Ireland nor Sweden could come up with clear rides so that after the completion of the first round first riders, we had Germany and the USA tied for first, with Great Britain with just a time fault in sole posession of third place.
John Whitaker was next up for the British and he executed well but caught a rail and also a time penalty to finish with 5 faults. Lauren Hough followed for the US aboard Casadora and had a rough ride with 14 faults including two time penalties.
Germany’s Christian Ahlmann aboard Coster was determined that the US would not upset Germany for two years in a row when he navigated the course with a fault free performance.
Sweden crawled back into the competition when Royne Zetterman managed a clear round aboard Isaac. So with two riders gone the US was clinging onto a tie for first but the pressure was on both McLain and Saffire and Beezie and Authentic.
Tim Gredley riding OMelli kept the Brits close to the lead when he negotiated the round cleanly but had a time fault. Albert Zohr (NED) and Okidoki went clear keeping the Netherleands hopes alive.
McLain was next and a 4 fault performance aboard Sapphire relegated the US into 3rd place. Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and Shutterfly assured that Germany would have a good lead going into the second round when she posted the third clear ride of the day for Germany.
Mainlin Baryard-Johnsson and Butterfly Flip with a 4 fault performance elevated Sweden into a tie for third with the US. We were now down to the final rider for round 1. Germany was in 1st, Great Britain 2nd with just 2 time faults and the US and Seweden were 3rd with 4 faults each.
The fourth rider would determine the position for all teams but Germany. Their fourth rider could not improve upon their score.
Michael Whitaker and Insul Tech Portofino anchored the British Team. An 8 fault performance was not good enough to keep the Brits in 2nd place as they finished round 1 with 7 faults.
Beezie Madden was next and Ms. Pressure camly negotiated the course aboard Authentic flawlessly, assuring the USA of second place going into Round 2. Germany’s Markus Ehning opted not to go. A great ride by Michel Robert and Galet D’Auzay kept France within two rails of the leaders going into round 2.
Round 1 Scores
Germany 0
USA 4
Great Britain 7
France 8
Sweden 8
Switzerland 10
Netherlands 13
Ireland 17
Round 2
The teams in Round 2 go in the reverse order of performance from Round 1 and Ireland was first off. Shane Breen (IRE) aboard World Cruise posted the first clear ride of the afternoon, a welcomed performance from his team. Christina Liebherr (SUI) also improved on her earlier performance when she guided LB No Mercy to a faultless performance.
Margie Engle was the first US Rider in Round 2 and provided the team with a one rail 4 fault performance. Germany’s Ludger Beerbaum was next and kept pace with the US as he also had a 4 fault ride. So at the end of the first rider in Round 2, Germany still had a rail over the rest of the field although the pack was tightening in its pursuit of the leaders.
Ireland was determined to get out of the cellar and Capt. Shane Carey returned with the second clear ride for Ireland in Round 2. Sweden’s Royne Zetterman became the first rider to have a double clear performance as he edged his team closer to the US and Germany. Lauren Hough answered brilliantly as she forgot about the 14 faults in Round 1 and managed a faultfree performance in Round 2. Now it was up to Germany’s Christian Ahlmann and Coster to respond. Ahlmann who was clear in Round 1 gave the German fans what they were looking for and became the second rider of the day to produce a double clear. With two riders gone, the German’s still had a rail on the US and two rails on Sweden.
Sweden’s Malin Baryard-Johnsson turned in a one rail performance as the third rider to go. The opportunity for a win was slipping away as they fell to three rails off of the lead with the Germans yet to go. That provided an opportunity for Great Britain to move ahead of Sweden and Tim Gredley did just that with another clear ride. The British were now less than 3 rails off of the pace.
The pressure was on McLain Ward and Sapphire who needed a good ride to have any chance at a repeat upset. Bingo. McLain handled it well and went clear. Germany’s turn again and Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum provided the German fans with another double clear, the fifth clean ride of the day for the Germans.
By rider 4 , it was a two team race. Germany had a one rail advantage over the USA. Neither team could finish worse than second. It was up to Beezie Madden and Marcus Ehning. Beezie had to go double clear or Germany would take first place and Ehning would not even have to ride.
The Battle for the basement concluded with the Netherlands finishing with 29 faults in 8th position. A solid 4 fault Round 2 from the Irish Team pulled them out of the cellar.
When Beezie and Authentic could not go clear, she retired and again Marcus Ehning did not have to go. The Germans proved that they were still masters of their sport on their home grounds with 5 out of 6 clear rounds. The USA turned in a solid performance with a second place finish that kept them in the running for the league championship.
Final Results
1. Germnay 4
2. USA 8
3. Great Briatain 11
4. Switzerland 15
5. Sweden 16
6. France 17
7. Ireland 21
8. Netherland 29
League Standings after Aachen
1 Germany 10 10 20
2 USA 7 7 14
3 Switzerland 3.5 4 7.5
4 France 5 2 7
5 Great Britain 2 5 7
6 Netherlands 3.5 0.5 4
7 Sweden 0.5 3 3.5
8 Ireland 1 1 2
Press Conference
Before an enthusiastic home team crowd at the Show Jumping Stadium in Aachen Germany, the German Team consisting of Ludger Beerbaum, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, Christian Ahlmann and Marcus Ehning won the Aachens 2006 FEI Samsung Superleague Competition revenging last years loss to the United States.
At the Press conference, Marcus Ehning who didn’t have to ride in either round was asked if he had a relaxing day? Ehning thanked his colleagues sayimg “They had everything decided before I had an opportunity to go. It was crazy, but I wouldn’t call it relaxing.”
Christian Ahlmann added that “Everyone was now relaxed and happy.”
Michele Michaels-Beerbaum commented on Shutterfly’s two perfect rounds: “Shutterfly is presently in a really great form.” She continued, “It was not the hardest course I’ve ever jumped in Aachen but it was a good track with problems everywhere and it made for an exciting competition because it came down to the last few riders in the end.”
Beerbaum who won the 2005 Aachen Grand Prix is one of the favorites going into Sunday. She was asked how she thought she would perform and answered “To win there a second time after 2005, would be cause for a super celebration, but first of all I think that I will enjopy our victory in todays competition.”
Ludger Beerbaum, was asked about his decision to ride L´Espoir today and will he ride that horse at WEG in August? He answered that he did not know “Whether L´Espoir, Goldfever or Gladdys S would be the horse. At the moment, I think only from week to week and try to ride as consistently as possible.”
When asked about WEG in August, Chef d’Equipe Kurt Gravemeir said that he would savor today’s victory as much as they hurt after last years defeat.” He further added that he was “somewhat frightened about how good this group has performed in the past few weeks and I hope, we can hold on to it for the World Equestrian Games.
The entire German Team was highly complementary of the USA Team that George Morris has fielded for this year’s competition.
Meredith commented that the “Americans are very strong this season. They have done a great job getting riders as good as these together. I think that they are going to have a strong presence.”
Chef d’Equipe Kurt Gravemeier returned to the theme of the American threat. There is nothing his country wants more than to win the WEG team title on their home ground this summer but the USA is also focused on that event. The fact that the Americans are in top form early in the season is also frightening”, Gravemeier added.
The next competition will be from Rome, Italy from May 25-28
Watch your back Germany we wont be there for long. Go Team!!
mucky - May 22nd, 2006 at 1:32 pmYou must be logged in to post a comment.