Once again we will remember Sunday's magnificent cross-country event. Right up until the very end, everything could have changed in the provisional line-up of this third day of the Fontainebleau Eventing World Cup. But it was the German rider, Michael Jung, who had an excellent performance with his second horse Miss Meller TSF. By finishing with a clear round and a record time of 7'13, he remains in pole position, just before the last event, the jumping competition, tomorrow.
Nicolas Touzaint is in second place with his magnificent horse Hildago de l'Ile. By finishing with a clear round and an outstanding time of 7.01, the second best time achieved, he made his come back as one of the competition leaders. With a total of 44.50 points, only four jumping faults separate him from Michael Jung before Sunday's show jumping competition.
What a performance! "Before I competed, I all wanted was to finish the round in the best conditions. I wanted it to be a preparation for Badminton next month. As I felt that everything was going well, I began to take a few risks."
It must be said that the French rider is the current European and Olympic Champion. Just behind him, with less than 8 jumping faults, is the Australian rider Clayton Fredericks. His two clear rounds with times of 7.28 and 7.21 with Ben Along Tame and Nullabor respectively, allow the 4th best rider in the world to have a good chance of featuring on the winning podium. By having a total of 46.2 and 48.5 points with his two horses, he is eight jumping faults behind the young German rider. If he wants to be victorious tomorrow, he will have to remain concentrated right up until the end of the show jumping competition.
"On Monday I will be very cautious," says Nicolas. "All the more so, as my horse is capable everything from achieving a clear round to having several faults. I will do everything possible, beginning by ensuring that Hildago de l'Ile is very relaxed and ready to compete. After that, we will see."
Even if on the cross-country course one fence did not create any more problems than another, it was anything but easy. Acertain number of solid and technical fences created major changes in the provisional line-up of the Generali CICW***. Moreover, Pierre Michelet, the course designer, had told us that this would be the case. "At the very beginning, it will be essential to have very resistant horses which are ready straight away. And the riders will have to be very careful." The German rider paid for this with Birkhof's Grafenstoltz TSF, his first horse with which he had gone into the lead in the competition. He was 17th to compete and had two refusals on the course on two water crossings, fences no.6 and no.15.
It seems that Birkhof's Grafenstoltz TSF did not like them. Knowing that he had every chance of being victorious with his second horse, Miss Meller TSF, (second after the dressage test), he decided to retire. This was a wise decision, as by finishing the cross-country course with a clear round and a time of 7.13, he confirmed his position as the competition's leader. Certainly the cross country course's layout was more flowing and galloping than last year, but it was not easy to finish it within the allowed time of 6.58. That is to say, having a constant speed of 70 metres/ minute from the beginning to the end of the course. Only the French rider Clément Faivre with Gang de Forgerie came close with a fabulous time of 7 minutes. Even if he only had 42 tenths of a second more than the allowed time, this meant that none of the riders or horses finished the Fontainebleau cross-country course without penalty points. It must be said that when the riders pass through the forest, the trees, the uphill or even the downhill parts of the course, the horses are very distracted. "In the undergrowth, the horses cannot see where they are going. Without forgetting that, for us as riders, we see the ground passing by at top speed. Unfortunately, it is only an impression," explained Karim Florent Lahouag, who had a clear round with an outstanding time of 7.01 with Havenir d'Azac.
