Julie Harding
THE speed class, the opener of the five-part World Equestrian Games Jumping competition, belonged to Ireland.
Wexford teenager Bertram Allen had his speedy mare Molly Malone V jumping out of her skin and her time of 77.01, notched up during an accurate round which shaved off milliseconds on every precision-cut corner, left the pair in pole position.
With myriad big names to jump after them, Allen was unsure of victory but one by one his rivals’ challenges unravelled, leaving the 19-year-old Irishman in pole position with zero penalties to carry forward to the following day’s team qualifier.
“It’s unbelievable and unexpected,” said Allen, who trains with Marcus Ehning at his base in Germany twice a month.
Allen, who finished ahead of France’s Patrice Delaveau and Belgium’s Gregory Wathelet on the individual scoreboard, certainly managed to trounce his instructor who wound up in 29th spot in this contest in which all rounds were judged on time and each knockdown was penalised by four seconds.
“My plan was to have a good fast round and to end up winning the class is a great bonus,” continued Allen. “The mare is naturally fast and careful and I took as many chances as I could without taking too much risk.”
The team, too, enjoyed a good day at the office, finishing seventh out of 33 squads, all four of its quartet going clear, Cameron Hanley’s Antello Z the next fastest after Allen for 2.69 penalties. Darragh Kenny, Ireland’s pathfinder with Imothep, recorded 3.82. Denis Lynch and All Star 5 boasted the squad’s discard score, but even they collected just 3.83 faults.
“My horse jumped well. I’ve just got to manage the pressure,” said Lynch.
Hanley admitted that Antello had been a bit spooked, “But he still jumped well. It was very easy to make a mistake if you went too fast, but my horse always tries his best.”
TEAM JUMPING
Over subsequent days the boys in green tried hard to emulate the form they had shown during a dramatic first day of action in an electric d’Ornano Stadium.
While the impressive Dutch squad of Jeroen Dubbeldam, Maikel van der Vleuten, Jur Vrieling and Gerco Schroder captured the team gold medal on Thursday, ahead of France (silver) and the USA (bronze), Ireland finished in seventh place, agonisingly close to the sixth place that would have booked their place in the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Course designer Frederic Cottier had produced a seemingly straightforward, if imposing, 13-fence course but as the team riders started, the pressure mounted and mistakes kept occurring, most regularly at fence 2, the blue Land Rover oxer, approached off a blind left-hand turn seven or eight strides from fence 1.
It was the back rail that fell on this particular fence for Ireland anchor Cameron Hanley and Antello Z, while 11b went too for an expensive nine-fault round that included a time fault.
Team pathfinder Kenny punched the air and Imothep bucked as they crossed the finish line with a clear in the bag (albeit with one to add for time) but they had given several poles a rub on their journey around the track.
Allen and Molly Malone V collected their four faults at the upright coming out of the triple, while Lynch and All Star 5 left every fence intact in a classy performance that saw them give every obstacle plenty of air.
The team total was a respectable 23.51 penalties but, as US team chef d’equipe Robert Ridland said subsequently: “It’s unbelievable how hard the competition is now. It’s even harder than it was in Kentucky four years ago.”
In fact, the reigning Olympic and European Champions Great Britain didn’t even make it through to the second round of team jumping after Michael Whitaker (Viking) and Joe Clee (Utamaro d’Ecaussines) notched up 12 faults apiece, Spencer Roe and Wonder Why clocked eight and Scott Brash and Hello Sanctos four. Brash qualifed for the individual but withdraw his horse before Thursday’s action.
Gunning for gold
The Dutch gave notice that they were gunning for gold during Wednesday’s first round of team jumping, three of the riders sporting this nation’s traditional orange getting clear rounds in the clubhouse for a lead at this stage over the USA and Germany.
Ireland may have qualified in eighth place out of the 10 teams that earned a ticket in the first team competition, but there was tension in the camp throughout a lengthy day of jumping that saw 150 horses come forward.
First in for the Irish, Kenny’s stallion Imothep, whose exuberance was demonstrated by one of his trademark bucks after the first, went on to take out the front rail at the first oxer element of the treble at 4a.
“It was a tough course today. There is a lot of jumping and I’m really disappointed by my performance,” said Kenny. “Imothep did a great job, though, and I just needed to do better.”
Bertram Allen heard the unwanted thud of a pole hit the floor as Molly Malone rubbed the back rail of the ‘bogey’ oxer at 12b and it bounced out of its cups.
“Molly jumped really well today,” said Allen. “But I will have a little more pressure on me from now on.”
This tricky orange oxer, sited on a one-stride distance from an upright at 12a, which in turn was four strides on from the imposing yellow and green Rolex oxer at 11, scuppered numerous nations’ chances. Denis Lynch and All Star 5 left it intact, but they had already just nudged the top rail off the middle vertical element of the treble at 4b for four faults.
These three four-fault rounds were enough to see Ireland qualify before anchorman Hanley and Antello Z entered the ring. This proved fortuitous as Antello Z knocked down three.
“I’m a little bit disappointed,” said Hanley. “I think the horse was a little bit tired. But the team has done a great job today.”
After three rounds of jumping, 30 riders, including Lynch (19th), Allen (20th) and Kenny (24th), go forward to contest today’s individual qualifier for Sunday’s four-man final where medals will be decided.