The ultimate champion, Boyd Exell (AUS) once again showed why he is nearly impossible to beat at the third leg of the FEI Driving World Cup™ in Stuttgart (GER). Digging deep to see off his rivals, he came from behind on Friday to win, then pulled off an astonishing recovery on Saturday to take the prize and a maximum 10 ranking points to go to the top of the table for the World Cup season.
Facing the most challenging course so far this series, no one produced a clear round during Friday night’s opening competition. Even Boyd had to add twelve to his time after round one, and he entered the drive-off in third place. But second time out, Boyd did what he does so well and held his nerve, which made life difficult for the others. Although he had eight penalties in the drive-off, his time was fast enough to give him an overall total of 326.92.
Keeping the Friday night fans in the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer Halle on the edge of their seats, all seven drivers returned to the arena for the drive-off over the same course. Cheering as the turnouts splashed through the water and clattered over the bridge, they were given a world-class competition that went down to the wire.
To their delight, it seemed that the night might belong to wild card entry Michael Brauchle (GER) who had the fervour of the crowd behind him and threatened to topple the master. Despite his blistering first drive for a leading total of 162.15, as last to enter in the drive-off, the pressure took its toll and a missed turn in obstacle five broke the rhythm and the horses didn’t find their flow again. A bell ring after a knocked cone which hadn’t yet been driven through added even more penalties and Michael slipped from first to sixth.
Boyd Exell and his team in Stuttgart, which included horses Bajnok, Katydid Duchess, Barny 68 and Mad Max 81, as well as Emma Olsson and Wannes Larsen on the carriage. Image by FEI/Leanjo de Koster.
“When you have Boyd Exell coming in last, nothing can be taken for granted…”
The scores were zeroed for competition two at Saturday lunchtime. The capacity crowd had been whipped up before the driving started. Boyd, as the previous night’s winner, was last to go – so far, familiar territory. A clear round in a fast time of 150.44 assured him of a drive-off place and again, he would be the last to go.
But it looked like the form book would be ripped up as Jérôme Voutaz (SUI) found his groove and did everything right. After his fourth place on Friday night, he raised his game to blast round in 151.87 with four to add and secure a drive-off place. It seemed like the planets had aligned for the experienced Swiss as his horses pulled together brilliantly to fly around the same course in 149.36 with no penalties to add – the first sub 150 time so far. It looked like we had our winner.
But, when you have Boyd Exell coming in last, nothing can be taken for granted. Breaths were held and knuckles turned white as his fast four sprinted through the cones, over the bridge and twisted through the two obstacles. A flicker of a four on the screen which was then zeroed hinted that the judges had pinged a penalty then withdrew it… but a moment later a penalty four did appear in the golden box, and suddenly the Australian was fighting for his win.
Somehow, somewhere, he found five seconds on the latter part of the course. He glanced up at the big arena clock as he dashed down the long side then with an imperceptible change up in gear, his horses jet propelled themselves through the last few turns and raced at the finish in an astonishing time of 144.31 – over six seconds faster than his previous round. Even the extra four didn’t matter – he’d done enough and his total of 148.31 edged him ahead of Voutaz’s 149.36.
Ijsbrand Chardon claims third place
With a line-up of some of the best in the four-in-hand world, the age-defying Dutch legend Ijsbrand Chardon rose from the ashes of his tricky opening leg in Lyon (FRA) two weeks ago. Finishing third on Friday night (332.25), his customary grin was back in place after the rueful expressions in Lyon. Ijsbrand is a master of regrouping – it’s been a defining feature of his long and illustrious career – and he came out to the whoops of the crowd and gave them a show to be remembered. He produced the first clear of the competition so far on Saturday and demonstrated that Jeroen Houterman’s (NED) course could be understood and overcome. A time of 154.64 with nothing to add kept him ahead of the rest and guaranteed him a place in the final three. He returned as the first to go in the drive-off, did all that he could to go clear again, and the clock stopped at 153.29 which gave him third overall. During the climactic showboating, to the delight of the crowds, he performed some ‘don’t try this at home’ tricks which only he can pull off. The message was clear – Ijsbrand is back!
Having finished second on Friday night (331.80) Koos de Ronde (NED) was another driver who had a different combination of horses from his last outing. For most of his first round on Saturday it looked as if he was matching, if not edging ahead of, his compatriot. But a late knock meant that four was added to his time (156.73) which was just off the mark and assured Ijsbrand of his drive-off place.
It’s hard to believe that Glenn Geerts (BEL) put his new grey Lipizzaners together less than two months ago. Since their first FEI Driving World Cup™ outing and during each round, their confidence is visibly growing, and they are becoming a more cohesive team. Glenn wasn’t far off the top times and scores on Friday, and ended on Saturday within eyeshot of the leaders, posting a time of 160.00 with only four to add (164.00). They are an exciting prospect for the rest of the series.
Clearly enjoying his participation in the series, and out for the third weekend in a row, Georg von Stein (GER) steered his horses ably around the track and although they tallied penalties, they were progressively smoother and ended their third leg on 170.36 for seventh place.
Boyd Exell will be competing at the fourth World Cup leg in Stockholm. Image by FEI/Leanjo de Koster.
A break before Stockholm
There’s a weekend off before the 4th leg in Stockholm (SWE) in the Friends Arena. It’s the first of the three end-of-year shows where the atmosphere will add to what is already an electrifying season. Boyd will be there as a qualified driver, joined by Glenn and Anna Mareike Meier (GER) – all on their third outings. Lyon winner Dries Degrieck (BEL) is out for the second time, and it will be fascinating to see how he fares against Boyd as the two winners of the series so far size up to each other. Making his series debut as a qualified driver is Fredrik Persson (SWE) and completing the lineup is the home nation’s wild card Axel Olin (SWE).
Don’t miss what promises to another riveting event with competition one on Friday 29 November at 9.45pm local time.
Source: FEI press release by Sarah Dance
