Austria wins the Longines EEF Series Final

A thrilling early Sunday afternoon has seen the team of Austria take the top spot in the Warsaw Longines EEF Series Final. Throughout the course of Warsaw Jumping CSIO4* this year, from Thursday through Sunday, the tribunes have watched the total of 10 international showjumping competitions, accompanied by horse races, para dressage, and the hobby horse league final.

The ultimate WJ team competition concluded in the triumph of the following line-up: Alessandra Reich with Oeli R, Katharina Rhomberg on Cuma 5, Gerfried Puck on Equitron Naxcel V, and Max Kuhner with Electric Blue P. They took the lead already into the first round and kept it without penalties till the end.

Positive vibe was my only contribution to the team. It is they who ride, it is they who train hard, they clearly deserved it. – said chef d’equipe of the winning team.

We are happy to be here. The horses did some great jumping today, and the whole event was tremendous, It is a very beautiful arena and both riders and horses feel wonderful here. –Max Kuhner admitted, currently 11th in the global ranks.

Both Belgium and Ukraine earned 4 penalties after the first round. Eventually, it was Belgians who slotted into second – well represented by: Rik Hemeryck on Navarro van het Eelshof, Gilles Thomas on Luna van het Dennehof, Virginie Thonon on Just the Way, and the winner in four of WJ individual contests – Wilm Vermeir with Joyride S.

The podium was completed by Ukraine, who finally incurred 21 penalties – Anastasia Bondarieva on Calder, Alisa Danilova on Cossinelle, Oleksandr Prodan on Moneymaker van’t Meulenhof, Mykola Pylypeiko on Karat.

The Swiss came four. And Team Poland fit in right behind them, thanks to an impressive performance by Adam Grzegorzewski (Issem/JKS Dim), Dawid Kubiak (Flash Blue B/KJ Sielanka), Tomasz Miśkiewicz (Stakkato Lazar/LKS Nadwiślanin) and Michał Tyszko (Colinero/Tuszyński KJ Garbówek), with 28 penalties at the end of it. The Eagles certainly treated their fans to a genuine rollercoaster – with a fantastic start by Grzegorzewski, who completed the course with zero penalties and within the time allowance. Kubiak was next – to round up with 12 penalty points. Miśkiewicz, in turn, took a clear round. Tyszko was unfortunately eliminated owing to his fail at the combination by Longines – the official timekeeper of the event.

After the second round, Grzegorzewski finished off with an impressive double clear, Kubiak earned 12 penalties again, Miśkiewicz’s one knockdown resulted in 4 penalty points and Tyszko was noted with 12 penalties.

It feels a bit incomplete, but I am ambitious by nature. I did my best to keep a cool head, even though it always takes an extra bit of stress whenever you perform as a team. The course was tough, the combination in particular. Without precise approach and even pace, the chances of tackling that without a knockdown on the last upright were thin. – the Champion of Poland explained.

Kubiak – the silver medallist of this year’s national championships, highlighted the fact that the team’s overall performance towards the finals was more than expected, bearing in mind their successful Olympic qualification back in July.

You can certainly feel a great potential in this equipe. And, hopefully, more success is still to come. – he concluded

Out of the 10 teams partaking, France and Slovakia were unfortunately eliminated.

Simultaneously, right on the green Służewiec racecourse, a series of horse races was completed. The IFAHR Cup (cat. B) went to the favourite – Rasmy Al Khalediah (jockey: Bolot Kalysbek Uulu). The two-year-old horse race saw the victory of the bay stallion Cunning Fox (jockey Stefano Mura), and the Druid Prize was granted to by Athal Bint Gifara with Erbol Zamudin Uulu.