Warsaw Jumping CSIO4* – 11 national teams up and ready for Sunday’s final

As soon as tomorrow 11:00 am, the most spectacular competition of Warsaw Jumping CSIO4* – namely the Longines EEF Series Final –  is scheduled to commence. 11 national teams will fight for the prestige of triumph at the Nations Cup, as well as their promotion into the Europe Division 1.

 

The first one to get the taste of the parkour will be a representative of Poland, to be followed by those of Ireland, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Austria, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands and Hungary. Each of the teams will provide four riders. Still ahead of the event, today has been the day of flying emotions and the obvious synergy of equestrian worlds.

 

At the four-star competition for the prize of PKO Bank Polski, 51 riders faced 12 obstacles measuring 145 cm, which required the total of 15 jumps. The Polish did very well. The lead was consecutively taken by Malwina Urbańska, Jarosław Skrzyczyński and Andrzej Opłatek. And it was Opłatek who won not only the pool of the impressive PLN 26, 000, but also secured himself 50 points into the Longines Ranking, with his mount Le Cordial. He and Le Cordial also finished second at the earlier Longines ranking-counting competition of Warsaw Jumping CSIO4*. 

 

‘The winning has given me a lot of satisfaction. Le Cordial seems to have been in the right shape since the very beginning of Warsaw Jaumping. Winning at home is always a great thing. And I take it for a nice forecast ahead of tomorrow. I know what I can expect of my horse, which makes me look forward to the Nations Cup peacefully.’ – he admitted.

 

Maikel van der Vleuten with Equus Tame, the bronze medalist of World Championships, came as a runner-up, finishing one second behind.

 

‘The course allowed for several options, so if you really wanted to go for the win, you had to take the risk of short-cuts. I am so glad to see how great the organisation of Warsaw Jumping is. It definitely offers a lot of experience to those younger horses, like my 8-year-old stallion that I have won today’s medal with.’ – said the Olympic Dutch team vice-champion.

 

Jarosław Skrzyczyński – the vice-champion of Poland this year – finished third on his mount Jerico.

 

At the very last competition of Saturday – the CSI2* Grand Prix of Lotto, under the patronage of Polskie Radio Trójka – there came 13 obstacles (16 jumps), three combinations among them – two double and one triple. The real trouble-maker was the oxer (4A). Another hindrance to some came through the artificial lights – some horse simply do not take easy to that. 

 

The jump-ff saw 12 riders competing, the exact number of prize positions. Ireland’s Darragh Kenny took the winning home (Cicomein VDL). Right behind him came Loewie Joppen of the Netherlands and Gerfried Puck of Austria (Idiaal SPecial H.J.)

 

The day’s opening came with the two-star 140 cm for the prize of Land Rover, won by Antoni Strzałkowski with Jaminka P. Subsequent to that, Ireland’s Trevor Breen with Gonzalo got to the top of the CSIO4* for the prize of Totalizator Sportowy.

 

‘It was a nice course. It was a table C, so it’s always a little bit friendly to encourage riders to go fast. It’s just a great win. Just a look in the Grand Prix yesterday slowly to back it up with the win today.’ – he said.

 

Italy’s Francesca Ciriesi with Calotta placed second and the bronze went to Antoni Strzałkowski and Clapton.

 

Among the extra-scheduled events of the day, a sure attraction was the show race that fit well between the showjumping rounds. Six Polish showjumpers, accompanied by one Italian and one Belgian, swapped obstacles for starting stalls – all to the immense joy of the spectators, . The winner was Jarosław Skrzyczyński with Power Spirit. ‘It has been my first time shooting out of the starting machine onto a real racetrack, though in my early days I would work with quite a few race horses. I wish I could race again, but on a faster horse!’ – Przemysław Konopacki, the showjumping champion of Poland, couldn’t hide his smile. 

 

This way, once again, Warsaw’s Służewiec Racecourse, quite like the grand Chantilly or San Siro, opened its door to the versatility of equestrian sports, bringing various horse-riding worlds together.

 

Fortunately, the capricious weather of today’s did not scare the spectators, who filled the stands in anticipation of not only showjumping rivalry but also Blanka Satora’s impressive show or – children’s favourite – the hobby horse contest.

 

Simultaneously, down on the racetrack, a few professional races took place, Women Power Series being one of them. This particular one saw Daria Panchev’s triump, who afterwards admitted to having performed above all her expectations. ‘Emotions are always there, especially when your horse is not the top one. The win tastes better than champagne. That is the power of Women Power.’ – she confessed.

 

photo Łukasz Kowalski