Press release from Centro Ecuestre Oliva Nova

Competitions at the FEI Jumping European Championship for Young Riders, Juniors and Children 2022 in Oliva Nova, Spain, continued on Wednesday with the first round in the Children category, while the Junior riders jumped their second individual qualifier which was also the first round of the team final. 

In the second individual qualifier and the first round of the team final for the Juniors, the riders jumped a 1.40m course. Presented by Stephex Horsetrucks, the class had 99 horse-and-rider combinations at start and it was the Belgian and Dutch that climbed up on the leader board with four riders on each team delivering clears.
 
Belgium now leads the way ahead of Thursday’s final on a score of 8.71 after Evelyne Putters on Nabeau van het Migroveld Z, Aurelia Guisson on No Limit vh Legitahof Z (Nabab de Reve x Berlin), Leon Brutsaert on Corleone Tour Vidal (Mylord Carthago x Sisley de la Tour Vidal) and Luiz Felipe Neto de Azevedo on Valentino Massuere (Canturo x Galoubet A) delivered clear rounds today. The Netherlands sits second on a score of 9.89 after clear rounds from Mart Ijland on Hero (Cantos x BMC Kigali), Vos Thijmen on Ive Got The Key (Womanizer x Ekstein), Milan Morssinkhof on Checkpoint Chacco (Chacco-Blue x Ferragamo) and Nick Nanning on Bandia (Clinsmann 2 x Quintero). Team Ireland is third on a score of 11.67, while Great Britain is fourth on 14.48 followed by France in fifth on 14.59. 
 
Following today’s round for the Juniors, Belgium’s Evelyne Putters has taken over the lead on the individual standings on a score of 0.84 penalties, followed by Poland’s Klara Koziol on 1.6 in second, Ireland’s Tom Wachman on 2.18 in third, before two Dutch riders close off the top five – Nick Nanning on 2.43 and Mart Ijland on 2.54. 

France, Italy, Norway and Spain were the top nations on Wednesday, when the competitions in the Children category kicked off in Oliva Nova. With 94 horse-and-rider combinations at start, the riders jumped a 1.25m course and the class was presented by Springstal Yves Houtackers. 

France’s Lucas Delachaussee and Atcha des Coteaux (Controe HN x Bonhomme II) were the quickest, taking the win with a clear round in a time of 71.52 seconds. Italy’s Daphne Giunti and Touche D’Arrogance (Rash R x Andiamo) placed second with a time of 71.93, while Norway’s Emma Tallulah Behn and Fetoucha (Zacharov x Contendro II) took the third place when the clock stopped on 73.08. Spain’s Lucas Lopez Benito and Ur de Peleben (Toulon x Papillon Rouge) placed fourth, while Melina Bouillot – also representing France – and Canabis d’Albain (Baloubet du Rouet x Kannan) finished fifth. 
“The course today was good,” Lucas Delachaussee said after his victory. “It suited my horse, he is a big horse and I was able to canter forward. I am very happy to be here in Oliva Nova, it is a big chance for me. I would like to win a gold medal; both with the team and as an individual.” 

The Children take a day off on Thursday, and continue their competition on Friday with the second individual qualifier – which is also the first round of the team final. With the three best results from the five team members counting, nine teams move forward on score of zero: Italy, Spain, Sweden, Germany, Poland, France, Hungary, Switzerland and the Netherlands. The winning team will be determined by the combined score of the first day of competition added to the score from the two rounds of the team final. Individually, 49 horse-and-rider combinations move on to the second qualification carrying zero penalties. The individual champion will be determined by the total number of penalties acquired during the first round, the two team rounds as well as rounds A and B in the individual final. 

Belgian Chef d’Equipe Rik Deraedt was very happy with his team’s effort on Wednesday. “I am happy that my four riders jumped clear,” he said. “I think we saw great sport today. Each team does all it can to help the horses because it is very hot. Now my riders keep in touch with their horses, all of them are doing well at the moment. It was a very good track today, the course designer did a very good job,” Deraedt added. “There are a lot of riders here, and the fences were not too high, and the time was good – it was all right for this weather.” 
 
 “Tomorrow we can only hope,” Deraedt said about his feelings ahead of the team final on Thursday. “We have a sport where you can never be sure, and I think that is the nicest thing about it; you never know who will win. We will try to have a podium finish, and if we reach that it would be fantastic. However, it is not mathematics here! We have good horses and riders with us, but you never know. What happened last year, was historic, it has never happened before,” he said, referring to the fact that in 2021 Belgium won team gold in all age categories. “We know it probably won’t happen again, but we will try. For us the most important thing is that our horses are in good health.” 
 
Course designer Santiago Varela had adjusted his courses to the weather conditions: “This was the first round of the team final, and it is different than what we saw yesterday when it was a speed class – today it was a Nations Cup,” he explained. “The triple combination and the open water were early in the course due to the weather conditions, which were hard for everyone today. I believe it was better to have this combination in the beginning. The line with the open water is always complicated and it produced faults in the beginning of the class. The last line was also difficult: It is not usual to have three verticals on the last line like that, but I could not ask for a lot of effort from the horses today. I think the line worked very well. We have very good horses and riders here and this is only the second stage of championship. We have three rounds more to come and this needs to evolve step by step. Also, in the Children category, the class worked very well. We did not use all the height or spread on the oxers, but for the first day I think it worked good.” 
 
The FEI Jumping European Championship for Young Riders, Juniors and Children 2022 in Oliva Nova, Spain, continues on Thursday, when the first medals will be decided in the second round of the team final for the Juniors. The Young Riders continue competing on Thursday with their second individual qualifier and the first round of the team final, while the Children take a day off.