From September 14th to 17th Barcelona will become the capital of the equestrian world hosting the 95th International Show Jumping competition. The best eight national teams will compete at the CSIO Barcelona which will host the Samsung Super League FEI Final. Spain will also compete in the competition being the host Nation, but will not participate in the points awarded for Super League Standings.
With seven of the competitions completed, Barcelona is the final where points awarded are doubled. The standings of the teams going into Barcelona are as follows:
SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE WITH FEI 2006 - LEADERBOARD AFTER ROUND 7 AT DUBLIN:
1. Germany - 45.125
2. USA - 36.0
3. France - 34.0
4. Great Britain - 28
5. Switzerland - 27.125
6. Netherlands - 21.125
7. Sweden - 19.125
8. Ireland - 17.0
Team USA won the Samsung Super League competition last year and currently sitting in second place have selected a strong team for Barcelona. Five Riders will represent the US.
Margie Engle of Wellington, FL, and Hidden Creek’s Quervo Gold, a 13-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding, owned by Hidden Creek Farm
McLain Ward of Brewster, NY, and Sapphire, an 11-year-old BWP Belgian Warmblood mare, owned by McLain Ward
Laura Kraut of Wellington, FL, and Miss Independent, a nine-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare, owned by the Miss Independent Group
Beezie Madden of Cazenovia, NY, and Authentic, an 11-year-old KWPN Dutch Warmblood gelding, owned by Abigail Wexner
Eliza Shuford of Hickory, NC, and Larentino, an 11-year-old Holsteiner stallion, owned by the Larentino Group
With double points awarded, it still is anyone’s competition to win. The Netherlands, Sweden and Ireland will all be fighting to stay out of the cellar. The team that finishes in last place is eliminated from next years competition. Ireland maintains that position now but expect a strong team for the Irish at this final event.
Longines is the official timekeeper and sponsor of the CSIO Barcelona. This year, Longines is celebrating eighty years’ involvement with show-jumping which dates back to its first involvement in 1926 at the Concours Hippique International Officiel de Genève. Eight decades later, after having been present at over one hundred show-jumping events and been timekeeper for numerous competitions, Longines is proud to be a regular supporter of this equestrian discipline and to be present on every continent, reflecting the brand’s corporate principle of universality.
At CSIO Barcelona, Longines relaunches its prize for elegance under the new title The Longines Press Award for Elegance. As has been done at all 6 Longines partnership events during the 2006 season, a jury made up of members of the press will choose the most elegant male and female riders in Barcelona. The male and female competitors who win the highest number of points will be presented with the Longines Press Award for Elegance 2006 at the final event in Barcelona, the prize represents over 60,000 Swiss francs in prize money.
The prize will be awarded for the 2006 season at the CSIO Barcelona. The male and female competitors who have the highest number of points over all 7 Longine events will be presented with the Longines Press Award for Elegance in Barcelona.
Launched in 2000, this prize for elegance adds a breath of refinement to top-ranking competitions by putting the accent on a combination of qualities and skills involving the personality of the competitors, their charm, their charisma and the harmony between horse and rider. Just as Longines watches are a marriage of precision, technology and refinement, the Longines prize for elegance is awarded to the riders who best embody the brand’s values through their human qualities, sporting skill and understanding in relation to their mount.
If elegance is an attitude, it is at the same time a question of talent which will be decided through luck and merit in Barcelona. It should be a great final.
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