Friday, September 29, 2000
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Van Grunsven gets jump on Werth

If Isabel Werth, Germany’s defending Olympic dressage champion, thought she and Gigolo had seen off their great rivals Holland's Anky van Grunsven, on Bonfire, in Wednesday’s first round of the individual qualifying round, she was mistaken.

The Grand Prix Special today, the second round of the individual contest, was held in sweltering heat at the Horsley Park arena, and it was Werth’s turn to make errors. The mighty Gigolo, on which the German lawyer has been unbeaten in a championship since 1993, lacked his usual flamboyance, and mistakes in the canter work and the extended trot resulted in a score of 75.67 per cent.

Van Grunsven, who had been visibly annoyed with her mistakes in the team event, more than compensated today. Bonfire, with whom she won the individual silver medal in Atlanta, was foot-perfect - the degree of elevation in his elegant passage drawing gasps of admiration from the 20,000-strong crowd.

When Van Grunsven, 32, had given her final salute to the judges she broke into a broad grin and threw her arms around Bonfire’s neck. As she emerged from the arena and the crowd burst into applause she pointed repeatedly at her Dutch-bred gelding who is to be retired from competition after Sydney. “I am so pleased with him,” she said after hearing her winning score of 78.13 per cent. “He’s the best horse in the world.”

Emile Faurie, the only British rider to qualify for the Grand Prix Special, finished in twentieth place on Rascher Hopes which, although not good enough to qualify for the freestyle to music test - the final part of the individual contest - was the best performance on a young horse. Rascher Hopes, a nine-year-old, completed his first grand prix only in April. Yesterday, when a sudden, gusting wind almost took Faurie’s hat off during the first-half pass, the horse displayed his superb temperament, and the pair went on to complete a correct and stylish test to finish on 65.58 per cent.

Faurie, although disappointed not to reach the final 15, was nevertheless pleased with the obliging Danish-bred gelding. “He’s a little horse with a massive heart. I’m delighted with him,” Faurie said. “What he lacks in size, he makes up for in his correctness.”

Faurie’s riding at these Games has been the only highlight of the British dressage team. Armed with a four-year sponsorship contract from Reuters, signed two days before coming out to Sydney, he now has the backing for a concentrated four-year programme leading up to Athens. “It’s a very generous sponsorship,” Faurie said, “and it means I can cut back on my teaching and concentrate on building up my team.”

Jenny MacArthur
The Times