From Super League to Top League, from Samsung to Meydan
From Super League to Top League, from Samsung to Meydan, from eight to ten nations competing.
2009 heralds big changes to the FEI circuit which brings together the Nations Cups of the most prestigious international horse shows on the European calendar, in which only riders from the best nations in the world can participate. The partnership between the FEI and Meydan, the mega racecourse being built in the Arab Emirates at the wish of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, (670 hectares of facilities ready by the beginning of 2010), was officially announced on 1 February. The Top League will be contested in the Nations Cup at the CSIO competition in France (La Baule 14/17 May), Italy (Rome 28/31 May), Switzerland (Saint Gallen 4/7 June), Holland (Rotterdam 18/21 June), Germany (Aachen 30 June – 5 July), Sweden (Falsterbo 16/19 July), Great Britain (Hickstead 23/26 July) and Ireland (Dublin 5/9 August).After two gruelling rounds, the countries were tied on a score of eight faults each, so it came down to a thrilling jump-off between Swiss veteran Marcus Fuchs and Sweden's Svante Johansson. The Netherlands and Germany shared third place following a tremendous recovery by the latter who very nearly slipped out of contention at the end of round one, and France returned to top-level team jumping with a solid performance that put them into fifth ahead of Belgium in sixth, the USA in seventh and Italy in eighth place. It was a deeply disappointing start to the season for Great Britain and Ireland however when they were left sitting on the sidelines as only the top eight of the ten participating teams went into the second round. Next Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ is in Rome, Italy 29 May.
