Putri wins Malaysian Open World Cup
Sunday, July 23rd, 2006
by Peter Ibrahim Abisheganaden. Photos by Natasha Mustapha.Putri Wulandari Hamidjojo of Indonesia won the Malaysian Open and her first South East Asian League World Cup qualifier at 3Q Equestrian this afternoon. Riding Cartaro (German Holsteiner by Carthago x Cor de la Bryere), she produced double clears to win the class after a six-way jump-off.
FEI Official Course Designer Werner Deeg set a fairly easy 11 fence track for the 17 starters in this season’s 2nd SEA League World Cup qualifier. The track didn’t look too big but the questions were there from the 5th fence on. The 5 strides to the double oxer-vertical caused a few problems, but it was the later when they were asked to curve from Triple Bar to a vertical then another curve to the Rebana Ubi that caused most problems. The final line of treble then 5 or 6 strides to the Keris also caused a few problems. Generally it was a track to regain rider’s confidence after the 1st World Cup two weeks ago that produced no clear rounds.
There was controversy even before the class started. The start was delayed by twenty-five minutes as Hong Kong based riders Jennifer Chang (pic right) and Charlotte Morse (pic below) were called up by the Ground Jury. Both hold USA passports, had been accepted by the FEI as ‘extras’ in the SEA World Cup League from 2005, and had been allowed to ride in the 3Q Classic World Cup 1st SEA League qualifier this year when the US Equestrian Federation gave a specific license to them for that event. But without a valid license to ride at this show, they were given a letter yesterday by Ms Titien Irvianty, the Foreign Judge of this show requiring them to produce a license by 3:00 pm today either from the USEF or the HK Equestrian Federation.
They were allowed to start as the organisers intervened, but as the class ended without their licenses, Charlotte Morse, who had finished 2nd on O’Jasper and 5th on Lanceretto, was left out of the prize presentation ceremony, and the official results were adjusted.Jennifer was affected by the incident and as first rider out in a tense situation and on a new ride, had two fences down with Luc Sky Walker.
Korean Sung-Whan Kim showed how it is done with a super clear round with the forward going Baek Doo. It was immediately followed by Charlotte’s first clear, with Lanceretto.
Qabil is the first of the Malaysian riders out. Opium Metodo showed his unreliable side as he jacked up in the five strides to the double, leaving Qabil fighting a losing battle in trying to keep him on line. Brother Quzier and Calano have a round that struggles as they are tapping even the smaller earlier fences. The last part of the treble finally comes down for a 4-faulter.
Brothers Syed Zain and Syed Mohsin had a day they would prefer to forget as first Zain was eliminated with Adonis, then Mohsin collected 12 faults with Linus.
Putri comes out with her declared ride Fabiene and is jumping well, if a little racey at times. They cut the corner into the treble line, a turn that generally gives you only 3 straight strides to the 1st element, and Fabiene stops. They leave all the fences standing, but the refusal is costly.
Alex Maurer is chasing a dream to ride Chivaz at the Doha Asian Games, and he gets into the jump-off with beautifully judged ride. Chivaz pecks on landing in the 5 stride line on the way to the double, but Alex gives him a soft ride forward and survives. Alex and Chivaz are inch perfect the rest of the way.
Charlotte follows with another clear round with O’Jasper, who looks trimmer and fitter this season.
Three 4-fault rounds follow as Magali Tong (HKG), Akkara Konglapamnuay (THA) and Varat Ngowabunpat (THA) miss out on the jump-off. Gaelle Tong (HKG) has an uncharacteristic 12 faulter with Capital Star.
Putri then makes amends with a clear round with Cartaro, who is looking fabulous. She is a little lucky as she sits there coming to the last fence and gets very deep as Cartaro adds a sixth stride, but they survive to make the jump-off.
Jennifer Chang added to her misery with elimination with Sport Seeker who just wasn’t going to play today.
Sung-Whan Kim adds his second horse to the barrage with another energetic clear round, this time with Hanra. The winner of the 1st SEA World Cup qualifier lost a shoe as he jumped the double but it did not seem to affect his jumping.
The jump-off was a goodie. Sung-Whan Kim went out fast with his declared horse. Already accepted by the FEI as an extra in the South East Asian League, he wanted to get more points on the board. They make a daring inside turn with 3 fences left and pay the price as the vertical comes down. 4 faults in 42.65 secs. Charlotte matches this with a 4 faulter with Lanceretto in 45.83 secs.
Alex Maurer (pic) then raises the roof when he aims for and gets a steady clear with Chivaz. Again the big horse pecks on landing, but Alex keeps his cool and produces another clear round in 50.86 secs while under pressure. An excellent result for young Alex that will do his Doha chances no harm at all. Next in, Charlotte takes the “lead” with a smoothly ridden clear round on O’Jasper in 44.22 secs.
The lead doesn't last. Putri enters on the Cartaro produces the round that wins the class. She takes the inside turns and gallops to the end to win it with a time of 40.22 secs.
Sung-Whan is unable to match it as Hanra has 3 fences down.
The unofficial results are:
1st Putri Wulandari Hamidjojo (INA) Cartaro, 0/0, 40.22 secs
2nd Charlotte Morse (USA) O'Jasper, 0/0, 44.22
3rd Alex Maurer (MAS) Chivaz, 0/0, 50.86
4th Sung-Whan Kim (KOR) Baek Doo, 0/4 42.65
5th Charlotte Morse (USA) Lanceretto, 0/4, 45.83
6th Sung-Whan Kim (KOR) Hanra, 0/12, 42.23
The official results drop Charlotte's (and Jennifer Chang's) results out, as if they had never performed. It is interesting how this situation will turn out as both riders were allowed to start while the FEI rules make it quite clear there are to be no riders going hors concours in international classes.
The way things stood at the end of the class, and after appeal by Jennifer and Charlotte, Alex Maurer had picked up the most World Cup points in this class as Putri had declared Fabiene and not Cartaro for World Cup points and Charlotte's results were deemed "scratched" whatever that was supposed to mean, leaving Alex with top points from today's SEA World Cup qualifier #2.
Putri was ecstatic with her win. The Indonesian lass said, “I’m very very happy.” Asked if she had picked the wrong horse as she had declared Fabiene instead of Cartaro, she was insistent that she hadn’t made a mistake. “Fabiene is a good horse. She’s only 7 years old and not very experienced, but I know her longer and she was jumping very good this week. Cartaro had a problem at the last World Cup show as he had a stiff neck. This week he was back to his best. But I think I am lucky because I have two super horses.”
This was Putri’s first World Cup win. She had been training dressage in Germany till 2004 and it has been only in the last two years that she has switched to jumping. She is aiming at the Doha Asian Games, and with her two horses performing very well, will be a force to be reckoned with.
It was ladies day at 3Q as Nadia Chen of Singapore won the Young Rider class riding the amazing Caija, and Thailand's Nathanart "Ploy" Bhinsaeng won the Queen's Cup with Kara Joy.
To download an excel file with the full results of all the jumping classes from the Malaysian Open show, please click here.
To download an excel file with the full results of all the dressage classes from the Malaysian Open show, please click here.
Thanks to Raja Azima of Equestrian Promotions Sdn Bhd for the attached results. Watch out for the new Equestrian Promotions website coming soon at www.equestrianpromotions.com
