Equestrianism: Skelton in touch as Robert speeds clear
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Your support makes all the difference.MICHEL ROBERT held the individual lead when the opening speed leg of the European Show Jumping Championships was completed yesterday, having ridden Auleto to the first of six clear rounds. With seconds converted into faults, the Frenchman will be just 1.24 ahead of Britain's Nick Skelton, lying fourth on Hopes Are High, when the two-round second leg of the competition begins today.
Maria Gretzer of Sweden, last of the 64 to jump, conjured a marvellous round from the stallion Feliciano and (despite incurring the five-second penalty for one mistake) finished just 0.88sec behind Robert in second place and pushed Germany's Marcus Ehning and Skelton down one spot into third and fourth respectively.
Germany lead for the team title, which will be decided today, with Gretzer's performance lifting Sweden into second place - ahead of Britain, France and the Netherlands.
Skelton added five seconds to his score when Hopes Are High tapped a rail off the last fence in the treble. "The distance was short there, I had to sit still and hope," he said. "It was a good course, but it was long and it needed care. We were galloping for 90 seconds, which is a lot longer than we're used to."
Both Di Lampard on Abbervail Dream and Geoff Billington on Virtual Village It's Otto also had one error. They are lying 18th and 23rd respectively, with Michael Whitaker having the discard score after a disappointing three fences down (albeit in a fast time) on the stallion Calvaro. It's Otto seemed to be back to his best, but he will face a more demanding course today and still has something to prove.
The Irish, now lying eighth, suffered a major disappointment when Trevor Coyle and the great stallion, Cruising, gave a poor performance for four errors and the discard score for the team.
Mary McCann, the owner of Cruising, said that she had withdrawn the stallion from the championships. Unless she has a change of heart, Ireland could be struggling to gain the Olympic qualification that they are seeking today.
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