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Brazil and Argentina scoop the lion’s share of glory at South American Championships
By Louise Parkes
Brazil and Argentina each claimed four of the eight titles on offer at the FEI South America Jumping Championships for Young Riders, Juniors, Pre-Juniors and Children 2016 staged in Sao Paulo, Brazil from 4 to 11 September. The event took place at the Sociedade Hipica Paulista and riders from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay took on the host nation.
Brazilian course designer, Helio Lemos Pessoa, kept them on their toes and produced great sport throughout the exciting tournament.
Children
Argentina Blanca looked very authoritative indeed when scooping the Children’s Team honours on a zero score last Thursday. Foot-perfect runs from Richard Kierkegaard (Du Noble), Emilia Demattei (Carlazo Cooper) and Avril Rosso Cuaino (Air Queen) meant the single first-round error from Lautaro Peña Bruno (Walterstown Cruise) could be discounted. And when Kierkegaard was the only one to make a mistake second time out then it was a done deal for gold.
It was neck-and-neck for silver between the Brasil Verde side of Mariana Xavier Scomparin (Espectacular do Xapuri), Maria Luiza da Silva Martha Vieira (Wonder Z), Juliana Salles Amaral de Almeida (Figo van de Kruishoeve) and Lys Katherine Park Kang (Macarena Tok) and the Brasil Amarelo foursome of Pedro Henrique Martins Kuhlmann (Carry Girl Jmen), Carolina Souza Chade (Corbella Jmen), Rui Flavio Guiao (Duka M) and Matheus Riginik Ferreira Sant’ Anna (Poete de Preuilly HDC) when each reached the halfway stage on a four-fault scoreline. And it was desperately close to the very end when the only thing separating the two sides was the single time fault collected by Amarelo’s Flavio Guiao which had to be taken into account when team-mate Martins Kuhlmann collected four faults second time out – Brasil Verde keeping a completely clean sheet in round two to clinch the silver.
A total of five teams lined out, but Argentina Azul’s chances were dashed in the first round when Josefina Beacon’s 12 faults with Tempranillo Etoile were followed by elimination for both of her team-mates Delfina Bugliotti (Corado) and Milla Bettiga (Dougan). It was Chile’s Maria Clara Silva Tagle (SL Scorpion), Isidora Cañas (RB Coralina), Guillermo Garin (Red) and Benjamin Fuente-Alba Vignola (Dalida) who finished just off the podium when collecting 30 faults.
And team gold medallist Emilia Demattei, made it an Argentinian double in this category when scooping the Individual title. This result was all the more remarkable for the fact that the 13-year-old rider was competing with a horse she hardly knew.
“Carlazo Cooper is not my horse. I only rode him three times before the show and actually I was not very confident! Normally I’m very cool and calm, but today before the final class I was a bit nervous. At the end everything went well and I ended up being the only one without faults!” she explained. ”My trainer is Julian Pirichinsky and I ride at City Bell Club in Buenos Aires. I want to thank my whole familiy, my mother and all the crowd here. I loved the show and don’t ever want to leave!”, she added.
Silver went to Brazil’s Carolina Souza Chade (Corbella Jmen) who finished with a one-point total. This 14-year-old rider competed at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Florida, USA earlier this year where she was a member of the Brazilian team that finished third in the Children’s Nations Cup. It took a jump-off to decide bronze however when three riders were tied on a four-point total and it was the only clear against the clock that clinched it for Pedro Henrique Martins Kuhlmann (Carry Girl Jmen) who, like Souza Chade, had been a member of the bronze medal winning Brazilian team.
A single mistake proved costly for Maria Luiza da Silva Martha (Wonder Z) while Argentina’s Avril Rosso Cuaino (Air Queen) produced the quickest time but collected 12 faults.
Pre-Juniors
Brazil also took gold and silver in the Pre-Junior Team and Individual competitions. There were five nations in the contest for the Team medals and there was a thrilling two-way jump-off for bronze.
It looked very much like gold was going the way of Brasil Verde’s Marcello Tadeu Sandes Da Costa (SL Speeder ll), Raphael Halaban (Dito van de Rispen), Giovanna Lara de Freitas (Samur) and Laura Bosquirolli Tigre (Cher da Boavista) when they led with just a four-fault scoreline at the end of the first round. But it was their colleagues from Brasil Amarelo who overtook them for the title when Thales Gabriel de Lima Marino (Coudeur Jmen), Gabrielle Fontoura Berger (Quite Capitano), Marcelo Gozzi (Cathaar Z) and Andre Fonseca Moura (Uniroyal de Thieusies) added just a single time fault to their first-round total of eight. Brasil Verde lost their grip when both Sandes da Costa and Halaban returned eight-fault scorelines at their second attempt which ensured their side finished up on a final tally of 12.
Meanwhile Chile’s Benjamin Matias Hammersley Maldonado (Amerikano), Valentina Rodriguez (Abracadabra), Carmen Novion (Haras Dona Ines Jager Boy) and Xavier Varela Armendariz (Zoe), were very much in contention at the halfway point on a nine-fault scoreline but, after adding eight more in round two, they moved on to a total of 17. This left them on level pegging with Argentina Branca’s Rocio Vazquez (Quito Devil), Lautaro Martin Borsotti Lugo (Henry Jota Isadora), Gonzalo Gattoni (Airflow Z) and Stefano Urtubey (LP Romulo Z) so the two sides battled it out in a third-round showdown, with Chile’s faster time of 35.54 seconds clinching the last place on the podium.
In the Individual Final it was a two-way tie between Brazil’s Laura Bosquirolli Tigre (Cher da Boavista) and Giovana Lara de Freitas (Samur) while Bolivia’s Karen Boos Pegler (Cipriari) and Samuel Salaues Nacif (Quetzacoatl Simonetri) shared third spot. But Bosquirolli Tigre’s consistency with her 10-year-old chestnut mare gave the 14-year-old the Individual title ahead of fellow-Brazilian and team gold medallist Marcelo Gozzi (Cathaar Z) while Chilean team bronze medallist, Carmen Novion (Haras Dona Ines Jager Boy) claimed the bronze.
Bosquirolli Tigre said, ”in 2015 I was South American Children’s champion in Argentina with the same mare Cher da Boa Vista, I am very happy. This title isn’t the result of this weekend, but since I started to ride and now makes it all worthwhile. My teacher is Cristiano Quadros for six years now and I ride in Porto Alegre since I was four. I thank my parents Antonio and Carla, who are always supporting me a lot, my trainer Cristiano, groom and all who are in Porto Alegre and could not come to this event.”