British riders in Abu Dhabi's CSIO 5* jumping event this week are warming up nicely, with Britain's Ben Maher and Wonderboy taking out the €35,000 Mercedes CSI-W5* Grand Prix in Switzerland at the weekend.
Maher is part of the British team to Abu Dhabi, where he will ride his European Championship mount Robin Hood W. There are 11 teams vying to win the The President of the UAE Cup. The Nations Cup of The President of the UAE Showjumping Cup offers €100,000 in prize money and the Grand Prix, the final competition of the event, offers €300,000. A total of €500,000 in prize money will be distributed over the six international competitions.
"I am very pleased to have won (in Switzerland) but I am also as excited about my first visit to Abu Dhabi," Maher said.
Also doing well in Zurich was Clarissa Crotta, who was placed fifth in the Rolex World Cup Qualifier. A member of the winning Swiss European Championship Team, Crotta will be bringing her gold medal winning mount Westside van Meepputhoeve to Abu Dhabi where she will compete as an individual.
The President of the UAE Showjumping Cup is the first big international show jumping competition in Abu Dhabi. German, Irish, British, Danish, Dutch, Italian and Swedish teams are each bringing four riders, and they will be joined by teams from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and The United Arab Emirates, the host for the event.
The German quartet of Ulrich Kirchhoff, Lars Nieberg, Max Kuehner and Mario Stevens will be accompanied by Chef d'Equipe Heinrich-Hermann Engemann. Maria Gretzer will be handling Chef d'Equipe duties for the Swedish team and she will be bringing Olympic individual silver medallist Rolf-Goeran Bengtsson, Henrik von Eckermann, Jannike West and Alexander Zetterman to Abu Dhabi. Rob Ehrens will be bringing a Dutch trio with him. The national trainer who has been plagued with bad news over the past weeks - Marc Houtzager's Opium is injured and Albert Zoer's Okidoki has been sold - has nominated Gert-Jan Bruggink, Gerco Schroeder and Piet Raijmakers Jr. for the Nations Cup. Piergiorgio Bucci, Giuseppe D'Onofrio, Juan Carlos Garcia and Andre Sakakini will be flying in to represent Italy.
Ireland and Great Britain were quick to name their teams. Irish Chef d'Equipe Robert Splaine named his weeks ago and was quickly followed by a British announcement. Cameron Hanley, Billy Twomey, Cian O'Connor and former World Champion Dermott Lennon will be representing the Irish colours in Abu Dhabi and the British team will consist of Robert Smith, Ellen Whitaker, Ben Maher and Guy Williams.
The event starts tomorrow.
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