PrintBoyd Exell captured his third individual victory in Aachen, Germany, on July 17. The driver from Australia also won this prestigious international four-in-hand driving competition in 2003 and 2009. He got a head start in dressage and held onto his lead throughout the event.
Four-time World Champion Ijsbrand Chardon of the Netherlands finished second, ahead of Germany’s Christoph Sandmann. The Netherlands came out on top of the Nations Cup ahead of hosts Germany, with Switzerland in third.
A New Format
The CAIO and World Cup qualifying competition in Aachen ran in a different format than usual. The four-in-hand drivers drove the regular dressage test on Thursday, followed by the obstacle driving competition on Friday. The marathon, broadcast live on television, was run as the final phase to bring the combined driving competition to a dramatic finish.
“The format where the marathon takes place after the cones is new to me. My horses were a little too fresh for the cones, which resulted in a knock down and time penalties, but other than that I did not mind,” said Exell. “I encourage this new format to promote driving and to make it more spectacular and understandable for the media and the spectators.”
Unanimous First Place
Exell’s outstanding dressage test was unanimously awarded first place by the international ground jury, which included four of the five World Championship judges. Dutch driver Theo Timmerman placed second after dressage, ahead of U.S. driver Jimmy Fairclough.
Exell drove a near faultless test with his team of black geldings, which were extremely light and elegant throughout. The current World Cup champion won the CAIO Aachen 2009 with the same horses, and he said his team is getting better at every show.
Chardon started with a disadvantage after his all-round horse Argus injured a leg just before the horse inspection and was taken out of the competition.
Quick Cones
Hungary’s Zoltan Lázár and his team of grey Lipizzaner horses won the second phase of the combined competition. Lázár was the first driver to go clear and inside the time on the challenging course, designed by Germany’s Dr Wolfgang Asendorf. The former pair and four-in-hand World Champion proved to be a true showman and treated the spectators in the stadium to a very exciting and fast drive-off round, which he won ahead of home drivers Rainer Duen and Sandmann. Sandmann was competing in his first outdoor driving event of the season after undergoing knee surgery four weeks ago.
“My meniscus was operated on four weeks ago at the same time as my son Jan, who twisted his knee playing football. I’m supposed to sit down with my leg up, but of course I wanted to compete in Aachen,” said Sandmann. “Our team coach Ewald Maier had confidence in me and allowed me to start without having to qualify.”
Exell kept his lead in the individual standings despite one knock down and time penalties. Fairclough drove a clear round and kept his third position, just behind Timmerman.
“I went very forward but wasn't going to go crazy because tomorrow's another day," Fairclough explained. "The marathon is the hardest on them. We prepare for tomorrow. The three days overall is what I'm really here for."
