St Gallen in Switzerland plays host to the third leg of the 2005

Samsung Super League series next Friday and the Swiss team will be keen

to keep the home supporters happy with a good result here.

Lying fifth on the leaderboard after the first two legs of the series

in La Baule and Rome they have coped well so far in this, their first

Super League season, and Chef d'Equipe Rolf Grass will choose his side

from Fabio Crotta, Markus Fuchs, Christina Liebherr, Beat Mandli and

Niklaus Schurtenberger.

Their German neighbours had been expected to scoop the honours in Rome

when fielding a super-strong side but had to settle for third so the

big guns will be out in force again this Friday, determined to improve

on that situation. Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum will be armed with her

FEI World Cup winning partner Shutterfly and is joined by Ludger

Beerbaum, Marcus Ehning and Lars Nieberg.

Fourth place on the leaderboard at present is occupied by the French

who have been a little inconsistent so far. Chef d'Equipe Jean-Maurice

Bonneau had warned at the beginning of the series that he might face

some difficulty due to the absence of several of his best horse and

rider combinations but three of his squad for this week's fixture -

Eugenie Angot, Laurent Goffinet and Christian Hermon - are now seasoned

veterans while Alexis Gautier and Jacques Bonnet complete the French

contingent.

Their new bright-orange jackets have ensured the Dutch cannot go

without notice this season but they will be hoping to improve on their

sixth placing on the series table ahead of their home fixture in

Rotterdam in just under three weeks time. The team remains unchanged

from the one sent to Rome with Leopold Van Asten, Leon Thijssen, Eric

van der Vleuten and Albert Zoer called up for duty again along with

Angelique Hoorn.

Second-last on the leaderboard at the moment are the Belgians who, like

the Dutch, have only accumulated a small number of points so far and

who need to pull away from the Irish at the bottom of the table in

order to stay safely out of trouble.

Lucien Somer's side is also the same as that sent to Italy last weekend

but Ludo Philippaerts, Marc van Djick, Jean Claude Vangeenberghe and

Maurice van Roosebroeck are joined by new recruit Patrick McEntee.

The latter has close family connections with Ireland and there is

somewhat of an Irish slant about this Friday's event so perhaps Irish

fortunes might at last begin to show a bit of an upswing.

Located in the north-east of Switzerland, about one hour from Zurich

and with a population of about 70,000 people, St Gallen is named after

an Irish monk who, having travelled through France and Italy,

established a hermitage there around 612.

It was at the European Championships in St Gallen back in 1995 that

Peter Charles' individual medal-winning performance put Ireland back on

track after a long period in the doldrums and in the opening Samsung

Super League season in 2003 Robert Splaine went into a head-to-head

with Markus Fuchs to seal victory for the Emerald Isle before going on

to win the Grand Prix.

Yet another new name appears as Chef d'Equipe for the Irish side this

week as former national champion Tom Slattery takes on the role and

Chairman of Selectors, Taylor Vard, was at pains to explain the reason

for this today "we thought we were well-assured that Eddie Macken was

coming on board this year but when he let us down and we began looking

for a replacement everyone we contacted was already committed for the

season. Trevor Coyle has been helping out with training and each

selector will be Chef at some stage - it's not ideal, we need more

consistency, but we've decided it's the best way to proceed right now"

he said.

The Samsung Super League is a major priority for Irish show jumping.

"As far as we are concerned there is only one real target for the

entire year and that is to stay in the Samsung Super League series"

Vard commented. As if he doesn't have enough problems already he

learned last week that Billy Twomey's top ride, Luidam, is on the

injury list again while American-based Kevin Babington, linchpin of the

Irish side in recent years, will not be available as his gelding

Carling King is also hors de combat. Irish spirit remains unbroken

however and Vard pointed out "we are putting the Super League ahead of

the European Championships this year - we may not be able to field

teams for both San Patrignano and Hickstead so Hickstead will take

preference".

Twomey, Splaine, Capt Shane Carey, Jessica Kurten and Denis Lynch will

be flying the Irish flag this week.

At the other end of the Samsung Super League table the Americans and

British are sitting pretty, sharing pole position with a total of 17

points.

The US side have added real sparkle to the 2005 series - they look

good, they ride well and they have an energy about them that is

contagious. Schuyler Riley's sense of fun has made her a big hit in

Europe and the team that includes Georgina Bloomberg, Laura Kraut, Anne

Kursinski and Beezie Madden have really put it up to the next rotation

of US riders who take over in Rotterdam. Before they head home however

the current squad will want to leave on a good note and keep the smile

on the face of their team manager George Morris.

They were foiled in their effort to make it a double of Super League

wins last Friday however by the British who were in a class of their

own.

Chef d'Equipe Derek Ricketts had a grin from ear to ear at the end of

the day because there was something reminiscent of that old British

dominance in this performance. Double clears from both Nick Skelton

and Michael Whitaker were the deciding factor but Whitaker's second round of jumping, under the greatest of pressure, was something

special. The understanding he has built up with Portofino is

exceptional - whatever about any horse's ability to jump fences, his

willingness to give his all to his rider is even more rewarding and

Portofino could not have tried harder last Friday afternoon.

However Rome is Rome and St Gallen is St Gallen - different venues with

different challenges and a whole new day of jumping. Whitaker lines

out again at the Swiss fixture along with William Funnell and his niece

Ellen Whitaker but Skelton steps aside and the final team member will

be either Richard Davenport or Robert Maguire.

The British and Americans may be on top today, but St Gallen is always

a tough nut to crack and the leaderboard may well see some significant

changes by Friday evening.

SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE LEADERBOARD (after Round 2 in Rome) :

EQUAL 1. USA and Great Britain - 17

3. Germany - 9

4. France - 7

5. Switzerland - 6

6. The Netherlands - 4.5

7. Belgium - 3.5

8. Ireland - 1

SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE - NATIONAL PRIDE, INTERNATIONAL PASSION!

The third leg of the 2005 Samsung Super League series takes place in St

Gallen, Switzerland on Friday June 3rd. Show President at the Swiss

fixture is Peter Stoessel, Show Director is Urs Schiendorfer and Show

Secretary is Jacqueline Neuburger, email j.neuburger@csio.ch. Press

Officer is Peter Wyrsch, email wy@sda-ats.ch. For further information

telephone +4171 2746699 or fax +4171 2746667 or consult the website at

SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE 2005 CALENDAR OF EVENTS:

ROUND 1 - La Baule (Fra) 5-8 May; ROUND 2 - Rome (Ita) 26-29 May; ROUND

3 - St Gallen (Sui) 02-05 June; ROUND 4 - Rotterdam (Ned) 16-19 June;

ROUND 5 - Hickstead (GBR) 28-31 July; ROUND 6 - Dublin (Irl) 03-07

August; ROUND 7 - Aachen (Ger) 23-28 August; ROUND 8 and FINAL -

Barcelona (Esp) 15-18 September.

MBPtv BROADCAST SCHEDULE for the third leg of the Samsung Super League

2005 in St Gallen is as follows:

SRG SSR - SF DRS - Fri 3 June 14.00;TSI - Fri 3 June 19.00; TSR -

unconfirmed.

CNBC ASIA - Sat 18 June 17.00

CNBC EUROPE - Sat 18 June 17.00

EQUIDIA (France) - Sun 5 June 20.45, Mon 6 June 11.00, Weds 8 June

18.15

ESPNSTAR.COM - Weds 15 June 17.30 & 18.00, Thurs 16 June 05.00, Sat

18 June 07.00, Weds 22 June 07.00

Thurs 23 June 04.00

EUROSPORT - Weds 8 June 08.45

FINNISH SPORTS TV - Mon 20 June 22.35

FOX SPORTS(Middle East)- Mon 27 June 12.30

HORSE TV (USA) - Check local service

M-NET (Pan-Africa) - Check local service

SPORT EXPRESSEN - Check local service

SPORT TV (Portugal) - Check local service

TVE Teledeporte (Spain) - Check local service.