FEI World Cup Jumping: Leipzig (GER) qualifier

Britain's Nick Skelton booked his ticket to the FEI World Cup final in Las Vegas today with a superb last-to-go victory with Arko in the qualifying round in Leipzig.

The capacity crowd of 8,500 people in the state-of-the-art Leipzig Messe exhibition hall was treated to a thrilling jump-off between five German riders and two British contenders and, despite the disappointment of seeing their home runners defeated, the spectators rose to the occasion to acknowledge the skill and courage of the winning partnership.

Course-designer Frank Rothenberger set them a very tough test in the opening round in which only seven found all the answers.

The first line of an oxer to an upright was welcoming but from the time horses turned to the triple bar at fence three then absolute accuracy and attention was required all the rest of the way around the track.

A forward four-stride distance between the triple bar and the following oxer proved the undoing of many while the next vertical on a right-hand angle also presented difficulties.

The tight three-stride distance from the vertical at fence seven to the narrow gate at eight and the combination at fence ten accounted for many while the maximum-height upright at the end of the track was seriously intimidating, and a total of 10 riders picked up just a frustrating four faults to stay out of the decider including America's Peter Wylde and Pinnocchio, winners of Friday's Preliminary World Cup class, who hit only the final element of the combination.

The jump-off was heavily weighted in favour of Germany but the British can never be discounted and 24 year old Richard Davenport, winner at Olympia in London in December and looking increasingly confident in recent months, clipped just the vertical at fence seven on the reduced jump-off track when first into the ring with Laguina.

Rothenberger started them off this time over the triple bar, then the vertical at fence five, the oxer at six, the vertical at seven and a tight turn-back to the second two elements of the combination. The oxer at eleven was the penultimate fence on the jump-off track and then there was a long run to a big new oxer to finish.

Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst has established a really strong partnership with the 13 year old Candy and knew he was well in the reckoning when cruising around clear to stop the clock in 37.45 seconds but the crowd were electrified with excitement as their hero, Ludger Beerbaum, galloped from the start when third to go with Goldfever.

A mistake at the first element of the combination, now reduced to just two jumping efforts, put paid to their chances however but Beerbaum's remarkable horsemanship came into play once again when Goldfever buckled over onto his knees after clearing the following vertical. Never stirring in the saddle the rider just waited for the horse to get up again and without looking in the least bit ruffled he galloped to the clear the last, casting a careful eye over his horse as he left the arena with just four faults in 37.44 seconds.

Holger Wulschner and Clausen produced a super-fast time of 35.64 seconds helped by a very tight turn after fence seven but the second-last hit the floor for four faults and when Tjark Nagel and Cash lowered the upright at seven in 40.25 seconds only Lars Nieberg and Nick Skelton were left to challenge Pollmann-Schweckhorst's target.

And Nieberg did just that with a determined, forward run from his 12 year old mare Lucie who romped through the finish in 37.01 seconds to put the pressure on the final British challenger.

Skelton however has been in the show jumping game a very long time and he was not about to crumble.

He came dangerously close to a medal at the Olympic Games in Athens and is still hungry for success. He set himself the target of getting to the final in Las Vegas at the beginning of this World Cup series and he came out today knowing that he only had three more chances to get there because his stallion will be going to stud at Gilbert Bockmann's yard in Oldenburg after the qualifier in Bordeaux in two weeks time.

Before today's competition he asked Max Amman how many points he would need to qualify for the final and the former World Cup Director told him he would need 45 points – a total of 21 more than he was holding at the beginning of today's class.

So he set off with the clear intention of sorting all that out today and put the result beyond doubt with a beautifully executed round in 36.74 seconds that clinched the top prize of 21,250 euro and the maximum 20 points allocated to the winner.

"I'm very pleased with the horse, he jumped really well for me today" Skelton said afterwards.

"I watched the others going on the big screen but with riders of this calibre its only minute fractions of seconds you can win by – a tenth of a second is enough, but my horse is fast and he won well" he added.

Talking about his return to the top of the sport in recent years following a life-threatening neck injury which looked set to finish his career he pointed out "Arko got me back riding again after the accident. You don't get too many horses like him in a lifetime. Four faults is a bad result for him and I'm lucky really because I only ride three horses now. I’m not saying I'm fragile but I'm not as tough as I was" he explained.

"Arko will go to Bockmann's for five weeks and then I'll have him back just in time to get him right again for Las Vegas" he said, and he is now really looking forward to the final. "He's a very consistent horse and it's a good system for the final with three days of jumping – I think we'll have every chance in Vegas" he added. Those 44 points earned to date are guaranteed to get him there.

His fellow-countryman Davenport also looks to have done enough to qualify along with long-time league leader Wim Schroder from Holland, Germany's Toni Hassmann, Switzerland’s Christophe Barbeau, Sweden's Rolf-Goran Bengtsson and Dutchman Eric van der Vleuten but for many others the next six legs of the series are all-important.

Amsterdam plays host to the FEI World Cup series next Sunday and then the action moves to Bordeaux on February 5th while the Spanish leg at Vigo, cancelled last month due to problems with the venue, has now been restored to the calendar for the weekend of 10 to 13 February.

RESULT: 1, Arko (Nick Skelton) Gbr 0/0 36.74; 2, Lucie (Lars Nieberg) Ger 0/0 37.01; 3, Candy (Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst) Ger 0/0 37.45; 4, Clausen (Holger Wulschner) Ger 37.45; 5, Goldfever (Ludger Beerbaum) Ger 0/4 37.44; 6, Cash (Tjark Nagel) Ger 0/4 40.25; 7, Laguina (Richard Davenport) Gbr 0/4 41.09; equal 8, ET Royal Volo (Tony Andre Hansen) Nor, Controe (Marco Kutscher) Ger, Cattani (Manuel Fernandez Saro) Esp, Asti Spumante (thomas Muhlbauer) Ger, Sundance K (Franke Sloothaak) Ger, Gitania (Marcus Ehning) Ger, Cyrenaike FRH (Philippe Leoni) Fra, Shutterfly (Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum) Ger, Coster (Christian Ahlmann) Ger, Pinocchio (Peter Wylde) USA 4 flts; equal 18, Pikur Carlo Cassini (Franz-Josef Dahlmann) Ger, Equest Carnute (Thomas Velin) Den, VDL Groep Eve des Etisses (Hubert Bourdy) Fra, Lowina Faldo (Albert Zoer) Ned, Parco (Ludo Philippaerts) Bel, Corino (Bernardo Alves) Bra, L’Espoir (Otto Becker) Ger, Loxley (Samantha McIntosh) Bul, Aboyeur (Heinrich Hermann Engemann) Ger, Quibell (Jessica Kuerten) Irl, MacKinley (Rolf-Goran Bengtsson) Swe 8 flts; 29, VDL Groep Fleche Rouge (Leopold van Asten) Ned 11 flts; equal 30, Granie (Markus Fuchs) Sui, Hermine D’Auzay (Daniel Etter) Sui, Meautry’s Locarno (Luciana Diniz-Knippling) Bra 12 flts; 33, Clouds Away (Mariann Hugyecz) Hun 13 flts; 34, Melansa (Mikael Forsten) Fin 16 flts; 35, Prinzess to Heart (Lucia Vizzini) Ita 17 flts; 36, L’Accord (Christian Anfinnsen Oien) Nor 28 flts; equal 37, Osta Rugs Andiamo Z (Jean Claude van Geenberghe) Bel, Forsyth FRH (Toni Hassmann) Ger Ret.

FEI WORLD CUP JUMPING 2004/2005 LEADERBOARD AFTER ROUND 7 IN LEIPZIG:

1. Wim Schroder – 46
2= Toni Hassmann, Nick Skelton – 44.
4. Christophe Barbeau – 42.
5. Eric Van der Vleuten, Richard Davenport – 40.
6= Rolf-Goran Bengtsson, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum – 37.
9. Marcus Ehning – 33.
10. Christian Ahlmann – 31.
11. Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst – 29.
12. Lars Nieberg – 28.
13. Rodrigo Pessoa – 27.
14. Philippe Leoni – 26.
15. Steve Guerdat – 25.
16= Robert Whitaker, Michael Whitaker – 24.
18= Tina Lund, Gerco Schroder – 22.
20. Jean-Claude Vangeenberghe – 20.

For further details about the latest FEI World Cup fixture at Leipzig contact Press Officer Andreas Kerstan at (mobile) ++49177 7532624 or email a.kerstan@kerstan.de. Leipzig Show Director is Volker Wulff, email wulff@engarde.de and Show Secretary is Conny Reuss, email reuss@engarde.de. Website: www.engarde.de.

The next round takes place in Amsterdam on Sunday 30 January 2005. Contact Show Director and Press Officer Chris Van Dam at email chris@eqi.nl or mobile ++3165 393 3150 or Press Officer Tita Heybrock at email titia@eqi.nl, mobile ++31 20 465 5446. Show Secretary is Noelle Nanning, email nnanning@jumping-amsterdam.nl/noelle@eqi.nl. Website: www.jumping-amsterdam.nl.

VIGO RETURNS TO THE FEI WORLD CUP CALENDAR, running from 10 to 13 February 2005. Delays in construction of a new venue for the Spanish fixture led to the cancellation of the event but it has now been decided to stage the show at the same location as 2004. The new venue will be completed in time for the 2005/2006 series.

Show Secretary at Vigo is Irene Gonzalez Garcia, Tel: ++34 986 288142 or email csivigo@csivigo.com and Press Officer is Alejandra Mier Rodriguez Tel@ ++34 657 593093 or email amier@csivigo.com. Website address: www.csivigo.com.