Rodrigo Reigns Supreme...
Brazil's Rodrigo Pessoa made it a double when winning the Gandini Top
Ten Final in Geneva tonight with a vintage performance from Baloubet du
Rouet. Last to go in the second round, he only had to jump clear to
take the title for the second time in the five-year history of the
event, and the 2003 champion did it in style when his 16 year old
stallion once more rose to the big occasion.
The Palexpo arena in Geneva was packed to capacity for the exciting
competition which, offering a prize-fund of almost €114,000 and with
the added bonus of a Rolex watch for the winner is one every rider
wants to take.
Christian Ahlmann, currently lying 12th in the world rankings, gained
access to the class when Britain's Nick Skelton and America's Beezie
Madden did not travel to the Swiss fixture and, first into the ring
with the eight year old Lorenzo, the German collected five faults.
Sweden's Rolf-Goran Bengtsson and MacKinley finished inside the time
but left a pole on the floor when next to go and then the reigning
European gold medallists, Germany's Marco Kutscher and Montender,
clipped the vertical at fence three.
Eurocommerce Monaco was jumping for fun for Gerco Schroder when
returning a lovely clear round but the clock showed a single time
penalty and then Ireland's Jessica Kurten and Castle Forbes Libertina
made it all the way to the very last fence - a liverpool oxer - before
making their only mistake. Ludger Beerbaum, who took the Top Ten title
in both 2001 and 2002, cleared the treble combination at fence eight
but his young gelding Enorm caught the narrow stile that followed at
fence nine so, with just four left to go, no clear round had yet been
recorded.
Markus Fuchs was to change that however as he steered Granie round for
a fault-free performance that drove the home-crowd wild with delight
and then Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum fell victim to one of the questions
asked by course designers Heiner Fischer and Rolf Ludi when she got her
line wrong between the big blue wall at fence six and the following
rustic oxer where Shutterfly clipped the back rail.
Second-last to go in the opening round, Baloubet du Rouet looked his
usual over-confident self as he bounced into the ring but Pessoa kept
him on a short stride over the first few fences to keep his trademark
exuberance in check and it paid off as the Brazilian partnership left
all the timber in place to join Fuchs on a zero score while Marcus
Ehning looked like doing exactly the same with the ultra-obedient
Gitania who, however picked up one time fault as Ehning put in an extra
stride going to the last.
Last year's champion, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, was first out in
round two and added just one time fault to finish with a total of five
and Christian Ahlmann finished on the same score when his lovely young
bay was clear this time out. "It was my fault we had the faults in the
first round" Ahlmann said afterwards, "but Lorenzo is still very young
so I'm actually very happy".
Kurten's mare, Libertina, shoved the bricks off the top of the wall to
bring their tally to eight but the rider said "I'm not too
disappointed, she is potentially my best horse and she was green in the
first round". Montender however was just not on form, finishing with a
total of 16 faults for Marco Kutscher who pointed out that the horse
has not jumped much since the European Championships - "and that did
not help us today" he said.
Rolf-Goran Bengtsson brought his total to eight with one more mistake,
again at the tricky rustic oxer, and Ludger Beerbaum's Enorm faulted at
exactly the same spot. Afterwards his rider was clearly annoyed with
himself saying "this horse has enormous potential but it was not easy
for him because I was riding badly - like a beginner!" Ehning and
Gitania were foot-perfect this time out and the German rider commented
"I was too careful in the first round so I picked up one time fault but
my horse was fantastic". Gerco Schroder hit the wall when trying to
take a tighter line so then it was left to the remaining two riders,
both on a zero score, to decide the result.
Markus Fuchs knew he had crowd on his side and they roared
encouragement as he headed off, but the bogey rustic oxer hit the floor
once more. As always his sense of humour kicked in when he was
interviewed afterwards however as the 50 year old rider said "I'm so
young - maybe next time I will get it right!" So when Pessoa cantered
into the ring he knew a clear would clinch it and that's exactly what
he did. The 33 year old Brazilian star has an uncanny ability to
produce extra-special performances when the big money is up for grabs
and, once again, his stallion was in a class of his own as they made it
all look so very, very easy.
"It is fantastic to have a horse like this" he said, giving the credit
to his great partner Baloubet. "He's an extraordinary horse, now 16
years old but you would never know it". Adding yet another Rolex watch
to his already extensive collection he is now looking forward to going
to Dubai next month and has consequently decided that Baloubet will not
run in Sunday's FEI World Cup Qualifier in Geneva. And he was very
proud that his Team Sony Ericsson colleagues, Ehning and Fuchs,
finished second and third respectively in the Gandini Top Ten Final
tonight.
Sony Ericsson is ending its show jumping sponsorship after six years
but Pessoa said he would be on the telephone to them tomorrow after the
superb result they had today. "The company is going in a completely
different direction and will be sponsoring women's tennis but we did a
good job for them and I plan to call them after this" he added.
RESULT: 1, Baloubet du Rouet (Rodrigo Pessoa) Bra 0/0 49.82; 2,
Gitania (Marcus Ehning) Ger 1/0 47.76; 3, Granie (Markus Fuchs) Sui 0/4
45.43; 4, Eurocommerce Monaco (Gerco Schroder) Ned 1/4 47.01; 5,
Lorenzo (Christian Ahlmann) Ger 5/0 51.21; 6, Shutterfly (Meredith
Michaels-Beerbaum) Ger 4/1 52.17; 7, MacKinley (Rolf-Goran Bengtsson)
Swe 4/4 46.32; 8, Enorm (Ludger Beerbaum) Ger 4/4 47.00; 9, Castle
Forbes Libertina (Jessica Kurten) Irl 4/4 47.31; 10, Montender (Marco
Kutscher) Ger 4/12 52.96.
Campus
