Germany's Marcus Ehning won the fourth leg of the FEI World Cup Jumping 2005/2006 series in front of an ecstatic home audience of 8,700 spectators in Stuttgart today.
German runners were dominant, with Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum slotting into second spot ahead of Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst in third, but Holland's Gerco Schroder further extended his considerable lead at the head of the Western European league table when finishing in the top twelve.
Stuttgart attracted a world-class field of 40 to the FEI World Cup Jumping competition and spectators were spoiled for choice during the spectacular five-day fixture which staged competitions in five separate FEI disciplines including eventing, vaulting, driving and dressage along with jumping.
America's Conrad Homfeld, Olympian and winner of the World Cup finals at Baltimore in 1980 and Berlin in 1985, was course designer for the Las Vegas Finals in 2003, and 15 riders found all the answers to the questions he posed for them in the first round today, guaranteeing a thrilling jump-off against the clock.
Switzerland's Beat Mandli and Ideo de Thot were first into the timed round, staying clear in 40.26 seconds, but reigning FEI World Cup Jumping champion Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum shaved more than two full seconds off that when steering Checkmate home in 37.98 to set a truly tough target for the rest.
Jos Lansink's big grey, Cavalor Cumano, was foot-perfect but well off the pace when crossing the line for the Belgian rider in 43.79 while Gerco Schroder's Eurocommerce Monaco clipped a pole for four faults in 40.29 seconds. Frenchman Jean-Marc Nicolas was a little cautious when clear in 41.15 seconds with JPC Modesto Equifoam but Franke Sloothaak and the eight year old Aquino meant business when returning a time of 39.76 seconds but leaving one on the floor for four faults.
Ehning and Gitania however produced a breath-taking performance when seventh to go. Michaels-Beerbaum's time looked just about as good as you could get but Ehning, currently World No. 1 rider, was not intimidated as he set off with the horse with whom he claimed European team gold in San Patrignano this summer. From Sudlohne in Germany, the 31 year old rider has a formidable record including team gold at the Sydney Olympic Games and two further European titles. He was also FEI World Cup champion in 2003 and finished third at the Final in Las Vegas last April, and he was right on song today.
Gitania responded to his every call and when they broke the beam in 37.67 seconds they really put it up to the remaining eight riders who, despite their best efforts, simply could not match them for speed.
Holland's Jeroen Dubbeldam (BMC Nassau) and Germany's Toni Hassmann (Meurer's Le Patron) each had a fence down while European silver medalist Christina Liebherr from Switzerland picked up nine faults with LB No Mercy after a strange slip-up on the flat and a subsequent fence on the floor.
Young Norwegian star, 26 year old Tony Andre Hansen, showed his undeniable talent when completing a double-clear with ET Royal Volo in 41.59 seconds but this was only good enough to slot him into eighth spot as Lars Nieberg and Loreana's time of 38.71 saw them finish fifth, one place behind Britain's Robert Smith and Kalusha who crossed the line in 38.65 to take fourth. Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst ensured the German strangle-hold at the top of the order when slotting into third with the courageous little Candy who stopped the clock on 38.37 seconds.
"My horse jumped fantastic and this was a really great show here in Stuttgart" commented Ehning, who now moves into equal-eighth position on the leaderboard going into the next leg of the series in Geneva in three weeks' time.
However he is a long way behind the current leader, Gerco Schroder, whose position has been significantly boosted by good results achieved on the US circuit which added an extra 19 points to the 20 already collected for his victory in Oslo earlier this month. His 12th place finishing spot today gave him another five points to bring his total to date to 44. Beat Mandli's sixth placing today has rocketed him up to second position but there is a gap of 16 points between himself and the Dutchman while another Dutch contender, Harry Smolders, is also reaping the benefits of a trip to the North American league when lying third.
Gerco Schroder really only needs one more good result to secure his place at the FEI World Cup Final in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia next April but everyone else still has a lot of work to do.
RESULTS:
1. Gitania (Marcus Ehning) Ger 0/0 37.67; 2, Checkmate (Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum) Ger 0/0 37.98; 3, Candy (Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst) Ger 0/0 38.37; 4, Kalusha (Robert Smith) GBR 0/0 38.65; 5, Loreana (Lars Nieberg) Ger 0/0 38.71; 6, Ideo du Thot (Beat Mandli) Sui 0/0 40.26; 7, JPC Modesto Equifoam (Jean-Marc Nicolas) Fra 0/0 41.15; 8, ET Royal Volo (Tony Andre Hansen) Nor 0/0 41.59; 9. Cavalor Cumano (Jos Lansink) Bel 0/0 43.79; 10, Meurer's Le Patron (Toni Hassmann) Ger 0/4 38.87; 11, Aquino (Franke Sloothaak) Ger 0/4 39.76; 12, Eurocommerce Monaco (Gerco Schroder) Ned 0/4 40.29; 13, Leena (Markus Beerbaum) Ger 0/4 40.73; 14, BMC Nassau (Jeroen Dubbeldam) Ned 0/4 45.37; 15, LB No Mercy (Christina Liebherr) Sui 0/9 49.00; 16, Equest Carnute (T Velin) Den 1/74.62; 17, Hofgut Liederbach's Abrisca (Pia-Luise Aufrecht) Ger 4/68.50; 18, H&M Butterfly Flip (Malin Baryard-Johnsson) Swe 4/68.53; 19, Tijl van het Pallieterland (Steve Guerdat) Sui 4/68.56; 20, Aboyeur W (Heinrich Hermann Engemann) Ger 4/68.62; 21, Quibell (J Kurten) Irl 4/70.98; 22, Baloubet du Rouet (Rodrigo Pessoa) Bra 4/71.46; 23, Canturo (Bernardo Alves) Bra 4/71.46; 24, Portofino (Michael Whitaker) GBR 4/72.42; 25, Countess G (Mylene Diederichsmeier) Ger 4/72.81; 26, Exploit du Roulard (John Whitaker) GBR 4/73.31; 27, L'Espoir (Ludger Beerbaum) Ger 4/73.96; 28, Sails Away (Sebastian Numminen) Fin 5/74.64; 29, MacKinley (Rolf-Goran Bengtsson) Swe 5/74.70; 30, Le Reve du Nabab (Sergio Alvarez Moya) Esp 5/75.20; 31, Loro Piana Albin (Juan Carlos Garcia) Ita 5/76.46; 32, Hooligam de Rosyl (Bruno Broucqsault) Fra 5/76.50; 33, Clinton (Dirk Demeersman) Bel 8/72.46; 34, Controe (Marco Kutscher) Ger 8/72.96; 35, The Sixth Sense (Thomas Fruhmann) Aut 8/73.06; 36, La Toya (Markus Fuchs) Sui 8/73.95; 37, Lorenzo (Christian Ahlmann) Ger 12/71.53; 38, Quel Homme (Rene Tebbel) Ger 13/77.04; 39, Kira (Ludo Philippaerts) Bel 16/73.04; 40, Dobel's Cordina (O Becker) Ger
FEI WORLD CUP LEADERBOARD - AFTER ROUND 4 IN STUTTGART (Please note
adjustment to table due to additional points acquired by some riders competing in North American League) :
1. Gerco Schroder (NED) - 44
2. Nick Skelton (GBR) - 34
3. Beat Mandli (SUI) - 28
4. Piet Raymakers (NED) - 26
5. Harry Smolders - 25
6. Thomas Velin (DEN) - 23
7. Meredith Michaels Beerbaum (GER) - 22
8. Linnea Ericsson (DEN) - 22
9. Albert Zoer (NED) - 20
Eq 10. Marcus Ehning (GER), Heinrich Hermann Engemann (GER) - 20
The WEBSITE for STUTTGART is www.stuttgart-german-masters.de.
Show Director is Gotthilf Riexinger - email info@handelsagentur-riexinger.de, Show Secretary is Christian Abel - email abel@pferdesport-bw.de
Press Officer is Hartmut Binder, MPS Marketing u. Presserservice GmBH, Tel. (mobile) +49172 972 2848, email hartmut.binder@mps-agentur.de.
The next leg of the series takes place in Geneva, Switzerland from 8-11 December. WEBSITE - www.concours-hippique.ch. Event Director is Sophie Mottu, Sport Director is Alban Poudret, Show Secretary is Chantal Rothen and Press Officer is Corinne Druey - Tel: ++41213128222, Mobile: ++41792267859, Email: druey@syntagme-lausanne.ch.
2005/2006 FEI WORLD CUP JUMPING SERIES - CALENDAR OF EVENTS: 1, Helsinki (Finland) - 6/9 October; 2, Oslo (Norway) - 14/16 October; 3, Verona (Italy) - 4/6 November; 4, Stuttgart (Ger) - 16/20 November; 5, Geneva (Switzerland) - 8/11 December; 6, London-Olympia (Great Britain) - 13-19 December; 7, Mechelen (Belgium) - 26/30 December; 8, Leipzig (Germany) 19/22 January; 9, Amsterdam (The Netherlands) - 26/29 January; 10, Bordeaux (France) - 3/5 February; 11, Vigo (Spain) - 9/12 February; 12, 's-Hertogenbosch (The Netherlands) - 23/26 March; 13, Goteborg (Sweden) - 13/16 April. Final Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 26/30 April.
BIOGRAPHIES of riders competing in the FEI World Cup Jumping series are available at www.horsesport.org.
Campus
