Swiss rider Steve Guerdat secured his second victory of the 2006/2007 FEI World Cup™ Jumping series and a place at the final in Las Vegas, USA in April when steering the brilliant mare, Jalisca Solier, into pole position at Vigo in Spain tonight.
The eleventh of the 13 qualifying legs was another thriller, and with 14 through to the jump-off it was a fierce battle against the clock. But Guerdat had shown that his new ride has the heart of a lioness when putting in a breath-taking performance to come out on top in Geneva in December, and when he asked her to give him her all again tonight she never faltered. "She's just wonderful - I'm so very lucky to have her" the 24 year old said afterwards with genuine gratitude in his voice.
Holland's Leopold Van Asten finished second ahead of Italy's Juan Carlos Garcia in third while last weekend's winner in Bordeaux, Frenchman Michel Robert, was fourth and, having picked up more valuable points, is close to qualification.
Spain's Rutherford Latham and Jaina de Barnevil were pathfinders as the competition began and came home clear to make it look a little easy, but 16 more jumped before the second clear-round performance was recorded by Germany's Pia-Luise Aufrecht and Hofgut Liederbach's Abrisca. A total of 13 partnerships had just a single pole down including Germany's Ludger Beerbaum and Enorm who produced the fastest four-fault result and Britain's rising star William Whitaker who, for the second week in succession, was most impressive with Arielle.
Latham set the pace against the clock, but with two fences down it was going to take a better performance than that to claim the €28,000 winners purse and when Aufrecht left one on the floor, and British rider Tim Stockdale did likewise with the his 10 year old mare Fresh Direct Corlato, it was Ireland's Cameron Hanley who set the early target when bringing SIEC Concept home without fault in 54.65 seconds. The time recorded by the Irish duo was a generous one however and that great old hero of international show jumping Loro Piana Albin, who at 19 years of age is nine years older than Hanley's promising gelding, simply blew them away when crossing the line for Italy's Juan Carlos Garcia with the clock showing more than a ten-second advantage.
Both America's Peter Wylde and Quo Vadis and Holland's Harrie Smolders riding Exquis Oliver Q were just over a second off the new target of 44.48 seconds when each had one fence down, while last weekend's winning French partnership at Bordeaux, Michel Robert and Galet d'Auzay, were clear without threatening the leader as they broke the beam in 45.18 seconds. Australia's Edwina Alexander and the great mare Isovlas Pialotta also left all the fences up, but with the clock showing 45.93 seconds the Italian leaders were still well in control and when Norway's Tony Andre Hansen faulted once with Broker's Camiro it was down to the final four.
And then the packed house of 8,000 spectators were treated to even more excitement.
Dutch rider Leopold Van Asten set off with VDL Groep Fleche Rouge with a look of sheer determination on his face and the 14 year old mare shaved almost a full second off Albin's time when breaking the beam with a clear round in 43.51 seconds to snatch the lead. But, next to go, Guerdat and Jalisca answered that with a devastating run that saw them across the line in 43.40 - and the crowd exploded with delight. Second-last into the ring, Eugenie Angot and Ilostra Dark left all the poles up but could not challenge the Swiss partnership with their time of 45.37 seconds. However the drama was still not quite over. Last man into the arena was Britain's Michael Whitaker, always a force to be reckoned with, and his gallant mare Insul Tech Portofino was in flying form. Galloping to the last, she looked like she might just be quick enough to catch Jalisca's time, but as the final fence hit the floor and she raced through the finish the clock showed 43.46 seconds. Guerdat had secured his second win of the 2006/2007 series in considerable style.
"It was a very fast jump-off and maybe my mare's round was not as smooth as it was when we won in Geneva but she was brilliant" Guerdat pointed out. At just 10 years of age however he believes the French-bred daughter of Alligator Fontaine has done more than enough for the moment. "After Geneva she had a break and I only brought her back to big shows for Amsterdam two weeks ago and we had one down" he explained. He is still really annoyed with himself about their performance in Bordeaux last weekend however. "I rode like an idiot in Bordeaux. I couldn't stop thinking about it all week because I really let her down, but today was a great day and now she will go back to doing much smaller classes so she can get her confidence and settle down again" he added.
Tonight's result however has earned this talented young man a place in the Las Vegas final line-up, although he has already decided that Jalisa Solier will not travel to America. "She's still too green, it would all be much too much for her, so I will take Tresor instead. Tresor is not quite so competitive but it will be great experience for me and I'm really looking forward to going" Guerdat said.
The line-up for the 29th FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final is really beginning to take shape now with 13 riders having passed that magical 40-point mark which usually guarantees a qualifying spot. Sweden's Malin Baryard-Johnsson is only four points away but she is followed closely by a sharp bunch of predators who will also be hoping to make the cut over the last two qualifying rounds of the series which take place in Gothenburg, Sweden on 25 February and s'Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands on 25 March.
FEI WORLD CUP™ JUMPING QUALIFIER at VIGO
RESULT: 1, Jalisca Solier (Steve Guerdat) Sui 0/0 43.40; 2, VDL Groep Fleche Rouge (Leopold Van Asten) Ned 0/0 43.51; 3, Loro Piana Albin (Juan Carlos Garcia) Ita 0/0 44.48; 4, Galet D'Auzay (Michel Robert) Fra 0/0 45.18; 5, Ilostra Dark (Eugenie Angot) Fra 0/0 45.18; 6, Isovlas Pialotta (Edwina Alexander) Aus /0 45.93; 7, SIEC Concept (Cameron Hanley) Irl 0/0 54.65; 8, Insul Tech Portofino (Michael Whitaker) GBR 0/4 43.46; 9, Fresh Direct Corlato (Tim Stockdale) GBR 0/4 44.61; 10, Exquis Oliver Q (Harrie Smolders) Ned 0/4 45.45; 11, Quo Vadis (Peter Wylde) USA 0/4 45.77; 12, Hofgut Liederbach's Abrisca (Pia Luise Aufrecht) Ger 0/4 46.15; 13, Broker's Camiro (Tony Andre Hansen) Nor 0/4 50.54; 14, Jaina de Varnevil (Rutherford Latham) Esp 0/8 47.48; 15, Enorm (L Beerbaum) Ger 4/75.36; 16, 11th and Bleeker (Gerfried Puck)Aut 4/76.26; 17, Quibell (Jessica Kuerten) Irl 4/76.78; 18, Air Jordan Z (Daniel Deusser) Ger 4/76.81; 19, Carola (Tina Lund) Den 4/78.53; 20, Isaac (Royne Zetterman) Se 4/78.58; 21, La Toya (Markus Fuchs) Sui 4/78.77; 22, Arielle (William Whitaker) GBR 4/79.15; 23, Madick (Helena Lundback) Swe 4/79.22; 24, Isaac du Jonquet (Mikael Forsten) Fin 4/80.31; 25, Itot du Chateau (Michel Hecart) Fra 4/80.33; 26, Aktion Pur Z (Judy-Ann Melchior) Bel 4/82.65; 27, Maddock (Jesus Garmendia) Esp 4/85.68; 28, Cabri D'Elle (Paola Amilbia) Esp 5/86.18; 29, Kairos de Crochet (Luis Jesus Escobar Jimenez) Esp 8/85.42; 30, Ad Laguina (Alvaro De Miranda) Bra 12/79.56; 31, Kesberoy de St Aubert (Cayetano Martinez de Irujo) Esp 12/83.97; 32, Cash (Marco Kutscher) Ger 12/99.44; 33, Inedite de Balme (Simon Delestre) Fra 16/79.82; 34, U-No (Pilar Cordon) Esp 16/85.32; 35, Echo de Lessay (Antonio Portela Carneiro) Por 17/87.31; 36, Gran Corrado (Yves Houtackers) Ned Elim; equal 37, Vici Van't Plutonia Hof (Ludo Philippaerts) Bel, Carino (Ulrich Kirchhoff) Ger, Tymoon Caloo Meerchen (Dirk Demeersman) Bel Eurocommerce Berlin (Gerco Schroder) Ned Retired.
FEI WORLD CUP™ JUMPING 2006/2007 - WESTERN EUROPEAN LEAGUE LEADERBOARD AFTER ROUND 11 AT VIGO:
1. Christian Ahlmann - 82
2. Beat Mandli - 64
3. Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum - 63
4. Michael Whitaker - 59
5. Albert Zoer - 56
6. Steve Guerdat - 50
7. Leopold Van Asten - 47
8. Eugenie Angot - 46
9. Markus Beerbaum - 45
10. Judy-Ann Melchior - 44
11. Gerco Schroder - 42
12. Rene Tebbel - 42
13. Patrick McEntee - 42
14. Malin Baryard-Johnsson - 36
15. Michel Robert - 34
16. Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst, Marcus Ehning - 34
18. Edwina Alexander - 34
19. Marco Kutscher - 33
20. Daniel Deusser - 30
21. Juan Carlos Garcia - 30
For further information on the FEI World Cup™ qualifier in Vigo, Spain on Saturday 10 February contact Press Officer Alejandra Mier Rodriguez - Tel (mobile) +34657 593093 or Email: amier@csivigo.com.. Show President at the Spanish fixture is Manuel Fernandez de Sousa-Faro, Show Director is Marcelino Cendon Estevez, Show Secretary is Irene Gonzalez Garcia and WEBSITE is www.csivigo.com.
The NEXT leg of the series takes place in Gothenburg, Sweden on Sunday 25 February. Show President is Peter Lojdquist, Show Director is Tomas Torgersen, Show Secretary is Wiveka Lundh and Press Officer is Mayvor Thorin, Tel (mobile) +46 705828420 or Email mayvor.thorin@gotevent.ie. WEBSITE www.goteborghorseshow.com.
2006/2007 FEI WORLD CUP™ JUMPING SERIES - CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR WESTERN EUROPEAN LEAGUE:
1. Oslo (Norway) 13-15 October: 2, Helsinki (Finland) 19-22 October; 3, Verona (Italy) 10-12 November; 4, Stuttgart (Germany) 15-19 November; 5, Geneva (Switzerland) 7-10 December; 6, London-Olympia (Great Britain) 12-18 December; 7, Mechelen (Belgium) 26-30 December; 8, Leipzig (Germany) 18-21 January; 9, Amsterdam (The Netherlands) 25-28 January; 10, Bordeaux (France) 2-4 February; 11, Vigo (Spain) 8-11 February; 12, Gothenburg (Sweden) 22-25 February; 13, 's-Hertogenbosch (The Netherlands) 22-25 March. Final - Las Vegas (USA) 19-22 April.
YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE RULES FOR THE FEI WORLD CUP™ JUMPING RIDERS FROM FEI WEBSITE www.feiworldcup.org
FEI World Cup™ Jumping has entered its 29th season. The series, created in 1978, today comprises 14 leagues on all continents. The best riders from 132 preliminary competitions will qualify for the final in Las Vegas, USA which takes place from 19 to 22 April 2007. The title-holder is Germany's Marcus Ehning.
The Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI), founded in 1921, is the international body governing equestrian sport recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and includes 133 National Federations.
Equestrian sport has been on the Olympic programme since 1912 with three disciplines - Jumping, Dressage and Eventing. It is one of the very few sports in which men and women compete on equal terms It is also the only sport which involves two athletes - horse and rider. The FEI has relentlessly concerned itself with the welfare of the horse, which is paramount and must never be subordinated to competitive or commercial influences.
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