Christian Ahlmann produced the perfect last-to-go round from Coster to win the eighth leg of the 2006/2007 FEI World Cup™ Jumping series in Leipzig, Germany this afternoon. "This is my very first World Cup success so I'm very happy" he said after leading the victory parade which was dominated by the host country as Marcus Ehning slotted into second, Marco Kutscher finished third and Ulrich Kirchoff was fourth.
From the outset it always looked like a home-side win. With seven of the 11 who made it into the jump-off carrying the German flag, the odds were very much stacked in their favour - the only real question was which of them would come out on top.....
Sweden's Rolf-Goran Bengtsson led the way over Frank Rothenberger's jump-off track and he meant business. With no FEI World Cup™ Jumping qualifying points to date he was keen to take advantage of his eligibility for the jump-off and he raced home with MacKinley in by far the quickest time when stopping the clock on 40.70 seconds but left two fences on the floor. It was Kirchhoff, second into the ring, who set the target when bringing Carino home with a clear round, although their time of 44.78 seconds looked beatable. Austria's Thomas Fruhmann and The Sixth Sense, winners of the Riders Tour series last month, were more than two seconds faster and it would have been the perfect early birthday present for this senior statesman of the sport who celebrates his 56th birthday next Tuesday if he could put this one in the bag too, but a single error in 42.48 denied him a top placing.
Germany's Ludger Beerbaum and Enorm also faulted once in the slower time of 43.56 while Pia-Luise Aufrecht and Hofgut Liederbach's Abrisca collected eight faults to leave the door still wide open until reigning European Champion Marco Kutscher pushed Kirchhoff out of pole position when bringing the veteran 15 year old Controe across the line in 44.43 seconds with a great clear round.
However reigning FEI World Cup™ champion Marcus Ehning was right on form all weekend, scooping the top prize of 1kg of gold when winning Saturday night's hotly-contested Grand Prix with Noltes Kuchengirl ahead of Ludger Beerbaum and Couleur Rubin in second and Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and Le Mans in third. Riding the 14 year old Sandro Boy with which he claimed the title at the 2005/2006 FEI World Cup™ series final in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last April Ehning cruised home to change the leaderboard once again this afternoon as he shaved almost two full seconds off Kutscher's target.
Two fences down for Switzerland's Daniel Etter and Peu a Peu was followed by an excellent but careful clear from the ever-improving Belgian partnership of Patrick McEntee and Ever Mury Marais Z, and when Checkmate made a single mistake then only one man stood between Ehning and a very lucrative double. That man however was 32 year old Ahlmann, team bronze medallist at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004 and at the FEI World Equestrian Games in Aachen last summer. With Coster he won the individual European title at San Patrignano, Italy in 2005 and individual and team European gold in Donaueschingen, Germany two years earlier and when he set off this afternoon he felt that his first World Cup victory was within his grasp. "I saw Marcus (Ehning) go and I thought I had a chance - as it turned out I was right!" he said after collecting the winner's purse of 21,200 euro.
"It has been a bit frustrating over the last few World Cup shows" Ahlmann pointed out, "because I was getting through to the jump-off but maybe tried too hard and went too fast and it didn't work out for me. This time though I got everything right and I'm very pleased with Coster. He has been one of the best horses in the world for years now and he is really fast" he added.
This result sees him replace Switzerland's Beat Mandli at the top of the FEI World Cup™ Western European League leaderboard, with a colossal 78 points easily earning his place at the final in Las Vegas in April. To date, about eight riders seem to have sufficient points to book their tickets to the American finale including Ahlmann (78), Mandli (64), Albert Zoer (50), Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (48), Judy-Ann Melchior (44), Gerco Schroder (42), Rene Tebbel (42) and Michael Whitaker (39). With 34 points under his belt Patrick McEntee only has a little more to do in order to make the cut, but for the rest, the five remaining qualifying rounds - at Amsterdam next weekend, Bordeaux, Vigo and Gothenburg in February and at 's-Hertogenbosch, Holland in March - are all-important.
2006/2007 FEI WORLD CUP™ JUMPING QUALIFIER AT LEIPZIG PRESENTED BY SPARKASSEN
RESULT: 1, Coster (Christian Ahlmann) Ger 0/0 42.23; 2, Sandro Boy (Marcus Ehning) Ger 0/0 42.46; 3, Controe (Marco Kutscher) Ger 0/0 44.43; 4, Carino (Ulrich Kirchhoff) Ger 0/0 44.8; 5, Ever Mury Marais Z (Patrick McEntee) Bel 0/0 47.84; 6, The Sixth Sense (Thomas Fruhmann) Aut 0/4 42.48; 7, Checkmate (Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum) Ger 0/4 43.25; 8, Enorm (Ludger Beerbaum) Ger 0/4 43.56; 9, MacKinley (Rolf-Goran Bengtsson) Swe 0/8 40.70; 10, Hofgut Lieerbach's Abrisca (Pia-Luise Aufrecht) Ger 0/8 44.73; 11, Peu a Peu (Daniel Etter) Sui 0/8 45.20; 12, Blauendraad's O'Brien (Angelique Hoorn) Ned 4/67.23; 13, Butterfly Flip (Malin Baryard-Johnsson) Swe 4/67.71; 14, Fein Cera (Peter Wylde) USA 4/69.15; 15, La Toya (Markus Fuchs) Sui 4/69.51; 16, Audi's Paloma (Eric van der Vleuten) ned 4/69.81; 17, Conally (Markus Renzel) Ger 4/69.93; 18, Nanta (Jonella Ligresti) Ita 5/72.60; 19, Nelson Z (Richard Davenport) GBR 5/72.81; 20, Al-Kaheel Cavalor Cumano (Jos Lansink) Bel 5/73.34; 21, Prima Vera (Robert Whitaker) GBR 5/74.26; 22, Aboyeur W (Heinrich Hermann Engemann) Germany 8/65.70; 23, Quibell (Jessica Kuerten) Irl 8/65.89; 24, Aquino (Franke Sloothaak) Ger 0/68.81; Equal 25, Limbo (Otto Becker) Ger, Candy (Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst) Ger 8/69.54; 27, Casino (John Whitaker) GBR 8/69.57; 28, Dover (Luciana Diniz) Por 8/69.98; 29, Sundal Colliers Cattani (Geir Gulliksen) Nor 8/70.14; 30; Leena (Markus Beerbaum) Ger 8/70.87; 31, Jolly Royal C (Linnea Ericsson) Den 8/71.67; 32, Calle Cool (Carsten-Otto Nagel) Ger 9/72.79; 33, Pristanna (Daniel Deusser) Ger 10/78.15; 34, Lincoln (Albert Zoer) Ned 12/66.67; 35, Eurocommerce Monaco (Gerco Schroder) Ned 12/70.56; 36, Isaac du Jonquet (Mikael Forsten) Fin 13/75.32; 37, Oleandre (Gregoire Oberson) Sui 13/75.56; 38, SIEC Hippica Kerman (Cameron Hanley) Irl 15/83.76; 39, Clausen (Holger Wulschner) Ger 16/71.89; 40, Leroy Brown (Manuel Fernando Saro) Esp Ret.
FEI WORLD CUP™ JUMPING 2006/2007 - WESTERN EUROPEAN LEAGUE LEADERBOARD AFTER ROUND 8 AT LEIPZIG:
1. Christian Ahlmann - 78
2. Beat Mandli - 64
3. Albert Zoer - 50
4. Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum- 48
5. Judy-Ann Melchior - 44
6. Gerco Schroder - 42
7. Rene Tebbel - 42
8. Michael Whitaker - 39
9. Patrick McEntee - 34
10. Steve Guerdat - 30
11. Leopold Van Asten - 30
12. Marcus Ehning - 28
13. Jos Lansink - 27
14. Eugenie Angot - 27
15. Markus Beerbaum - 25
16. Tony Andre Hansen - 25
17. Marco Kutscher - 24
18. Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst - 23
19. Edwina Alexander - 23
20. Malin Baryard-Johnsson - 21
For further information on the FEI World Cup™ at Leipzig check out WEBSITE www.engarde.de. Show Director is Volker Wulff, Show Secretary is Conny Reuss and Press Officer is Andreas Kerstan, Tel (mobile) +49 177 827970, Email akerstan@kerstan.de.
The NEXT leg of the series takes place in Amsterdam, The Netherlands 25-28 January 2007. Show Director is Chris Van Dam, Show Secretary is Noelle Nanning and Press Officer is Charlotte Gunnick, Tel (mobile) +31 638 325326. WEBSITE - www.jumpingamsterdam.nl.
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 Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), founded in 1921, is the international body governing equestrian sport recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and includes 135 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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