It was a German one-two at the sixth leg of the FEI World Cup™ Jumping series at Olympia in London this afternoon where Markus Beerbaum pipped fellow-countryman Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst for the honours in the 10-horse jump-off.
This was Beerbaum's very first European World Cup victory and he was well pleased with the result. "I always wanted to win here at Olympia, I had one fence down in the jump-off last year, and although I did not have such a great ride today it was meant to be that I would win!" he pointed out.
Course designer Jorge Guillherme from Brazil has been highly praised by the riders all week for the quality of his tracks and he came up with another great 13-fence test in the opening round today. The ring in the Grand Hall at Olympia is not the biggest in the world, and it looked a bit like Spaghetti Junction with the extra jump-off fences also in place as the class began, but the world's top riders failed to be intimidated. Last year's FEI World Cup™ class winners Robert Smith and Kalusha however lost their rhythm when, first into the ring, the grey gelding scrambled the triple-bar at fence 10 sending the British rider pitching forward and then ground to a halt at the following vertical. The next three all jumped clear however and the home supporters were delighted when that trio included their own Mark Armstrong riding Thesaura and Tim Stockdale with Fresh Direct Corlato along with Holland's Angelique Hoorn. However Nick Skelton's early retirement after having both of the first two fences down with Russel was a surprise.
The bogey fence on the first-round track proved to be the vertical at fence five which came at the end of a line that started with another vertical at fence three followed by a double at four, many horses arriving too deep to the last obstacle in the series, while the front element of the treble at fence 11 was also influential . Dutchman Eric Van der Vleuten, who has been enjoying a really positive run at the London fixture, was next to qualify for the jump-off in which he would be joined by reigning European champion Marco Kutscher from Germany, World No. 4 rider Jessica Kuerten from Ireland, Beerbaum and Pollmann-Schweckhorst, WEG gold medallist Albert Zoer from Holland and Switzerland's Beat Mandli who heads the FEI World Cup™ leaderboard by a long margin.
Over another signature Guillherme jump-off track that included plenty of twisting turns and then a long gallop to the final oxer, Armstrong set the pace with a great effort from the 10 year old Thesaura who stopped the clock on 36.66 seconds. Stockdale however shaved a full second off that to the delight of his ringside supporters and this was a superb achievement for the popular British rider because his mare is only just back in work after a traumatic injury. Hoorn's bay stallion Blauendraad's O'Brien clipped the second fence and added four more faults when standing a long way off the last while Van der Vleuten was well up on time after two excellent early turns when his mare, Audi's Paloma, hit the fourth. Kutscher's chances slipped away when his stallion, Controe, hit the first fence and then caught the second element of the double three fences from home where Kuerten's Castle Forbes Libertina also picked up four faults, but Beerbaum then recorded the third clear jump-off round and it was fairly spectacular.
He wasn't even sure how he had done it himself afterwards - "from one to two I did eight strides instead of seven and across the middle I did seven instead of six so I didn't think I could be so fast" he pointed out, but it was his turn from the penultimate double and his hair-raising gallop to the last that saw him break the beam in 35.13 seconds which really put it up to the remaining three.
Pollmann-Schweckhorst is known as the "Indoor King" in his home country but not even one of the fastest mare's around, the brave and brilliant 14 year old Candy, could better that as she raced home in 35.46 seconds to slip into second place. Zoer and Okidoki also gave it everything they had, but Beerbaum had left no room for improvement and with 36.44 seconds showing on the clock the Dutch partnership were to finish down the order. Last man in, Beat Mandli, decided to go quickly without risking everything with the handsome chestnut Indigo whose time of 35.46 proved good enough however to slot into third spot as the class concluded with Beerbaum the indisputable victor.
When asked afterwards how it feels to be constantly in the shadow of his older brother, German ace Ludger Beerbaum, Markus replied quietly "it is true that this is the way it is, but I have been in the shadow of my brother for quite some time and it's going to stay like that" he said. However the 36 year old rider whose super-successful wife, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, is currently lying No. 2 in the World Rankings does not allow these things to limit his own ambition. A member of the Germany WEG gold medal winning team in Rome in 1998 and also of the European Championship gold medal winning side in Mannheim a year earlier Markus has now risen to eleventh place on the FEI World Cup™ Western European League leaderboard and intends to fight for a place at the final in Las Vegas next April. "You need about 40 points to qualify and I'm a bit more than half-way there" he pointed out with some satisfaction.
Second-placed Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst complimented the course-building today - "this is how it should be" he said, "the first round and the jump-off suited Candy and she showed what a special horse she is. I'm actually a bit overwhelmed because all my horses are in such top form" he pointed out, adding that the unique formula for the show at Olympia "makes a great atmosphere and presents the sport in the best possible way".
Fourth-placed Tim Stockdale was thronged by fans in the aftermath of the competition. He has become something of a media personality since training a group of celebrities to take part in a TV series called "Only Fools on Horses" which attracted huge audiences and brought a lot of positive attention to the sport. He says now however that while he was happy to do his bit for show jumping he wants people "to remember that I can ride as well" and he has high hopes for the grey mare French Direct Corlato who has been dogged by bad luck. The horse was involved in a motor accident early this year when a car crashed into the back of a trailer in which she was travelling and then, during the nations cup show in Lisbon, she broke her shoulder when falling at the water fence. Stockdale broke six ribs in the same fall but both horse and rider are now recovered and Stockdale said he was "over the moon" because Corlato jumped so well on only her third outing since returning to action.
The next leg of the FEI World Cup™ Jumping series takes place at Mechelen in Belgium where Markus Beerbaum where the fixture runs from 26 to 30 December.
FEI WORLD CUP™ QUALIFIER presented by H&M
RESULT: 1, Leena (Markus Beerbaum) Ger 0/0 35.13; 2, Candy (Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst) Ger 0/0 35.46; 3, Indigo (Beat Mandli) Sui 0/0 35.48; 4, Fresh Direct Corlato (Tim Stockdale) GBR 0/0 35.66; 5, Okidoki (Albert Zoer) Ned 0/0 36.44; 6, Thesaura (Mark Armstrong) GBR 0/0 36.66; 7, Audi's Paloma (Eric Van der Vleuten) Ned 0/4 34.32; 8, Castle Forbes Libertina (Jessica Kuerten) Irl 0/4 35.81; 9, Blauwendraad's O'Brien (Angelique Hoorn) Ned 0/8 34.62; 10, Controe (Marco Kutscher) Ger 0/8 36.92; 11, Ilion Kilen (Liubox Kochetova) Rus 1/79.64; 12, Ilostra Dark (Eugenie Angot) Fra 4/72.53; 13, Cortaflex Amber du Montois (William Funnell) GBR 4/72.64; 14, Inedite de Balme (Simon Delestre) Fra 4/73.01; 15, H&M Butterfly Flip (Malin Baryard-Johnsson) Swe 4/73.53; 16, La Toya (Markus Fuchs) Sui 4/73.76; 17, Ever Mury Marais Z (Patrick McEntee) Bel 4/74.63; 18, H&M Colleen (Peder Fredricsson) Swe 4/75.08; 19, Lacroix (Robert Whitaker) GBR 4/75.21; 20, Legurio (Franke Sloothaak) Ger 4/75.64; 21, Bob's Diamond (Ben Maher) GBR 4/76.27; 22, Locarno (Ellen Whitaker) GBR 4/76.46; 23, HBC Pherna (Julia Kayser) Aut 5/78.54; 24, Sundal Colliers Cattani (Geir Gulliksen) Nor 8/73.82; 25, Casino (John Whitaker) GBR 8/74.22; 26, Clausen (Holger Wulschner) Ger 8/74.59; 27, Insultech Mozart des Hayettes (Michael Whitaker) GBR 8/75.04; 28, Kalusha (Robert Smith) GBR 8/90.34; 29, BMC's Skybreaker (Mikael Forsten) Fin 12/75.61; 30, Nanta Jonella Ligresti-Bonomelli) Ita 14/85.06; 31, Jolly Royal C (Linnea Ericsson) Den 16/75.57; 32, Hurricane (Peter Wylde) USA 16/76.17; 33, Vahagn de Lozana (Ryan Prater) GBR 17/79.00; equal 34, Cassabachus (Geoff Billington) GBR, Russel (Nick Skelton) GBR Retired.
FEI WORLD CUP™ JUMPING 2006/2007 - WESTERN EUROPEAN LEAGUE LEADERBOARD AFTER ROUND 6 AT LONDON, OLYMPIA:
1. Beat Mandli - 64
2. Albert Zoer - 50
3. Christian Ahlmann - 47
4. Gerco Schroder - 42
5. Rene Tebbel - 42
6. Michael Whitaker - 39
7. Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum - 38
8. Leopold Van Asten- 30
9. Judy-Ann Melchior - 29
10. Eugenie Angot - 27
11. Markus Beerbaum - 25
12. Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst - 23
13. Edwina Alexander - 23
14. Harry Smolders, Steve Guerdat - 20
16. Piet Raymakers, Daniel Deusser - 17
18. Malin Baryard-Johnsson - 17
19. Ellen Whitaker, Ludo Phillipaerts - 15.
For further information on the FEI World Cup™qualifying leg at the London International Horse Show at Olympia consult WEBSITE www.olympiahorseshow.com. Show President at Olympia is Lord Vestey, Show Director is Simon Brooks-Ward LVO OBE TD, Show Secretary is Penny Henderson and Press Officer is Candy Burnyeat, Email: nutter@easynet.co.uk, Tel: (mobile) +441753847900.
The next leg of the series takes place at Mechelen in Belgium from 26-30 December. Show President is Wout van de Walle, Skhow Director is Peter Bollen, Show Secretary is Yolande Wauters and Press Officer is Edith de Reys - Tel (mobile) +32 475659281, Email edith.dereys@skynet.be.
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