With three riders finishing in the top five it was a fine day for the Dutch at the third leg of the 2006/2007 FEI World Cup™ Jumping series at Verona in Italy today where FEI WEG team gold medalist Gerco Schroder swept to victory ahead of Leopold Van Asten while Albert Zoer slotted into fifth.
The result shoots Schroder to the top of the series leaderboard, and with 37 points now to his credit he is looking like a sure-fire contender for the final in Las Vegas, USA next April.
Course designer Giolvanni Bussu's 13-fence first-round track gave them plenty to think about and five of the 40 starters retired en route including Britain's Robert Smith whose stallion Marius Claudius was obviously not on song, and Vici Van't Plutonia who was also lacklustre for Belgium's Ludo Philippaerts. El Salvador's Ortego Alfredo Hernandez survived an action-packed tour of the track only to hit the floor when Takashi Van Berkenbroek stood a long way off the last and unseated him, but the partnership collected only 16 faults because the rider had cleared the finish line before parting company with his mount.
A total of 10 made it through to the second-round jump-off in which Italy's Piergiorgio Bucci led the way with Da Zara Tabluetin. The 10 year old Belgian-bred left three fences on the floor this time out however but Albert Zoer's high-stepping Oki Doki made only a single mistake when next to go in what proved to be the fastest time in the class - 39.55 seconds. Sweden's Royne Zetterman and Isaac lowered two while Denmark's Thomas Velin and Godsend du Reverdy faulted just once, but then the home crowd went wild with delight as the first double-clear of the competition was recorded by their very own Jonella Ligresti Bonomelli.
From Milan, and Chairman of one of the biggest insurance company's in Italy, SAI, Jonella is an amateur rider with a difference who competed with her other good horse, Quinta, at the FEI WEG in Aachen in August. Not in the least fazed by the fact that she had one of the super-stars of German show jumping, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, following in her wake, Ligresti Bonomelli brought the 11 year old Dutch mare Nanta through the finish in 45.03 seconds to take the lead, but it did prove to be short-lived when Meredith shaved more than three seconds off that target with a great round from Shutterfly.
Italy's Giorgio Nuti and Jeff de Boele had three fences down and, surprisingly, so did Australia's Edwina Alexander and Isovlas Pialotta who were two of the great heroes of the WEG final-four individual competition this summer but Leopold Van Asten and VDL Groep Fleche Rouge put it up to his fellow-countryman Schroder when, second-last to go, he scorched home without incident in 41.02 seconds.
"I didn't see Meredith's round because I was warming up" Schroder said afterwards, "but I did see Leopold over a few fences and I knew what I needed to do". With sharp turns all the way around the eight-fence jump-off course which included a big double at the halfway stage, Mr Bussu had asked them plenty of questions. "It was about having good control of your horse and the jump-off fences were plenty big" Schroder pointed out. Bussu left them a long gallop from the penultimate triple bar - measuring 1.70m high on the back bar - to the final 1.60m vertical and the Dutchman admitted that luck played some part in his success. "Yes luck was on my side today but that's this sport for you - some days you have have it, some days you don't!" he said, "and Milano was really trying for me" he added having secured victory when breaking the beam almost a full second sooner than Van Asten.
He has only just brought the 12 year old Dutch-bred mare back into action for the indoor season and she was runner-up for him in Helsinki three weeks ago - "I was riding Eurocommerce Berlin in Aachen so now he gets a break and Milano takes over for the early indoors - Berlin will start again in January" the rider explained having pocketed over €38,000 for his afternoon's work today. He plans to compete at next weekend's fourth leg of the FEI World Cup™ Jumping series in Stuttgart, Germany and then goes to the Dutch fixture at Maastricht - "then maybe Paris" he said, well-pleased that his ticket for Las Vegas is now well within reach.
RESULT: 1, Eurocommerce Milano (Gerco Schroder) Ned 0/0 40.09; 2, VDL Groep Fleche Rouge (Leopold Van Asten) Ned 0/0 41.02; 3, Shutterfly (Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum) Ger 0/0 41.51; 4, Nanta (Jonella Ligresti Bonomelli) Ita 0/0 45.03; 5, Oki Doki (Albert Zoer) Ned 0/4 39.55; 6, Godsend du Reverdy (Thomas Velin) Den 0/4 44.78; 7, Isaac (Royne Zetterman) Swe 0/8 41.64; 8, Isovlas Pialotta (Edwina Alexander) Aus 0/12 40.01; 9, Da Zara Tabluetin (Piergiorgio Bucci) Ita 0/12 44.47; 10, Jeff du Boele (Giorgio Nuti) Ita 0/12 45.51; 11, Loro Piana Eclipso DC (Filippo Moyersoen) Ita 4/67.17; 12, Leena (Markus Beerbaum) Ger 4/67.24; 13, Inedite de Balme (Simon Delestre) Fra 4/68.47; 14, Jericho de la Vie (Giuseppe Rolli) 4/68.66; 15, Controe (Marco Kutscher) Ger 4/69.84; 16, Loro Piana Albin (Juan Carlos Garcia) 4/70.20; 17, Carino (Ulrich Kirchhoff) Ger 4/71.41; 18, Camiro (Tony Andre Hansen) Nor 4/73.31; 19, Hippica Kerman (Cameron Hanley) Irl 4/73.34; 20, Canturo (Bernardo Alves) Bra 8/66.08; 21, Da Zara Harianne d'Authieux (Natale Chiaudani) Ita 8/68.50; 22, Nirmette (Markus Fuchs) Sui 8/70.00; 23, Locarno (Ellen Whitaker) GBR 8/70.30; 24, Jaina de Varnevil (Rutherford Latham) Esp 8/70.47; 25, Jalisca Solier (Steve Guerdat) Sui 8/71.62; 26, L'Espoir (Ludger Beerbaum) Ger 8/72.16; 27, Landknecht (Bruno Chimirri) Ita 8/73.22; 28, Loro Piana Porn Star (Gianni Govoni) Ita 12/68.50; 29, Lacroix (Robert Whitaker) GBR 12/68.56; 30, MacKinley (Rolf-Goran Bengtsson) Swe 12/69.41; 31, Gruppo Barcaccia AK Cordjana Z (Emiliano Varagnolo) Ita 12/71.95; 32, Sign of the Time (Daniel Sonnberger) Aut 12/75.05; 33, Careful (Andre Sakakini) Ita 16/68.60; 34, Takashi Van Berkenbroek (Alfredo Ortega Hernandez) Esa 16/73.13; 35, Salomon Ter Wilgen (Giulia Martinengo) Ita 20/69.57; 36 equal, Marius Cladius (Robert Smith) Great Britain, Nico H (Paolo Toscano) Ita, Jeckerson Kapitol D'Argonne (Emilio Bicocchi) Ita, Vici van't Plutonia (Ludo Philippaerts) Bel, Olympic Z (Judy-Ann Melchior) Bel - Retired.
FEI WORLD CUP™ JUMPING 2006/2007 - WESTERN EUROPEAN LEAGUE LEADERBOARD AFTER ROUND 3 AT VERONA:
1. Gerco Schroder - 37
2. Beat Mandli - 31
3. Leopold Van Asten - 30
4. Michael Whitaker - 28
5. Rene Tebbel - 27
6. Eugenie Angot - 22
7. Christian Ahlmann, Harrie Smolders - 20
9. Judy-Ann Melchior, Piet Raymakers - 17
11. Ellen Whitaker, Ludo Philippaerts, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum - 15
14. Jonella Ligresti Bonomelli, Peter Wylde - 13
16. Albert Zoer, Daniel Etter - 12
18. Thomas Velin 11
19. Jos Lansink, Royne Zetterman - 10
21. Edwina Alexander - 9
For further information about the FEI World Cup™ Jumping qualifier at Verona check WEBSITE www.veronafiere.it. Show President at Verona is Dott. Claudio Valente, Show Director is Maria Emer Agostini and Show Secretary is Roberta Agostini. PRESS OFFICER is Caterina Vagnozzi, Email c.vagnozzi@iol.it, Tel (Mobile) +39335 6107070.
The next leg of the series takes place next weekend, from 15-19 November, in Stuttgart, Germany, WEBSITE www.stuttgart-german-masters.de. Show Presidents are Andreas Kroll and Martin Rau, Show Director is Gotthilf Riexinger and Show Secretary is Christian Abel. PRESS OFFICER is Hartmut Binder, MPS Marketing u.Presserservice GMBH, Tel +49172 9722848, Email hartmut.binder@mps-agentur.de.
YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE RULES FOR 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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