Britain's Robert Smith galloped to victory at the final leg of the
Western European League FEI World Cup Jumping series in Gothenburg
today and lies dangerously close to a qualifying spot for next months
Final in Las Vegas.
In a truly thrilling competition that included some fascinating twists
and turns Smith used the devastating speed of his horse, Kalusha, to
put the result beyond question when fourth-last to go in the 11-horse
jump-off but Ireland's Jessica Kuerten was well pleased when slotting
into second spot with Quibell because this booked her ticket to the USA
in four weeks time.
Olaf Petersen's first-round track saw several of the favorites go out
of contention including last weekend's winners Rodrigo Pessoa and
Baloubet du Rouet from Brazil who caught the middle part of the
combination to join eight others on a four-fault result but Britain's
John Whitaker lost out on the timed round when just a single second
outside the time-allowed with Exploit du Roulade.
First in against the clock was Sweden's Linda Heed with Lelodie who
returned with just a single fence on the floor but the first real
surprise of the competition was produced by Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum
and Shutterfly.
The German partnership looked like they were about to set a really
difficult target for the remaining runners but Meredith lost her turn
through the finish after the last fence and, instead of going left,
turned right and had to circle before crossing the line. This resulted
in the addition of four faults.
Sweden's Frederik Gustafsson then lowered one fence in a time of 42.54
seconds but Marco Kutscher set the first real target when clear in
40.99 seconds with Controe for Germany.
Ludo Philippaerts was also clear but almost a second slower with
Chatman. Next in was Britain's Nick Skelton with Arko who scorched
around in 40.08 seconds to set the quickest time to date but there was
one fence down, however Jessica Kuerten knew a qualifying spot was
within her grasp and she gave it everything she had.
"Quibell made her Grand Prix debut here two years ago and I was
confident of her. We were under a lot of pressure and I put in an
extra stride in front of the last fence because the crowd were making
such a noise I thought she might lose her concentration. I had to go
clear, I had to finish in the first four to qualify and when I was
coming into the last I just kept thinking - keep left, keep left" she
said.
The clock showed 40.25 seconds and that was now the new target but
Smith and Kalusha soon changed that.
"I knew I could be fast in the jump-off - he's a very quick horse and
to be honest it went my way a bit, I thought I could do it" he said.
"The course needed a horse to be careful and my horse doesn't like
hitting fences - he moves across the ground so well and he's careful,
it all adds up to being quick and I can go flat out with him" he added.
With his foot to the floor he broke the beam in 39.07 seconds but Lars
Nieberg and Lucie were challenging strongly until making exactly the
same mistake as Meredith and Shutterfly after the last fence, penalised
with four faults in the quick time of 43.69 seconds. When Marcus
Ehning (Gitania) and America's Peter Wylde (Pinocchio) each collected
four faults it was all over.
"It's touch and go whether I will make it to Las Vegas but I'd really
like to get there" Robert said when it was confirmed that he now lies
23rd on the leaderboard. "That's borderline for qualification so I'll
have to wait and see" he added.
"My first choice of horse for Vegas would be Mr Springfield but he
won't be ready until the outdoor season starts so I'll have to take the
two horses I have here this weekend. The crowd have been brilliant to
me. This is my fourth win over the last few days and they gave me a
fantastic reception" he said.
However the line-up for Las Vegas won't be decided until tonight's
World Cup round in Tampa, Florida has concluded. Both Michael Whitaker
and Philippe Rozier could pick up points there which could change the
look of the leaderboard which is still headed by Nick Skelton ahead of
Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum.
RESULTS:
1, Kalusha (Robert Smith) GBR 0/0 39.07; 2, Quibell (Jessica Kuerten)
Irl 0/0 40.25; 3, Controe (Marco Kutscher) Ger 0/0 40.99; 4, Chatman
(Ludo Philippaerts) Bel 0/0 41.75; 5, Arko (Nick Skelton) GBR 0/4
40.08; 6, Pinocchio (Peter Wylde) USA 0/4 40.25; 7, Lelodie (Linda
Heed) Swe 0/4 42.19; 8, Pella VH Achtenhof (Frederik Gustafsson) Swe
0/4 42.54; 9, Lucie (Lars Nieberg) Ger 0/4 43.69; 10, Gitania (Marcus
Ehning) Ger 0/4 45.40; 11, Shutterfly (Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum) Ger
0/4 46.86; 12, Exploit du Roulard (John Whitaker) GBR 1 flt; equal 13,
Andante (Tina Lund) Den, H&M Butterfly Flip (Malin Baryard) Swe,
Couleur Rubin (Ludger Beerbaum) Ger, Audi's Jikke (Eric Van der
Vleuten) Ned, Special Ed (Jill Henselwood) Can, Spender S (M Gretzer)
Swe, Baloubet du Rouet (Rodrigo Pessoa) Bra, Coster (Christian Ahlmann)
Ger 4 faults; 21, VDL Groep des Etisses (Hubert Bourdy) Fra 6 faults;
equal 22, Pero-Z Hillock (Linnea Ericsson) Den, Cagliostro 930 (Niklas
Arvidsson) Swe, Nicolette (Robert Whitaker) GBR, ET Royal Volo (Tony
Andre Hansen) Nor, Cellestial (Rolf Goran Bengtsson) Swe 8 faults;
equal 27, La Toya (Markus Fuchs) Sui, Lancelot (Angelie Van Essen) Swe,
Love Z (Geir Gulliksen) Nor 12 faultss ; 30, Miss Speed (Sebastian
Numminen) Fin Elim; equal 31, Fort Neuville de Joter (Bernardo Alves)
Bra, Equest Carnute (Thomas Velin) Den, Mynta (Helena Lundback) Swe,
H&M magic Bengtsson (Peder Fredricsson) Swe, Dobel's Cento (Otto
Becker) Ger, L'Accorde (Christian Anfinnsen Oien) Den, Sundance K
(Franke Sloothaak) Ger.
FEI WORLD CUP JUMPING 2004/2005 LEADERBOARD AFTER ROUND 13 IN
GOTHENBURG:
1, Nick Skelton - 83
2, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum - 76
3, Lars Nieberg - 74
4, Marco Kutscher - 65
5, Gerco Schroder, Ludo Philippaerts - 64
7, Rodrigo Pessoa, Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst - 57
9, Marcus Ehning - 57
10, Ludger Beerbaum - 52
11, Rolf-Goran Bengtsson, Philippe Leoni - 50
13, Wim Schroder - 48
14, Jessica Kuerten - 47
15, Eric Van der Vleuten, Thomas Velin - 46
17, Toni Hassmann, Richard Davenport - 44
19, Tina Lund - 43
20, Christope Barbeau, Michael Whitaker - 42
22, Hubert Bourdy - 39
23, Robert Smith, Christian Ahlmann, Steve Guerdat - 37.
For further information about the final qualifying leg of the FEI World
Cup Jumping 2004/2005 series in Gothenburg contact: Show Secretary
Wiveka Lundh - email w.lundh@horsesport.org or Press Officer Mayvor
Thorin - email mayvor.thorin@gotevent.goteborg.se, Tel (mobile) ++46
705 828 420 or visit website at www.goteborghorseshow.com.
The FINAL takes place in Las Vegas, USA from 20-24 March 2005. Show
President in Las Vegas is Pat Christenson, Show Director is Robert
Ridland and Show Secretary is Stephanie Wheeler, email
showpark@aol.com. Press Officer is Marty Baumann Tel: ++1 5086986810,
or email marty.classic@verizon.net.
THE MBPtv BROADCAST SCHEDULE FOR THE FEI WORLD CUP JUMPING QUALIFIER IN
GOTHENBURG IS AS FOLLOWS:
2004/2005 FEI WORLD CUP JUMPING SERIES - CALENDAR OF EVENTS:
1, Oslo - 10 October: 2, Helsinki - 17 October; 3,Verona - 7 November;
4, Geneva - 12 December; 5, London/Olympia - 19 December; 6, Mechelen -
30 December; 7, Leipzig - 23 January; 8, Amsterdam - 30 January; 9,
Bordeaux - 5 February; 10, Vigo - 12 February; 11, Paris-Bercy - 12
March; 12, s'Hertogenbosch - 20 March; 13, Gothenburg - 27 March; FINAL
- Las Vegas 20-24 April.
BIOGRAPHIES of riders competing in the FEI World Cup Jumping series are
available at http://bios.horsesport.org.
YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE RULES for World Cup Jumping riders from FEI
website www.horsesport.org.
FEI World Cup Jumping has entered its 27th year. The series, created
in 1978, today cromprises 13 leagues on all continents. The best riders
from 116 World Cup preliminary competitions will qualify for the Final
in Las Vegas, USA which takes place from 20 to 24 April 2005. The
title-holder is Bruno Broucqsault (FRA).
The Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI), founded in 1921, is the
international body governing equestrian sport recognised by the
International lympic 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 - and
the FEI has relentlessly concerned itself with the welfare of the
horse.
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