FEI World Cup Update - Bordeaux

Hubert Bourdy kept the home crowd happy with a superb victory riding VDL Groep Eve des Etisses at the ninth leg of the FEI World Cup Jumping series in Bordeaux tonight.

The French fixture attracted nine of the top ten riders in the world including six from Germany but it was German-based Irishwoman Jessica Kuerten who slotted into runner-up spot ahead of Marcus Ehning while Britain's Michael Whitaker finished fourth.

Frank Rothenberger's course produced 10 first-round clears but Marco Kutscher and Controe made a single error when pathfinders against the clock, and Holland's Gert-Jan Bruggink and Joel collected eight faults to leave the door wide open.

Rodrigo Pessoa and Carlot had one fence down in a careful time of 43.54 seconds and there was a groan of disbelief when home runner Jean-Marc Nicolas also faulted once with JPC Modesto Equifoam but, fifth into the ring, Hubert Bourdy made no mistake.

"The course was quite like Leipzig – it was very big and Frank Rothenberger expected no more than six or seven clears so it was a surprise that 10 got through to the jump-off" Bourdy said after his win.

"When I was going into the second round I knew I had so many good riders behind me that I had to go quite fast. I was quickest on the course over the first four fences and then eased up a bit, especially before the last which was a big vertical. I felt I had lost a bit of time there and that therefore I would be caught but it didn’t happen" he added.

The rider from Lyons steered his 13 year old mare to cross the line in 38.43 seconds and although Michael Whitaker followed with another clear performance from Portofino he was almost two seconds slower.

Germany's Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst and Candy have been firing on all cylinders recently but they too lacked sufficient speed to catch the leader when breaking the beam in 41.08 seconds and when reigning FEI World Cup champion Bruno Broucqsault had a fence down with Hooligan de Rosyl only two more riders stood between Bourdy and success.

Marcus Ehning and Sandro Boy were second-last to go and opted for a sensible clear in 40.07 seconds but Jessica Kuerten put her foot to the floor with Quibell from the start.


The Irish rider has had a frustrating few weeks in the World Cup series, qualifying in a good position from the preliminary classes at both Leipzig and Amsterdam but then making simple but costly errors in the qualifying competition. Today however it all came together and her 11 year old mare galloped gamely all the way, stopping the clock in 38.69 seconds to slot snugly in behind Bourdy’s winning time to take second place and the 16,000 euro that went with it.

With the 27,000 euro winners purse and 20 points on the FEI World Cup leaderboard the Frenchman was well pleased and he now has big plans.

"I had already decided to go to Vigo next weekend and then to Paris-Bercy so maybe now I will make it to Las Vegas!" he said, delighted with the result.

"If my mare is jumping as good as she did today when I get to Las Vegas then we will do well. Today she was perfect – she jumped so easily in the first round. Last year I went last in the jump off and I went a bit crazy because I wanted to beat Rodrigo and Baloubet – I tried too hard – but this time I did it right!" he explained.

His maximum-point scoring leaves him in equal-24th position and with four more qualifiers remaining Hubert Bourdy might just make the cut, but its getting tougher every time as Las Vegas looms large on the horizon and the heat is very definitely turned on as riders head for Vigo next weekend.

RESULT:

1, VDL Groep Eve des Etisses (Hubert Bourdy) Fra 0/0 38.43; 2, Quibell (J Kuerten) Irl 0/0 38.69; 3, Sandro Boy (Marcus Ehning) Ger 0/0 40.07; 4, Portofino (Michael Whitaker) GBR 0/0 40.19; 5, Candy (Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst) Ger 0/0 41.08; 6, Controe (Marco Kutscher) Ger 0/4 39.99; 7, JPC Modesto Equifoam (Jean-Marc Nicolas) Fra 0/4 42.88; 8, Carlot (Rodrigo Pessoa) Bra 0/4 43.54; 9, Hooligan de Rosyl (Bruno Broucqsault) Fra 0/4 44.08; 10, Joel (Gert-Jan Bruggink) Ned 0/8 39.56; 11, Shutterfly (Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum) Ger 1 fault; equal 12, Cinderella (Maria Gretzer) Swe, Campus (Steve Guerdat) Sui, Arko (Nick Skelton) GBR, Cyrenaika FRH (Philippe Leoni) Fra, Cigale du Tallis (Eugenie Angot) Fra, VDL Groep Grande Dame (Jan Tops) Ned, Hermine d’Auzay (Daniel Etter) Sui, Lucie (Lars Nieberg) Ger, Galet D’Auzay (Michel Robert) Fra, Couleur Rubin (Ludger Beerbaum) Ger, Parco (Ludo Philippaerts) Bel, Heritisre D;Adriers (Philippe Rozier) Fra, Eurocommerce Monaco (Gerco Schroder) Ned 4 faults; 25, Laguina (Richard Davenport) GBR 5 faults; equal 26, Kannan (Michel Hecart) Fra, Diabolo du Parc (Ludovic Leygue) Fra, Majestic (Alvaro Munoz Escassi) Esp, First de Launay (Florian Angot) Fra, La Toya (Markus Fuchs) Sui, Andante (Tina Lund) Den, Crocus Graverie (Gilles de Balanda) Fra, Grandilot (Otto Becker) Ger 8 faults; 34, Tessio (Stein Endresen) Nor 24 faults; 35, Miss Speed (Sebastian Numminen) Fin Elim; equal 36, Envoye Special (Patrice Deleveau) Fra, S&L 11th and Bleeker (Gerfried Puck) Aut, Sundance K (Franke Sloothaak) Ger.

FEI WORLD CUP JUMPING LEADERBOARD AFTER ROUND 9 IN BORDEAUX:

1. Nick Skelton - 60

2. Marcus Ehning, Rolf-Goran Bengtsson – 50.

4. Lars Nieberg - 49

5. Wim Schroder - 48

6. Toni Hassmann - 44

7. Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum - 43

8. Christophe Barbeau - 42

9. Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst - 41

10. Eric Van der Vleuten, Richard Davenport - 40

12. Rodrigo Pessoa - 38

13. Marco Kutscher, Michael Whitaker - 37

15. Gerco Schroder, Thomas Velin - 35

17. Christian Ahlmann - 31

18. Otto Becker, Steve Guerdat - 28

20. Philippe Leoni - 27.

For further details about the FEI World Cup show in Bordeaux contact Press Officer Marie-Sol Fournier at email presse@bordeaux-expo.com. Show Director at Bordeaux is Francois-Bernard Martin, email direction@bordeaux-expo.com and Show Secretary is Sabine Palau, email s.palau_bordeaux-expo.om. Website address www.jumping-bordeaux.com.

The next leg of the series takes place in Vigo, Spain on Sunday 13 February 2005. Show Secretary at Vigo is Irena Gonzalez Garcia, Tel ++34 986 288132 or email csivigo@csivigo.com. Press Officer is Alejandra Mier Rodriguez, Tel ++ 34 657 593093 or email amier@csivigo.com. Website address is www.csi.vigo.com.