ROLEX FEI WORLD CUP™ JUMPING 2007/2008 - PRESS RELEASE NO. 2

LATHAM WINS IN HELSINKI.......

Spain's Rutherford Latham claimed the honours in the second leg of the 2007/2008 Rolex FEI World Cup™ Jumping series presented by Glitnir in Helsinki, Finland this afternoon. Sweden's Rolf-Goran Bengtsson finished second ahead of Germany's Heinrich Hermann Engemann and these were the only three to find their way into the second-round jump-off.

It was clear that course-designer Aki Ylanne had set them a tough task when French veteran Jean-Marc Nicolas (JPC Modesto) and Dutchman Henk van de Pol (Dan-7 T) were amongst three eliminations while another experienced Frenchman, Julien Epaillard (Lord du Janlie), decided to retire along with Germany's Thomas Muhlbauer (Asti Spumante) and Denmark's Linnea Ericsson (Pero-Z Hillock). Combinations of this calibre are not normally fazed by the challenges set for them, but as the winner pointed out afterwards "there was nothing easy about this today...."

And four faults counted for a lot as it turned out.

Last weekend's winner in Oslo, Helena Lundback from Sweden, lowered just a single fence with Madick but their fast time clinched fourth place ahead of Germany's Daniel Deusser and Air Jordan Z who were next-quickest of the nine four-faulters. This leaves Lundback with a running total of 33 Rolex FEI World Cup™ Jumping points and sharing the lead on the Western European league table with Latham going into the next leg at Verona in Italy in three weeks time.

The Spaniard was first in against the clock and had the handbrake off. "I decided to have a real go at it because, no matter what happened, I couldn't be worse than third!" he pointed out afterwards. Setting the target in 38.26 seconds with his 13 year old French-bred stallion Guarana Champeix he then sat back and watched the other two take their turn, but Bengtsson opted for caution when bringing the nine year old stallion Quintero la Silla through the finish more than five seconds slower in 43.94.

Caution however is not a word that Engemann and his veteran campaigner Aboyeur W understand and, last into the ring, the German partnership set off at a cracking pace, looking very threatening until hitting the final fence but, as it turned out, still a half-second slower than the winning partnership.

This was Latham's very first World Cup victory so today was a real red-letter day for the American-born 53 year old. Originally from New York, he moved to live in Spain when just six years old and in 1982, when he was 28, he became a Spanish citizen in order to compete at the Los Angeles Olympic Games two years later. He has since become a lynchpin of the Spanish team, although he is based near Deauville in France.

His relationship with Guarana Champeix is a long one. "I have him since he was five and he is a nice horse, he always tries to do his best - in fact he is a good friend of mine!" the rider pointed out. "He has done plenty of Nations Cups and has a lot of experience" he added, and obviously the stallion is enjoying the early stages of this indoor jumping season because he finished fifth in Oslo just seven days ago.

Asked about today's track and the surprising number of problems it presented, Latham explained "the distances were difficult, they were both long and short so you couldn't settle into any kind of rhythm - to be honest I only got into a rhythm when we came back into the ring for the jump-off". And he wasn't sure he had been quick enough against the clock until it was all over. "The later riders are always faster than the first and I thought Engemann was quick but then he hit a fence and was a little slower" he said.

Today's result has given the rider a hunger for further success - "I'd like to go to more qualifiers if my Federation will let me" he pointed out and he's hoping to get to Verona for the next leg and to Gothenburg for the final next April.

If his first two outings are anything to go by, then his mission is definitely not an impossible one......

RESULT: 1, Guarana Champeix (Rutherford Latham) Esp 0/0 38.26; 2 Quintero La Silla (Rolf Goran Bengtsson) Swe 0/0 43.94; 3, Aboyeur W (Heinrich Hermann Engemann) Ger 0/4 38.85; 4, Madick (Helena Lundback) Swe 4/67.16; 5, Air Jordan (Daniel Deusser) Ger 4/67.30; 6, Quintero (Omar Bonomelli) Ita 4/67.82; 7, Isaac du Jonquet (Mikael Forsten) Fin 4/67.94; 8, Tagerups Agenda (Andreas Schou) Den 4/68.03; 9, Grim St Clair (Thomas Velin) Den 4/70.19; 10, Nirmette (M Fuchs) Sui 4/70.86; 11, Evli Cagliostro (Noora Pentti) Fin 4/71.59; 12, Aktion Pur Z (Judy-Ann Melchior) Bel 4/72.32; 13, Jalisca Solier (Steve Guerdat) Sui 8/63.97; 14, Van Schijndel's Curtis (Piet Raijmakers) Ned 8/65.49; 15, Zamiro (Tina Lund) Den 8/66.61; 16, Hamilton de Perhet (Juan Carlos Garcia) Ita 8/67.21; 17, Nobless M (Pius Schwizer) Sui 8/67.30; 18, Looping (Jurgen Krackow) Aut 8/67.60; 19, Fresh Direct Corlato (Tim Stockdale) GBR 8/68.07; 20, Nairobi (Leon Thijssen) Ned 8/68.72; 21, River Foyle (Capt S Carey) Irl 8/68.79; 22, Brokers Rhani du Puuvil (Tony Andre Hansen) Nor 8/68.81; 23, H&M Esprit (Malin Baryard-Johnsson) Swe 8/69.73; 24, Nanta (Jonella Ligresti) Ita 9/74.12; 25, Royal Power (Jose Larocca) Arg 0/76.70; 26, SIEC Livello (Cameron Hanley) Irl 12/68.05; 27, Umit (Wilm Vermeir) Bel 12/68.74; 28, Cyrenaika FRH (Philippe Leoni) Fra 12/69.32; 29, JK Horsetruks Cappe Z (Mans Buurman) Ned 12/73.25; 30, Calandro (Sebastian Numminen) Fin 12/88.15; 31, Bockmanns Olivia (Gilbert Bockmann) Ger 16/72.69; 32, Canarias (Jan Auen Hafskjold) Nor 20/68.27; 33, Da Zara Kanebo (Piergiorgio Bucci) Ita 30/95.45; 34, JPC Modesto (Jean Marc Nicolas) Fra, Nandele (Jukka Mikael Koivisto) Fin, Dan 7-T (Henk van de Pol) Ned Elim; 37, Lord du Janlie (Julien Epaillard) Fra, Asti Spumante (Thomas Muhlbauer) Ger, Pero-Z Hillock (Linnea Ericsson0 Den Ret.

ROLEX FEI WORLD CUP™ JUMPING 2007/2008 - WESTERN EUROPEAN LEADERBOARD AFTER ROUND 2 IN HELSINKI:

Eq 1. Helena Lundback, Rutherford Latham - 33
3. Rolf-Goran Bengtsson - 32
4. Juan Carlos Garcia - 18
5. Markus Fuchs - 16
6. Heinrich-Hermann Engemann - 15
Eq 7. Daniel Deusser, Cameron Hanley - 12
Eq 9. Omar Bonomelli, Philippe Leoni, Steve Guerdat - 11
Eq 12 Mikael Forsten, Pius Schwizer - 10
Eq 14 Andreas Schou, Thomas Velin - 9.

PHOTO CATALOGUE - Photographs of the winning riders in high and low resolution can be downloaded from the FEI online catalogue. To access it, please visit www.horsesport.org>Media Centre>Catalogue. There is no reproduction fee, but please credit photographer (photographer's name will appear under each photo)/FEI. Usage is strictly for editorial purposes.

For further information on the Rolex FEI World Cup™ Jumping qualifer in Helsinki, Finland from 19-22 October check out WEBSITE www.helsinkihorseshow.fi. Show President/Director is Tom Gordin, Show Secretary is Kaisa Kujala and Press Officer is Kati Hurme-Leikkonen - Mobile +358 405144753, Email kati.l.hurme@kolumbus.fi. The next leg of the series takes place in Verona, Italy from 8-11 November. Show President is Avv. Luigi Castelletti, Show Director is Maria Emer Agostini, Show Secretary is Roberta Agostini and Press Officer is Caterina Vagnozzi Tel (mobile) +39335 6107070, Email c.vagnozzi@iol.it, WEBSITE www.fieracavalli.com.

MEDIA GUIDE - The FEI is pleased to provide you with a Media Guide for the 2007/2008 season. The Guide is filled with useful facts, figures and statistics including the list of winners since the series began in 1978 and contact details to help you access all the information you need.

2007/2008 ROLEX FEI WORLD CUP™ JUMPING SERIES - CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR WESTERN EUROPEAN LEAGUE:
1, Oslo (Norway) 12-14 October; 2, Helsinki (Finland) 18-21 October; 3, Verona (Italy) 8-11 November; 4, Stuttgart (Germany) 14-18 November; 5, Geneva (Switzerland) 6-9 December; 6, London-Olympia (Great Britain) 17-22 December; 7, Mechelen (Belgium) 26-30 December; 8, Leipzig (Germany) 17-20 January; 9, Amsterdam (The Netherlands) 24-27 January; 10, Bordeaux (France) 1-3 February; 11, Vigo (Spain) 8-11 February; 12, 's-Hertogenbosch (The Netherlands) 27-30 March; FINAL - Gothenburg (Sweden) 24-27 April.

YOU CAN SEE IT ON TV
2007/2008 ROLEX FEI WORLD CUP™ JUMPING BROADCAST SCHEDULE FOR ROUND 1 AT OSLO:

Live/Delayed Live
YLE Finland - Sunday 21 October 14.50
Finnish Sport TV - Sunday 28 October 11.05, Sunday 4 November 15.40
RAI (Italy) - Check local service
SVT (Sweden) - Sunday 21 October 17.00
NOS (The Netherlands) - Check local service

Highlights
CBC Country (Canada) - Saturday 27 October 14.00, 20.00, 23.00
CNBC Asia - Check local service
CNBC Europe - Saturday 3 November 17.00
ESPN Brazil - Check local service
ESPN Star (Pan Asia) - Check local service
Eurosport - Wednesday 24 October 19.50
Finnish Sport TV - Saturday 3 November 18.25
Fox Australia - Check local service
Fox Middle East - Check local service
M-Net (Pan Africa) - Thursday 8 November 18.30, Friday 9 November 02.30, 10.00, Saturday 10 November 06.00,
Sunday 11 November 13.00, Monday 12 November 15.00, Wednesday 14 November 19.00,
Friday 16 November 23.00.
Sport TV (Portugal) - Check local service
Sport Plus (France) - Monday 5 November 22.45

YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE RULES FOR FEI WORLD CUP™ JUMPING RIDERS FROM FEI WEBSITE www.feiworldcup.org

FEI World Cup™ Jumping has entered its 30th 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 Gothenburg, Sweden which takes place from 24-27 April 2008. The title-holder is Switzerland's Beat Mandli.

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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