ROLEX FEI WORLD CUP™ JUMPING 2007/2008 - PRESS RELEASE NO. 5

MEREDITH SHINES AS THE LADIES STEAL THE SPOTLIGHT IN STUTTGART......

Reigning European Champion Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum secured a home victory in the fourth leg of the Rolex FEI World Cup™ Jumping series presented by Mercedes-Benz, Allianz and BW Bank in Stuttgart, Germany today with a thrilling jump-off performance from Shutterfly.

And the ladies were in flying form as Ireland's Jessica Kuerten finished second ahead of Eugenie Angot from France in third, while with Belgium's Judy-Ann Melchior in fifth and Portugal's Luciana Diniz in seventh the girls took five of the top ten finishing spots.

There were 14 through to the second-round jump-off over Uliano Vezzani's track and it was Irishman, Denis Lynch, who led the way with his new ride Lantinus which was formerly ridden by Gregory Wathelet for The Ukraine. Lynch, whose sponsor Thomas Straumann also bought the Daniel Deusser ride Upsilon d'Ocquier from Jan Tops earlier in the season, had two fences down in his path-finding round with the nine year old Lantinus, and Germany's Thomas Muhlbauer and Asti Spumante did likewise before Brazil's Alvaro Mirando and AD Picolien Zeidenrust set the first real target when returning with just four faults in 36.19 seconds.

Norway's Tony Andre Hansen was more than a second slower when leaving two on the floor with Camiro, but Heinrich-Hermann Engemann made only a single error with the 13 year old Aboyeur who broke the beam in 35.59.

It was fellow German, Ludger Beerbaum. who produced the first clear with the eight year old All Inclusive NRW who broke the beam in 37.46 seconds and then, as so often happens, the fault-free rounds just kept on coming. Belgium's Judy-Ann Melchior left the course intact with some nice jumping from the 10 year old Levisto who broke the beam in 38.15 seconds before the competition suddenly went into over-drive with a spectacular run from Jessica Kuerten and Castle Forbes Libertina.

The Irish partnership are particularly brilliant against the clock and when they crossed the line in 33.74 seconds they were almost four seconds ahead of previous leader Ludger Beerbaum and were now very definitely the ones to beat.

Luciana Diniz was competitive without being crazy when steering the 15 year old Son of Marco home and clear in 36.43, while Frenchman Michel Hecart was faster with Itot du Chateau but his time of 36.09 seconds was still more than two seconds off Kuerten's pace.

With just four left to go, Germany's Daniel Deusser and Air Jordan Z stopped the clock in 36.34 seconds to present no danger but, third-last into the ring, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum was on fire when setting off with Shutterfly.

"Jessica had been really fast in the jump-off and I knew it would be difficult to beat her time but I just tried to shorten the turns all the way around and maybe I was a little smoother" said the American-born German rider who will celebrate her 38th birthday next month. And that she did, racing home to stop the clock in 33.34 seconds and relegating Kuerten to runner-up spot.

Eugenie Angot had to follow that and was left with a bit of a dilemma. "The jump-off was really fast and with 14 through it would be easy to jump two rounds and still to go home with nothing" she pointed out afterwards. "I saw Meredith's round on the screen and my feeling was that I had no chance to catch her and I knew Jessica's time was good too so I decided to try to slot in behind them" she explained. She could not be sure of third place however until Steve Guerdat and Tresor took their turn. And the Swiss rider had a real shot at it when breaking the beam in 33.80 but leaving one on the floor which left him having to settle for eighth place.

For Meredith this was the perfect result following her disappointing elimination with Checkmate at the previous leg in Verona last weekend. "Yes this felt good - I needed some points and I now I feel I am on my way" she pointed out after taking ownership of the winner's prize of a brand new "M" class Mercedes-Benz.

Her success today leaves her sharing seventh position with Steve Guerdat on the leaderboard which continues to be headed by Spain's Rutherford Latham with Sweden's Helena Lundback and Rolf-Goran Bengtsson in second and third.

And with the European Champion now firmly focused on earning her place at the Rolex FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final in Gothenburg next April the series moves up a gear ahead of the next round in Geneva, Switzerland in three weeks time....

RESULT: 1, Shutterfly (Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum) Ger 0/0 33.34; 2, Castle Forbes Libertina (Jessica Kuerten) Irl 0/0 33.74; 3, Ilostra Dark (Eugenie Angot) 0/0 35.67; 4, Itot du Chateau (Michel Hecart) Fra 0/0 36.09; 5, Son of Marco (Luciana Diniz) Por 0/0 36.53; 6, All Inclusive KRW (Ludger Beerbaum) Ger 0/0 37.46; 7, Levisto Z (Judy-Ann Melchior) Bel 0/0 38.15; 8, Tresor V (Steve Guerdat) Sui 0/4 33.80; 9, Aboyeur W (Heinrich-Hermann Engemann) Ger 0/4 35.59; 10, AD Picolien Zeidenrust (Alvaro Miranda) Bra 0/4 36.19; 11, Air Jordan Z (Daniel Deusser) Ger 0/4 36.34; 12, Lantinus (Denis Lynch) 0/8 36.60; 13, Asti Apumante (Thomas Muhlbauer) Ger 0/8 36.87; 14, Camiro (Tony Andre Hansen) Nor 0/8 37.71; 15, Oki Doki (Albert Zoer) Ned 4/69.15; 16, Nairobi (Leon Thijssen) ned 4/69.26; 17, Madick (Helena Lundback) Swe 4/70.12; 18, Peppermill (John Whitaker) GBR 4/70.21; 19, Isovlas Socrates (Edwina Alexander) Aus 4/70.37; 20, Al Kaheel Spender S (Jos Lansink) Bel 4/71.59; 21, Da Zara Porto Rico (Piergiorgio Bucci) ita 4/71.72; 22, Ideo du Thot (Beat Mandli) Sui 4/71.78; 23, Gestion Priamus Z (Vincent Voorn) Ned 4/71.94; 24, Coster (Christian Ahlmann) Ger 4/72.56; 25, Isaac (Royne Zetterman) Swe 4/72.77; 26, Leonardo B (Thomas Voss) Ger 4/72.85; 27, Quintero la Silla (Rolf-Goran Bengtsson) Swe 4/73.39; 28, Butterfly Flip (Malin Baryard-Johnsson) Swe 8/73.39; 29, Grim St Clair (Thomas Velin) Den 8/69.39; 30, Clausen (Holger Wulschner) Ger 8/70.16; 31, Kanthaka de Petra (Julien Epaillard) Fra 8/70.40; 32, Cornet Obolensky (Marco Kutscher) Ger 8/70.45; 33, Lord Luis (Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst) Ger 8/70.89; 34, Callie Cool (Carsten-Otto Nagel) Ger 8/70.98; 35, Conally (Markus Renzel) Ger 8/71.30; 36, Noltes Kuchengirl (Marcus Ehning) Ger 8/71.97; 37, Calandro (Sebastian Numminen) Fin 8/75.43; 38, Pherna (Julia Kayser) Aut 16/88.19; Equal 39, Obelix (Taizo Sugitani) Jpn, Chika's Way (Janne-Friederike Meyer) Ger Retired.

ROLEX FEI WORLD CUP™ JUMPING 2007/2008 - WESTERN EUROPEAN LEADERBOARD AFTER ROUND 4 IN STUTTGART:

1. Rutherford Latham - 48
2. Helena Lundback - 33
3. Rolf-Goran Bengtsson - 32
4. Heinrich-Hermann Engemann - 23
5. Albert Zoer - 22
6. Piet Raymakers Snr. - 21
7. Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, Steve Guerdat - 20
9. William Whitaker - 19
10. Juan Carlos Garcia - 18
11. Daniel Deusser - 18
12. Marco Kutscher, Jessica Kuerten - 17
14. Marcus Fuchs - 16
15. Eugenie Angot - 15
16. Piet Raymakers Jnr. - 15

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 Stuttgart, Germany check out website www.stuttgart-german-masters.de. Show Presidents |Andreas Kroll and Martin Rau, Show Director Gotthilf Riexinger, Show Secretary Susanne Assendorf and Press Officer Hartmut - contact Tel (mobile) +49 172972 or Email hartmut.binder@mps-agentur.de. The next leg of the series takes place in Geneva, Switzerland 6-9 December 2007. Show Director is Sophie Mottu, Sport Director is Alban Poudret, Show Secretary is Chantal Rothen and Press Officer is Corinne Druey - contact Tel +41 213128222, (mobile) +41 702267859 or Email druey@syntagme-lausanne.ch.

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. You can download it from the Media Centre on FEI website www.horsesport.org or order a hard copy from FEI Communications - Email o.robinson@horsesport.org.

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 4 IN STUTTGART:

Live/Delayed Live
ZDF (Germany) - Sunday 18 November 16.00
RAI (Italy) - Check local service
SVT (Sweden) - Tuesday 20 November 15.05
NOS (The Netherlands) - Check local service

Highlights
CBC Country (Canada) - Saturday 24 November 14.00, 20.00, 23.00
CNBC Asia - Saturday 1 December 13.00
CNBC Europe - Saturday 1 December 17.00
ESPN Brazil - Check local service
ESPN Star (Pan Asia) - Thursday 6 December 20.00, Saturday 8 December 05.00
Eurosport - Wednesday 21 November 20.35
Finnish Sport TV - Saturday 1 December 18.25
Fox Australia - Check local service
Fox Middle East - Friday 28 December 16.00
M-Net (Pan Africa) - Thursday 6 December 18.30, Saturday 8 December 09.30, Sunday 9 December 11.00,
Monday 10 December 13.00, Tuesday 11 December 16.00, Wednesday 12 December 19.00,
Thursday 13 December 23.00
Sport TV (Portugal) - Check local service
Sport Plus (France) - Monday 26 November 22.30
WCSN (USA) - Check local service

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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