FEI World Cup Jumping Update: Göteborg

Double-champion Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum goes for a hat-trick of FEI World Cup titles in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in nine days time with yet another confidence-boosting win under her belt following today's success at the last qualifying round in Gothenburg. On top at 's-Hertogenbosch, Holland three weeks ago, she swept to victory once again in one of the most thrilling jump-off rounds of the entire 2005/2006 series.

"Checkmate was phenomenal today" the reigning champion said afterwards. "He is a horse with an unbelievable talent and he has a lot of fun doing his job - and I have a lot of fun riding him while he is doing it!" she added.

Clever course design from Leopoldo Palacios and Frank Rothenberger saw nine through to the second-round jump-off. Mistakes were spread around the track, with many riders falling foul of the planks that directly followed the triple combination in the centre of the arena at fence four. Others found the twisting S-bend from the vertical at six across the oxer at seven and on to the narrow white gate at eight really difficult to negotiate, with many horses landing too forward after fence seven and leaving riders desperately strugglings to get back in line for eight. The final oxer, placed right beside the in-gate and coming off a corner after the difficult double at fence 12, also claimed a number of scalps but the home side's Peter Eriksson and VDL Cardento were first to steer a clear course and three more Swedes joined them in the jump-off.

First against the clock over the reduced course Cardento clipped the bogey white gate but steered a tight line inside fence 13 to take on the the first two parts of the treble and return a four-fault result in 31.36 seconds, a time that was to prove the quickest of the day. Next in was Denmark's Linnea Ericsson who created a sensation when coming out of nowhere to place fourth at the opening round of the series in Helsinki, Finland last October. Despite her good finishing spot on that occasion Linnea only got two more World Cup starts since then - at Oslo in October and in London in December - and knew that a creditable result was needed today if she was to have any chance of making it to the final so she steered a careful course home with Pero Z Hillock to set the early pace in 37.17 seconds. That was never going to be the winning time however, and Frenchman Jean-Marc Nicolas shaved more than four seconds off it when, in his typically cut-and-thrust fashion, he sent the stallion JPC Modesto Equifoam about his business to stop the clock in 33.09.

Lotta Schulz, another of the growing number of talented young Swedish riders coming to the fore right now, was greeted with roars of approval from the enthusiastic Gothenburg crowd when completing her opening clear round with the Irish-bred Calibra but a stumble on landing over fence seven, now the second obstacle on the track, forced her to circle before the gate at eight and when she also clipped the vertical at fence 12 her total of 18 faults was never going to challenge for the lead. Maria Gretzer however was right on target and her handsome stallion Spender S, whose scopey jump had made their first-round effort look almost too easy, responded brilliantly to her every demand. Taking the more cautious longer route to the double at fence four, Gretzer cut really tight to fence 12, kicked on to the following oxer at 13 and then kept motoring right down the long run to the last, the vertical that had been fence one first time out. This final run was to be the decider of the competition but Sweden's Rolf-Goran Bengtsson saw his chance of a win fall away when he met the second-last on a bad stride with MacKinley while Michael Whitaker found himself in even more trouble earlier on the track. Trying to make that very tight line from the white gate to the double on the inside of fence 13 he arrived all wrong and Insul Tech Portofino sensibly decided that the second part of the double was an impossible task and stopped. "She didn't see so she had no chance" Whitaker said afterwards, "maybe I was stupid but I was trying to win it" he explained. As it turned out however his effort was still to be rewarded with eighth place and ticket to the final.

With just two left to go, Nicolas was still in the lead but it was still all to play for and Meredith and Checkmate set off as if they were on fire. "On Friday I rode a medium round because Checkmate is an aggressive horse and I didn't want him to get too aggressive. With him its all about pushing at the right moment and so I let him go a bit more today and he is just so fast" she explained afterwards. Letting him run right down to the last Meredith cleared the line in 32.37 seconds and now only Robert Whitaker could stop her from winning her second World Cup qualifier in a row. And the young British rider gave it his best shot, steering the attractive gelding Lacroix to a brilliant round as his father John watched in agony on the sidelines but, risking all with a strong gallop to the last, he hit that for four faults and had to settle for seventh place. Michaels-Beerbaum won by over a half a second with Gretzer in second, Nicolas third, Linnea Ericsson in fourth, Peter Eriksson in fifth and Rolf-Goran Bengtsson in sixth place.

For the Swedes it was the end to a great week and Maria Gretzer, who was appointed Chef d'Equipe at the end of 2005, was delighted with the performance of her riders. "I was more proud of having four Swedish riders in the jump-off than of what I did myself" said the runner-up who knows that she now has a very special horse in her own riding career, and she is delighted to have collected enough extra points to qualify for Kuala Lumpur. For Jean-Marc Nicolas it was the same "my big plan was to qualify for KL. I am very happy to go to Malaysia because I was the trainer for the Malaysian team for five years during which time they won the bronze medal at the Asian Games. The Malaysians are very nice people and they run a fantastic show, one of the best in the world" he added.

Meredith is now thinking ahead. "I'm looking forward to the final but I don't consider myself the favourite to win" she said. "I will be taking Checkmate and he is still a bit green". She thinks Jessica Kuerten, winner of Friday's Preliminary class and Saturday night's Grand Prix but a first-round four-faulter with Quibell today, should start favourite for the title this time around. "Jessica is in unbelievable form and both of her top horses are going to Kuala Lumpur. She will be the one to beat".

Gothenburg International Horse Show had plenty to celebrate during its 30th anniversary event, not least the record 82,590 spectators who enjoyed the four-day fixture. These figures are even more impressive when compared with the 83,162 people who attended the five-day World Cup final at the Swedish venue in 1984 and the latest figures bring the overall total for attendance at Gothenburg International over the 30 years of its existence to a spectacular 1,933,199 - just under two million people - they do enjoy their show jumping in Sweden!

PLEASE NOTE that Thomas Fruhmann (Aut), Nick Skelton (GBR), Toni Hassmann (Ger), Patrick McEntee (Bel) and Maria Gretzer (Swe) have decided they they will NOT travel to the Final :

As a result the riders listed below are expected to compete in Kuala Lumpur as of today (17 April 2005):
1, Robert Smith (GBR); 2, Gerco Schroder (Ned); 3, Marcus Ehning (Ger); 4, Beat Mandli (Sui); 5, Jessica Kuerten) Irl; 6, Juan Carlos Garcia (Ita); 7, Jean-Marc Nicolas (Fra); 8, Markus Beerbaum (Ger); 9, Rolf-Goran Bengtsson (Swe); 10, Ludger Beerbaum (Ger); 11, Philippe Leoni (Fra); 12, Heinrich Hermann Engemann (Ger); 13, Michael Whitaker (GBR); 14, Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst (Ger); 15, Linnea Ericsson (Den); 16, Marco Kutscher (Ger); 17, Pia-Luise Aufrecht (Ger); 18, Geir Gulliksen (Nor).

Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum is AUTOMATICALLY QUALIFIED as reigning champion.

Results: 1, Checkmate (Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum) Ger 0/0 32.27; 2, Spender S (Maria Gretzer) Swe 0/0 32.98; 3, JPC Modesto Equifoam (Jean Marc Nicolas) Fra 0/0 33.09; 4, Pero Z Hillock (Linnea Ericsson) Den 0/0 37.70; 5, VDL Cardento (Peter Eriksson) Swe 0/31.36; 6, MacKinley (Rolf Goran Bengtsson) Swe 0/4 31.95; 7, Lacroix (Robert Whitaker) GBR 0/4 32.05; 8, Insul Tech Portofino (Michael Whitaker) GBR 0/17 42.94; 9, Calibra (Lotta Schultz) Swe 0/18 43.81; 10, Andiamo Z (Kristof Cleeren) Bel 4/65.12; 11, Andante (Tina Lund) Den 4/65.30; 12, Isaac (Royne Zetterman) Swe 4/67.16; 13, ET Royal Volo (Tony Andre Hansen) nor 4/67.78; 14, Granie (Markus Fuchs) Sui 4/67.95; 15, Butterfly Flip (Malin Baryard-Johnsson) Swe4/68.10; 16, Quibell (Jessica Kuerten) Irl 4/68.37; 17, Cash (Marco Kutscher) Ger 4/68.56; 18, VDL Groep Think Twice (Leopold Van Asten) Ned 4/69.01; 19, The Sixth Sense (Thomas Fruhmann) Aut 4/69.40; 20, Special Ed (Jill Henselwood) Can 4/69.82; 21, Evli Cagliostro (Noora Penti) Fin 4/69.89; 22, Topic van T voorhof (Bernardo Alves) Bra 8/66.65; 23, Exploit du Roulard (John Whitaker) GBR 8/68.02; 24, Hofgut Liederbach's Abrisca (Pia-Luise Aufrecht) Ger 8/68.11; 25, Cinderella (Marcus Ehning) Ger 8/68.36; 26, Godsend du Reverdy (Thomas Velin) Den 8/69.14; 27, Columbus (Linda Heed0 Swe 8/69.20; 28, Candy (Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst) Ger 8/69.56; 29, Eurocommerce Lanapoule (Gerco Schroder) Ned 9/70.30; 30, BMC's Skybreaker (Mikael Forsten) Fin 9/70.33; 31, Niko (Ben Maher) GBR 12/68.93; 32, Roxette 9Johan Lundh) Swe 12/69.72; 33, Australia (Gerfried Puck) aut 13/70.30; 34, Constantin (Markus Beerbaum) Ger 17/71.24; 35, Ilion Kilen (Ljubov Kochetova) Rus 18/75.89; equal 36, Sails Away (Sebastian Numminen) Fin and Clear Rounds Than Party (Geir Gulliksen) Nor Ret.

FEI WORLD CUP JUMPING 2005/2006 - LEADERBOARD AFTER FINAL QUALIFYING ROUND AT GOTEBORG:

1, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum - 94
2, Robert Smith - 75
3. Gerco Schroder - 72
4. Thomas Fruhmann - 63
5. Marcus Ehning - 59
6. Beat Mandli - 59
7. Jessica Kuerten - 55
8. Juan Carlos Garcia - 53
9. Nick Skelton - 51
10. Jean-Marc Nicolas - 48
11. Markus Beerbaum - 48
12. Rolf-Goran Bengtsson - 45
13. Ludger Beerbaum - 44
14. Philippe Leoni - 42
15. Heinrich H Engemann - 41
16. Michael Whitaker - 40
17. Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst - 39
18. Linnea Ericsson - 35
19. Toni Hassmann - 34
20. Patrick McEntee - 34
21. Maria Gretzer - 31
22. Marco Kutscher - 30
23. Pia-Luise Aufrecht - 27
24. Geir Gulliksen - 27
25. Piet Raymakers - 26
26. Leopold Van Asten - 26
27. Harrie Smolders - 26
28. Markus Fuchs - 26
29. Albert Zoer - 25
30. Gregoire Oberson - 25

For all information on the FEI World Cup Qualifier at Goteborg, Sweden from 13-16 April check out WEBSITE: www.goteborghorseshow.com. Show President is Per Lodquist, Show Director is Tomas Torgersen, Show Secretary is Wiveka Lundh and Press Officer is Mayvor Thorin - email mayvor.thorin@gotevent.se.

For all information on the FEI World Cup Jumping final in Kuala Lumpur (26-30 April) check out the WEBSITE www.klworldcupfinal.com or contact Press Officer Lo Wai Fai at email waifai@asiapromote.net or Tel (mobile)             +6012 209 0068      . Show Director is Peter Winton, email paw@asiapromote.net.

2005/2006 FEI WORLD CUP JUMPING SERIES - CALENDAR OF EVENTS:
1, Helsinki (Finland) - 6/9 October; 2, Oslo (Norway) - 14/16 October; 3, Verona (Italy) - 4/6 November; 4, Stuttgart (Ger) - 16/20 November; 5, Geneva (Switzerland) - 8/11 December; 6, London-Olympia (Great Britain) - 13-19 December; 7, Mechelen (Belgium) - 26/30 December; 8, Leipzig (Germany) 19/22 January; 9, Bordeaux (France) - 3/5 February; 10, Vigo (Spain) - 9/12 February; 11, 's-Hertogenbosch (The Netherlands) - 23/26 March; 12, Goteborg (Sweden) - 13/16 April. Final Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 26/30 April.

BIOGRAPHIES of riders competing in the FEI World Cup Jumping series are available at www.horsesport.org.

MBPtv BROADCAST SCHEDULE FOR FEI WORLD CUP JUMPING QUALIFIER AT GOTEBORG:

YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE RULES for World Cup Jumping riders from FEI
website www.feiworldcup.org.

FEI World Cup Jumping has entered its 29th year. The series, created in 1978, today comprises 13 leagues on all continents. The best riders from 116 World Cup preliminary competitions will qualify for the Final in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia which takes place from 26 to 30 April 2006. The title-holder is Germany's Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum.

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 - and
the FEI has relentlessly concerned itself with the welfare of the horse.