Defending champion Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum cruised into pole position with Checkmate at the second-last qualifying round of the FEI 2005/2006 World Cup Jumping series at 's-Hertogenbosch, Holland this afternoon. In a thrilling nine-horse jump-off the German rider pipped her fellow-countryman, and brother-in-law, Ludger Beerbaum for the honours while Holland's Gerco Schroder kept the Dutch supporters on the edges of their seats with a last-to-go run that very nearly changed the top of the order.
Frank Rothenberger's first-round course kept them thinking, and only nine horse -and-rider combinations left it intact from a starting field of 37. There were five retirements, the first of these being Italy's Juan Carlos Garcia who withdrew due to injury after a fall earlier at the show, while Germany's Pia-Luise Aufrecht was eliminated after suffering a flying dismount from her mare Hofgut Liederbach's Abrisca who slammed on the brakes in round one. There was intense frustrations for the 10 four-faulters, many of whom were desperately hunting those last few valuable qualifying points, and there were plenty of quick calculations being done at the end of the competition by those who are so close to making the cut for the final in Kuala Lumpur next month.
Reigning European champion Marco Kutscher recorded the first clear of the competition when third into the ring with Cash, but two fences down left the door wide open as the jump-off began. Holland's Jurgen Stenfert and his Jus de Pommes mare BMC Octavia made a stingle mistake in 40.61 seconds but young British contender, Ben Maher, then threw down the marker when bringing Niko home without incident in 38.98 seconds. The 23 year old created quite a stir when winning both the Hickstead Derby and Hickstead Speed Derby last summer and is one of the most exciting prospects to emerge onto the British scene for quite some time. Another talented youngster is Piet Raymakers Jnr., son of Dutch veteran Piet Raymakers who took individual silver and team gold at the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992 with the great Ratina Z, and 23 year old Raymakers Jnr. steered the 11 year old stallion Van Schijndel's Rascin to another excellent round, picking up just four faults in 42.56 seconds.
Ludger Beerbaum, the man who took over the ride on Ratina and who steered her to further success during her sparkling career, re-set the target however when bringing Gladdys S home in 37.03 seconds to snatch the lead from Maher. Fellow-German Marcus Ehning presented no threat to Ludger's advantage when Cinderella rolled a pole in 37.85 seconds but Meredith and Checkmate altered the picture dramatically when racing across the line to thunderous applause with a clear round in 36.69 seconds to take control. Britain's Michael Whitaker was over a second off the pace when keeping a clean sheet with Portofino in 38.14 and now only the home side's Gerco Schroder stood between Meredith and a repeat victory at the Dutch fixture which she dominated in similar style in 2005. Schroder is no shrinking violet however and set off at a cracking pace with Eurocommerce Milano and the clock showed he was over a second quicker coming to the last, but his speed proved his undoing as that hit the floor for four faults and he had to settle for fifth place behind Maher in fourth, Whitaker in third, Ludger Beerbaum in second and Meredith at the top of the line.
"The jump-off was really exciting and the crowd loved it!" said Meredith afterwards. "The ring here is really nice and the best horses got through to the jump-off - there were a lot of long runs on the second track and it made for a great competition" she added. Now she is thinking ahead to defending her FEI World Cup title. "Checkmate is going to Kuala Lumpur so now I plan to take him to Gothenburg for the last qualifier. I won't be taking Shutterfly to Malaysia. My plan is that Shutterfly will go to Arezzo for two weeks to prepare for the outdoor season instead" she explained.
Gothenburg promises to provide a real showdown as the last few qualifying spots will be decided there. A total of 18 riders go through to the final from the Western European League and, as it stands right now, Jean-Marc Nicolas from France holds 18th place. However Meredith, now lying second on the leaderboard which is led by Britain's Robert Smith, is automatically qualified as defending champion and Nick Skelton, lying ninth, has withdrawn from contention. So Michael Whitaker, currently 19th, is in with a good chance of qualification but is hotly pursued on the leaderboard by a group of riders including Marco Kutscher, Geir Gulliksen and Pia-Luise Aufrecht and with only a single point separating the next group - Harrie Smolders, Leopold Van Asten and Piet Raymakers - it's all to play for at next month's Swedish fixture.
RESULTS: 1, Checkmate (Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum) Ger 0/0 36.69; 2, Gladdys S (Ludger Beerbaum) Ger 0/0 37.03; 3, Portofino (Michael Whitaker) GBR 0/0 38.14; 4, Niko IV (Ben Maher) GBR 0/0 38.98; 5, Eurocommerce Milano (Gerco Schroder) Ned 0/4 35.44; 6, Cinderella (Marcus Ehning) Ger 0/4 37.85; 7, BMC Octavia (Jurgen Stenfert) Ned 0/4 40.61; 8, Van Schijndel's Rascin (Piet Raymakers Jnr) Ned 0/4 42.56; 9, Cash 63 (Marco Kutscher) Ger 0/8 37.87; 10, Candy (Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst) Ger 4/74.73; 11, Quibell (J Kuerten) Irl 4/65.56; 12, Okidoki (Albert Zoer) Ned 4/65.96; 13, MacKinley (Rolf-Goran Bengtsson) Swe 4/66.18; 14, Ideo du Thot (Beat Mandli) Sui 4/67.77; 15, Cattani (Geir Gulliksen) Nor 4/67.95; 16, Kalusha (Robert Smith) GBR 4/68.14; 17, Olaf (Leon Thijssen) Ned 5/68.27; 18, Sherry Mury Marais Z (Patrick McEntee) Bel 4/68.36; 19, Godsend du Reverdy (Thomas Velin) Den 4/70.07; 20, Nirmette (Markus Fuchs) Sui 8/67.69; 21, Cyrenaika FRH (Philippe Leoni) Fra 8/67.74; 22, VDL Groep Think Twice (Leopold Van Asten) Ned 8/68.78; 23, Gran Corrado (Yves Houtackers) Ned 8/69.34; 24, Butterfly Flip (Malin Baryard-Johnsson) Swe 8/69.72; 25, Audi's Alpapillon-Armanie (Vincent Voorn) Ned 8/71.45; 26, Exquis Oliver Q (Harrie Smolders) Ned 12/68.61; 27, Special Ed (Jill Henselwood) Can 12/70.03; 28, Sails Away (Sebastian Numminen) Fin 16/68.39; 29, Chatman (Ludo Philippaerts) Bel 19/81.65; 30, S&L 11th and Bleeker (Gerfried Puck) Aut 20/85.41; 31, Lui (Syed Omar Al Mohdzar) Mas 25/73.00; 32, Hofgut Liederbach's Abrisca (Pia-Luise Aufrecht) Ger Elim; equal 33, Audi's Oklund (Eric Van der Vleuten) Ned, Toronto Van de Padenborre (Juan Carlos Garcia) Ita, Vivi (Sergio Alvarez Moya) Esp, Van Schijndel's Now or Never (Piet Raymakers) Ned and Ta Belle van Sombeke (Jos Lansink) Bel Retired.
FEI WORLD CUP JUMPING 2005/2006 - LEADERBOARD AFTER ROUND 11 AT
'S-HERTOGENBOSCH:
1. Robert Smith - 75
2. Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum - 74
3. Gerco Schroder - 72
4. Thomas Fruhmann - 63
5. Beat Mandli, Marcus Ehning - 59
7. Jessica Kuerten - 54
8. Juan Carlos Garcia - 53
9. Nick Skelton - 51
10. Markus Beerbaum - 48
11. Ludger Beerbaum - 44
12. Philippe Leoni - 42
13. Heinrich H. Engemann - 41
14. Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst - 39
15. Patrick McEntee, Rolf-Goran Bengtsson, Toni Hassmann - 34
18. Jean-Marc Nicolas - 33
19. Michael Whitaker - 31
20. Marco Kutscher - 30
21. Geir Gulliksen, Pia-Luise Aufrecht - 27
23. Harrie Smolders, Leopold Van Asten, Piet Raymakers - 26
26. Albert Zoer, Ben Maher, Gregoire Oberson - 25
29. Markus Fuchs, Thomas Velin - 23
For all information on the FEI World Cup qualifying round at 's-Hertogenbosch, Holland 23/26 March check out WEBSITE www.indoorbrabant.nl or contact Press Officer Cindy Velstra - Phone: +31 (0) 575 464683 , Fax: +31 (0) 575 464687, Mobile: +31 (0) 654674396 , E-mail: cindy@head2tail.nl OR secretariaat@indoorbrabant.nl. Show President at 's-Hertogenbosch is Gerrit Jan Swinkels and Show Director is Frank Kemperman.
The last qualifying leg of the series takes place in Goteborg, Sweden from 13-16 April. 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. WEBSITE: www.goteborghorseshow.com.
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.
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.
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