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Federation
Equestre Internationale News
FEI
World Cup Jumping News - Marcus and For Pleasure Get it
Right in Leipzig….
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In
what was probably the toughest leg of the 2003/2004 FEI World
Cup series to date, Germany’s Marcus Ehning and For Pleasure
claimed pole position and collected the 21,250 Euro first prize
in Leipzig today.
The
massive course designed by Frank Rothenberger proved too great
a challenge for all but seven of the 38 starters and Lars Nieberg
led the way against the clock with Adlantus As FRH but left the
door open with one fence down in 38.60 seconds.
Meredith
Michaels-Beerbaum and Shutterfly were almost one second quicker
but also left a pole on the floor, so it was the careful clear
round produced by the French partnership of Jean-Marc Nicolas
and JPC Modesto which provided the target for the remaining four
runners.
Franke
Sloothaak also opted for caution but collected four faults in
the slow time of 40.23 seconds but Jessica Kurten and Quibell,
the promising 10 year old mare which the German-based Irish rider
hopes will take her to Athens this summer, were giving it their
best shot when hitting the first element of the penultimate double
which proved the bogey fence in the jump-off.
Second-last
to go, Marcus played the percentage game – "I saw a
few of the others go and I knew the only clear round was not too
fast so I decided not to go too crazy" he said – but
his time was still good as he cleared the line in 38.47 seconds
with all the fences still intact.
Fellow-German
rider Toni Hassmann had enjoyed great success with Lomitas and
Lolita in the Audi Cup Youngsters Qualifiers over the previous
few days and, having finished runner-up behind Otto Becker and
Grandilot in Friday’s World Cup Preliminary competition could
have fancied his chances when last into the ring with Camirez
B. Once more however a single error proved costly and he had to
settle for sixth place behind Kurten while Nieberg finished fourth,
Michaels-Beerbaum third and Nicolas slotted into second position.
Marcus,
29 years old from Sudlohne in Germany, was particularly pleased
to have won this leg of the series for several reasons, not least
of which was the fact that the course was, as he said, "Big,
Big, Big!".
"Frank
Rothenberger also built the track in London in December –
the jump-off there was very fast but the fences were nothing like
as big as they were today – this was a huge track and technical
as well but high fences are no problem for my horse, although
this was the highest track I have ever jumped with him indoors"
he added.
He
had been disappointed when beaten by the smallest of margins by
Helena Weinberg at the Qualifier in Olympia in London and blamed
himself for that defeat but he had nothing to regret this time
around as the grand old stallion, so aptly named For Pleasure,
showed once more why he is already a legend in his own lifetime.
"As
I said in London, For Pleasure will jump only in the early part
of this year because I want to save him as a possible ride for
the Olympics so Anka will be my choice if I go to the World Cup
Final and will do most of the summer jumping for me" Marcus
explained. He feels he should have at least two horses in contention
for Athens and although he has expressed some reservations about
competing the 18 year old For Pleasure, who took him to team glory
and individual fourth at the Sydney Games, in the heat of the
Greek summer he is keeping his options open.
The
points earned today promote Marcus to ninth on the FEI World Cup
Leaderboard which is still headed by Belgium’s Jos Lansink
followed by Dutchman Eric Van der Vleuten in second and Germany’s
Marco Kutscher and Helena Weinberg in third and fourth.
With
just six legs of the series remaining the pressure is steadily
increasing, and Amsterdam next weekend promises some sharp action
as riders further down the leaderboard attempt to make their mark
in the second half of the series.
Result:
1, For Pleasure (Marcus Ehning) Ger 0/0 38.47; 2, JPC Modesto
(Jean Marc Nicolas) Fra 0/0 41.75; 3, Shutterfly (Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum)
Ger 0/4 37.86; 4, Adlantus As FRH (Lars Nieberg) Ger 0/4 38.60;
5, Quibell (Jessica Kurten) Irl 0/4 38.64; 6, Camirez B (Toni
Hassmann) Ger 0/4 38.67; 7, Sundance K (Franke Sloothaak) Ger
0/4 40.23; equal 8, Sails Away (Sebastian Numminen) Fin, Cagliostro
(Niklas Arvidsson) Swe 1 fault; equal 10, Pro Pilot 11 (Edouard
Couperie) Fra, Argelith Stakkato (Eva Bitter) Ger, Qerly Chin
(Christophe Barbeau) Sui, Equest Carnute (Thomas Velin) Den, Polyfee
(Lutz Gripshover) Ger, Candy (Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst) Ger,
V&L De Sjiem (Jeroen Dubbeldam) Ned, Delon VA (Cayetano Martinez
de Irujo) Esp, HBC Lando (Julia Kayser) Aut 4 faults.
FEI
WORLD CUP LEADERBOARD AFTER ROUND 8 IN LEIPZIG:
1.
Jos Lansink – 57
Eric
Van der Vleuten – 51
Marco Kutscher – 50
Helena Weinberg – 47
Thomas Velin – 46
Michael Whitaker – 45
Ludo Philippaerts – 42
Peter Wylde – 38
Marcus Ehning – 37
Bruno Broucqsault and Malin Baryard – 36.
For further information on the show at Leipzig you should contact
Kerstan Media Networking at Mobile: ++49 430 782 7970 or Email:
info@kerstan.de. Show Secretary is Andrea Kairat – Email:
Kairat@engarde.de and President/Show Director is Volker Wulff
– Email: wulff@engarde.de. You can find all the results from
Leipzig at website: www.engarde.de.
The
next leg of the FEI World Cup Jumping series takes place in Amsterdam,
Netherlands next Sunday, February 1. For all information contact
Jumping Amsterdam at Email: mail@jumpingamsterdam.nl or visit
website: www.jumpingamsterdam.nl. Show President/Director and
Press Officer is Chris van Dam – mobile: ++31 6539 33150,
Email: mail@jumpingamsterdam.nl.
2003/2004
FEI WORLD CUP JUMPING SERIES – CALENDAR OF EVENTS:
1,
Helsinki - 19 October; 2, Oslo - 26 October; 3, Verona - 9 November;
4, Berlin - 16 November; 5, Geneva - 7 December; 6, Olympia, London
- 21 December; 7, Mechelen - 30 December; 8, Leipzig - 25 January;
9, Amsterdam - 1 February; 10, Bordeaux - 7 February; 11, Vigo
- 14 February; 12, Paris - 6 March; 13, s'Hertogenbosch - 28 March;
14, Gothenburg - 11 April. Final in Milan - 21-25 April.
BIOGRAPHIES on riders competing in the FEI World Cup series are
available
at http://bios.horsesport.org.
YOU
CAN DOWNLOAD THE NEWLY REVISED RULES for the World Cup for Jumping
Riders from FEI website: www.horsesport.org.
FEI
World Cup jumping has entered its 26th year. The series, created
in 1978, today comprises 12 leagues on all continents. The best
riders from over 100 World Cup preliminary competitions will qualify
for the Final in Milan (ITA) from 21 to 25 April 2004. The title-holder
is Markus Ehning (GER). The Federation Equestre Internationale
(FEI), founded in 1921, is
the international body governing equestrian sport recognised by
the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and includes 130 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.
www.horsesport.org
.
