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Federation
Equestre Internationale News
FEI
World Cup Jumping News: Bruno Beats Them All To Win Second
Final Competition In Milan - Now Shares The Lead With Meredith.....
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There
was a sensational shake-up in the second competition at the Sony
Ericsson FEI World Cup Final in Milan today when Markus Fuchs
lost his grip on the lead with a single mistake in the opening
round and Bruno Broucqsault, overnight sixth, stormed to victory
in a thrilling seven-horse jump-off. This leaves the Frenchman
sharing the top of the leaderboard with Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum
while Markus is in third position going into Sunday’s deciding
clash.
Course
Designer Uliano Vezzani asked them some very tricky questions
with difficult distances and big fences and, this time around,
the penultimate double at fence 12 proved the bogey of the day.
The
field was reduced from 42 to 37 as Elliot Stone (Freestyle) Can,
McLain Ward (Goldika) USA and Mabak Qabil (Opium Metodo) Bra were
all eliminated for falls in the first final class yesterday, Rodrigo
Pessoa withdrew Baloubet du Rouet because he was concerned about
the way his horse, who knocked two fences, was jumping and America’s
Norman dello Joio is out of contention because his horse Quriel
stood on a nail before the first competition.
Yann
Candele, the Frenchman based with Eric Lamaze in Canada, was lying
in 32nd position after Thursday’s opening event but Mill
Creek Sweet Dream found the bigger track much more to her liking
today and produced the first clear round when sixth to go. America’s
Laura Kraut, who had an unfortunate stop at the first element
of the double of water trays yesterday was next to come home with
a clean sheet – Anthem deciding that the trays, this time
placed under verticals at fences six and eight, were no problem
and Rolf-Goran Bengtsson put in a no-nonsense round with MacKinley
to ensure Sweden’s inclusion in the closing stages.
The
stunningly elegant Montender made it all look very easy when recording
the fourth clear of the competition for Germany’s Marco Kutscher
while Belgium’s Ludo Philippaerts and Parco did likewise
but Bruno’s round with Dileme de Cephe was considerably less
stylish – the Frenchman almost parting company with his gelding
when jumped out of the saddle as he tackled the oxer which was
between the two water-tray fences on a related-distance straight
line.
Meredith
and Shutterfly put in a class performance when, third-last into
the ring, they secured that seventh clear round but defending
champion Markus Ehning’s dream of making it a double of World
Cup wins was shattered when Anka hit the middle part of the combination
at fence five and clipped the second element of the double at
fence 12. Horses were coming away from the in-gate on the approach
to this one and Toni Hassmann’s Camirez B showed exactly
what was in some of their minds as the horse tried to duck out
through the entrance costing his rider valuable time and a lot
of irritation.
Yann
led the way against the clock and set a tough standard when crossing
the line clear in 36.58 seconds. Laura Kraut and Anthem and Rolf-Goran
with MacKinley both knocked two fences each, remarkably recording
their eight fault results in precisely the same time of 38.26
seconds and Montender dropped a leg on the oxer, number four on
the track, when Marco asked him to turn in mid-air, finishing
also with a total of eight when catching the front pole of the
double three from home. Ludo and Parco however looked like they
might oust Yann from the lead when jumping big and clean but,
despite some wild flapping of the reins from his rider on their
run to the last, the handsome grey was over a second slower when
stopping the clock in 37.75 seconds.
Bruno
and Dileme de Cephe may have looked risky at their first attempt
but, second-last to go and knowing Meredith was coming behind
him, the French rider set off in a lovely rhythm and, meeting
all his fences on a perfect stride took a brave gallop to the
last to break the beam in 36.55 seconds and take over the lead.
If he had been excited about going clear in round one that paled
into insignificance in comparison to his delight when he realised
what he had done this time around and the French supporters cheered
ecstatically as he removed his hat and waved delightedly to the
crowd knowing he had put it up to the final partnership. Meredith,
first lady-rider to ever win the Western European League when
topping the series this season, was not going to risk everything
to beat him and, although fast, brave and accurate, was not stretched
to the limit when the clock showed 36.74 seconds – good enough
for third place for the second day in succession – as she
crossed the line.
She
said afterwards "I just didn’t want to overdo it today.
I have been riding tactically and I want to have something in
reserve for Sunday". She must however be feeling confident,
with Shutterfly in an excellent frame of mind ahead of the crunch
two-round challenge which follows tomorrow’s rest day for
the championship horses.
Yann
Candele’s second placing today has drawn some serious attention
to the Frenchman. Asked if he might now be considered as a contender
for Athens however he said "I don’t believe that will
happen because of the way the system works but anyway I don’t
think my horse is ready for the Olympic Games. I am very happy
just to be here – the horse is full of promise for the future
but I don’t want to ask too much of him too soon. May aim
when I arrived here was to get through to Sunday’s competition
and I have done that".
When
asked how he would cope with pressure in the last final competition
on Sunday he said – "Maybe the other riders are more
used to this level of competition than I am but I will be fine
and at ease competing on Sunday".
Markus
Fuchs may have been disappointed at losing his grip on pole position
but, after many years of top-level competitive riding, he understands
how fickle the sport of show jumping can be.
"I
felt fantastic until I got to the last fence – Tinka’s
Boy was giving me a beautiful feeling but maybe I was too confident
– I planned six strides between the last two fences and if
I had to do it again I would do the same thing only I would ride
it better!" he said but, just four points behind the joint-leaders,
he is still very much in the race. "When I won the World
Cup in 2001 I was 7th in the first competition and 3rd on the
second day" he added.
Bruno
of course was more than pleased with the position in which he
now finds himself. "I knew what kind of courses to expect
when I came here because I have jumped Vezzani’s tracks before
in Rome" he said. His unorthodox and unpredictable riding
style may cause a few heart-stopping moments every now and then
but his partnership with his horse is well-cemented as he has
had the 13 year old gelding since he was a three year old and
they know each other very well. He is determined to give Meredith
a run for her money but the result is in no way settled yet as
Malin Baryard, lying fourth with six points, Ludo who has now
improved to fifth after the results were transformed into points
after yesterday’s class, and Wim Schroder, carrying seven
points, are within reach should things go awry for the leaders
in the last competition.
The
stage is now set for a classic conclusion to the Sony Ericsson
FEI World Cup Jumping Final.
RESULT:
1, Dileme de Cephe (Bruno Broucqsault) Fra 0/0 36.55; 2, Mill
Creek Sweet Dream (Yann Candele) Fra 0/0 36.58; 3, Shutterfly
(Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum) Ger 0/0 36.74; 4, Parco (Ludo Philippaerts)
Bel 0/0 37.75; 5, Montender (Marco Kutscher) Ger 0/8 37.65; equal
6, Anthem (Laura Kraut) USA 0/8 38.26, MacKinley (Rolf-Goran Bengtsson)
Swe 08 38.26; equal 8, Lucie (Lars Nieberg) Ger, Flashlight (Dominey
Alexander) RSA, JPC Modesto Equifoam (Jean-Marc Nicolas) Fra,
VDL Groep Eve des Etisses) Hubert Bourdy Fra, El Campeon’s
So Long (Nicole Shahinian-Simpson) USA, Hilton Flight (Richard
Spooner) USA, Audi’s Jikke (Eric Van der Vleuten) Ned, Albin
111 (Juan Carlos Garcia) Ita, Cigale du Tallis (Eugenie Angot)
Fra, Handel 11 (Michael Whitaker) GB, Eurocommerce Montreal (Wim
Schroder) Ned, H&M Butterfly Flip (Malin Baryard) Swe, Tinka’s
Boy (Markus Fuchs) Sui 4 faults; 21, Salamandra Chapman Rouge
(Andre Miranda) Bra 5 faults; equal 22, Novesta (Gunnar Klettenberg)
Est, Djane de Fontenis (Grzegorz Kubiak) Pol, Catch 22 (Ainsley
Vince) Can, Lauriston (Peter Wylde) USA, Lando (Otto Becker) Ger,
Qerly Chin (Christophe Barbeau) Sui, Equest Carnute (Thomas Velin)
Den, Anka (Markus Ehning) Ger; 30, Camirez B (Toni Hassmann) Ger
11; equal 31, Survival (Seiji Ninomiya) Jpn, Corlanda (Sencer
Can) Tur 12 faults; equal 33, Mr Innocent (Timothy Amitrano) Aus,
De Sjiem (Jeroen Dubbeldam) Ned 16 faults: 35, Wembley da Lagoa
(Marcelo Lemes de Souza) Bra 20 faults; Remember Me (Laura Linback)
USA, El Campeon’s Ado Annie (William Simpson) USA Ret.
STANDINGS
AFTER SECOND FINAL COMPETITION:
Equal
1. Bruno Broucqsault (Dileme de Cephe) Fra - 0 and Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum
(Shutterfly) Ger - 0
3.
Markus Fuchs (Tinka’s Boy) Sui - 4
4.
Malin Baryard (H&M Butterfly Flip) Swe - 6
5.
Ludo Philippaerts (Parco) Bel - 7
6. Wim Schroder (Eurocommerce Montreal) Ned – 8
Equal 7. Eugenie Angot (Cigale du Tallis) Fra - 9
Marco
Kutscher (Montender) Ger – 9
Michael
Whitaker (Portofino/Handel) GB – 9
Equal
10. Juan Carlos Garcia (Albin) Ita - 10
Markus
Ehning (Anka) Ger - 10
Rolf-Goran
Bengtsson (MacKinley) Swe – 10
Equal
13. Eric Van der Vleuten (Audi’s Jikke) Ned - 11
Thomas
Velin (Equest Carnute) Den - 11
Equal
15. Christophe Barbeau (Qerly Chin) Sui - 13
Richard
Spooner (Hilton Flight) USA - 13
Equal
17. Laura Kraut (Anthem) USA - 14
Yann
Candele (Mill Creek Sweet Dream) Fra - 14
Equal
19. Nicole Shahinian-Simpson (El Campeon’s So Long) USA -
15 and Toni Hassmann (Camirez B) Ger - 15
Equal
21. Hubert Bourdy (VDL Groep Eve des Etisses) Fra - 17 and Otto
Becker (Lando) Ger - 17
23.
Peter Wylde (Lauriston) USA - 18
Equal 24. Dominey Alexander (Flashlight) RSA - 19 and Jean-Marc
Nicolas (JPC Modesto Equifoam) Fra - 19
Equal
26. Ainsley Vince (Catch 22) Can - 20 and Jeroen Dubbeldam (Nassau/De
Sjiem) - 20
Equal
28. Grzegorz Kubiak (Djane de Fontenis) Pol - 22 and Lars Nieberg
(Lucie) Ger - 22
Andre
Miranda (Salamandra Chapman Rouge) Bra – 24
Gunnar Klettenberg (Novesta) Est – 26
Sencer Can (Corlanda) Tur - 27
William Simpson (El Campeon’s Ado Annie) USA – 28
Equal 34. Laura Lindback (Remember Me) USA – 31 and Seiji
Ninomiya (Survival) Jpn – 31 and Timothy Amitrano (Mr Innocent)
Aus - 31
37.
Marcelo Lemes de Souza (Wembley da Lagoa) Bra – 33
38. Rodrigo Pessoa (Baloubet du Rouet) Bra – 36
Equal 39. Elliot Stone (Free Style) Can - 39
McLain
Ward (Goldika) USA – 39
Norman
dello Joio (Quriel) USA – 39
Qabil
Ambak (Opium Metodo) Mas – 39.
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