 |
Federation
Equestre Internationale News
FEI World Cup Jumping News: Velin Makes It Two-In-A-Row
|
Thomas
Velin won his second successive leg of the FEI World Cup Jumping
series at Geneva today with another superb performance from the
French stallion Equest Carnute.
Winner
at the previous leg in Berlin three weeks ago, the 28 year old
Danish rider said afterwards "it’s been a great few
weeks for me because in Stockholm last weekend, which was not
a World Cup Show, we also won the big class on Friday and then
the Grand Prix – the only two competitions in which I jumped
the horse. He has been eight times in the ring and has won four
times in the past few weeks" he said, delighted to earned
the winning prize of 35,000 CHF.
This
promoted him to third position on the Leaderboard behind Eric
Van der Vleuten in second while Marco Kutscher, ninth today, remains
at the head of the table with 50 points and is now well-qualified
for the Final in Milan next April.
There
were 11 through to the jump-off and it was the time of 43.16 seconds,
set by America’s Peter Wylde and Fein Cera, that Thomas was
chasing when he came into the ring. "I was sixth to go against
the clock and I knew that Marco, Otto Becker and Michael Whitaker
were yet to go" Thomas said. "There were so many good
riders in the class that, even if there had been only one to come
after me, I would still have tried to go as fast as I could"
he added.
He
was right to be determined because Whitaker produced a scorching
round from the mare Fleur who stopped the clock in 40.76 seconds
but the British partnership had to settle for fifth position when
lowering one fence en route while Becker and Dobel’s Cento
were more than a second slower than the Dane to take runner-up
spot ahead of Wylde who finished third.
Peter
Wylde enjoyed an excellent weekend and easily earned the Leading
Rider prize of a brand new Land Rover while also slotting into
tenth spot on the FEI World Cup leaderboard. The American, who
originally hails form Boston but who now has a home in New York,
has his European base in Maastricht, Holland and keeps his horses
in Liege, Belgium. "My mare is right on form just at the
moment" he said today, "and the big ring here in Geneva
suited her because it was a bit like jumping outdoors" he
added. The 12 year old Fein Cera was sensational at last year’s
World Equestrian Games in Jerez and Peter is totally focused on
taking her to Athens next summer. "I’m going to compete
her once more, at Olympia, and then give her a competition break
but keep her in general work before bringing her back again in
the spring" he said.
After
his victory today however Thomas Velin has decided to cancel his
plans to go on to Frankfurt and joined his father, Flemming, in
driving his string of horses home to Copenhagen. "I’ll
start on the circuit again in Leipzig in January but for now I
think we’ve done enough" he said with some satisfaction,
knowing that just a few more points will book his ticket to the
Final.
The
sixth leg of the FEI World Cup series takes place at the hugely
popular fixture at Olympia in two weeks time. British show jumpers
have had a real boost following exceptional results at the recent
CSI-A in Belfast where they dominated with nine wins from 14 competitions
against serious competition, and Michael Whitaker’s fifth
placing in the current World Cup rankings, along with the sixth
placing achieved by the very much on-form Robert Smith in the
FEI/Gandini Top Ten Final in Geneva yesterday, will add extra
Christmas spice to the London event which is always guaranteed
to attract a colossal number of spectators.
RESULT:
1, Equest Carnute (Thomas Velin) Den 0/0 40.99; 2, Dobel’s
Cento (Otto Becker) Ger 0/0 42.02; 3, Fein Cera (Peter Wylde)
USA 0/0 43.15; 4, Querly Chin (Christophe Barbeau) Sui 0/0 44.77;
5, Fleur (Michael Whitaker) GB 0/4 40.76; 6, Albin 111 (Juan Carlos
Garcia) 0/4 40.82; 7, Verelst Goliath (Ludo Philippaerts) Bel
0/4 41.41; 8, H&M Butterfly Flip (Malin Baryard) Swe 0/4 42.21;
9, Montender 11 (Marco Kutscher) Ger 0/4 42.50; 10, Hermine Imperiale
(Daniel Etter) Sui 0/4 42.64; 11, Mme Pompadour M (Fabio Crotta)
Sui 0/4 43.82.
THE
FEI WORLD CUP LEADERBOARD AFTER ROUND 5 AT GENEVA:
Marco
Kutscher – 50
Eric Van der Vleuten - 44
Thomas Velin – 43
Jos Lansink – 33
Michael Whitaker – 32
Otto Becker – 30
Eq 7. Ludo Philippaerts, Helena Weinberg, Malin Baryard –
27
Peter
Wylde – 26.
The next leg of the FEI 2003/2004 World Cup Jumping series takes
place at OLYMPIA in London from 18-22 December. Show Director
is Simon Brooks-Ward LVO. Show Secretary is Penny Henderson –
Email: pennyh@hpower.co.uk. Candy Burnyeat
is
Press Officer - Telephone ++44 1753 847916 or Email: candyb.hpim@easynet.co.uk.
Website: www.olympiashowjumping.com.
The
following round, which takes place at MECHELEN in Belgium from
26-30 December, marks the half-way stage of the series. Show Directors
at Mechelen are Peter Bollen and Lucien Somers – Tel: ++32
475 289100 or ++32 475 701314. Email: peter.bollen@vitamex.com,
acos@skynet.be. Show Secretary is Yolande Wauters Tel: ++32 475
263198 and Press Officer is Edith de Reys Tel: ++32 475 659281,
Email: edith.dereys@tiscall.be.
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
.
