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Federation
Equestre Internationale News
FEI
World Cup Jumping News: Triumph For Bruno And Heartbreak
For Meredith As Dileme De Cephe Takes Title For France.....
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Bruno
Broucqsault became the first Frenchman to claim the title when,
thanks to sheer genius of his 13 year old gelding Dileme de Cephe,
he snatched victory in a thrilling finish to the Sony Ericsson
FEI World Cup Jumping Final in Milan today.
Germany’s
Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum was second, denied a two-way jump off
with the 45 year old French rider by what seemed like nothing
short of massive injustice when, after a first-round effort that
was nothing short of perfection, a slight second-round error cost
her dearly.
Markus
Fuchs picked up just four faults on this final day with Tinka’s
Boy to place third ahead of Eugenie Angot and the brilliant Cigale
du Tallis from France who were the only partnership to match the
winner’s double-clear performance.
Just
four horse-and-rider combinations completed the first track without
penalty as big fences and tricky distances took their toll.
Meredith
said afterwards "the first round today was very difficult
– every fence came up quickly after fence two and there were
extremely technical distances with questions about scope and carefulness
– all the questions a good course should have".
Many
of the early runners tried to tackle the distance from the wall
at fence two to the oxer at fence three on four forward strides
but it became clear that five shorter strides was more suitable
for most, as the front bar of the oxer fell time and time again,
while the line from the oxer at five to the double at six also
proved a bit of a puzzle. A very forward four strides left a lot
of the horses too flat at the next fence while it seemed almost
impossible for many to shorten enough to put in five.
Laura
Kraut however literally came unstuck at the very first fence,
a triple bar, when the horse seemed a little deep and, for the
second time this weekend, decided to stop. However fellow-American,
Richard Spooner, put the record straight when producing the first
clear round. There are some horses that thrive on a challenge
and, like all the best Irish-breds, the bay gelding simply jumped
his heart out despite some dangerous moments and this partnership
crossed the line to a storm of applause as the crowd recognised
the courage of both horse and rider.
Cigale
is the French word for Grasshopper and Eugenie’s horse lived
up to her name as they popped around the track to put the second
clear on the board but only Meredith with Shutterfly and Bruno
and Dileme de Cephe would follow suit as Markus Fuchs, lying overnight
third and just four points behind the leaders going into this
final competition, added four more to his tally when Tinka’s
Boy clipped the second element of the double.
So
with no alteration to the overnight position for the leading three
the second round began, Eric Van der Vleuten and Audi’s Jikke
finding the key this time for The Netherlands along with Thomas
Velin and Equest Carnute (Den), Malin Baryard with Butterfly Flip
(Swe), Italy’s Juan Carlos Garcia with Albin, and Germany’s
Marco Kutscher with Montender. It all fell apart for Richard Spooner
however when, now lying seventh, they plummeted down the leaderboard
again when collecting 12 faults this time out but Eugenie produced
another great run from Cigale to complete with the nine penalties
she had collected over the first two competition.
This
put real pressure on Markus Fuchs. He was now carrying eight and
would slip right down the order if he couldn’t hold it together,
but the man who had to relinquish his World No. 1 slot because
of the injury-problems he has been battling with was not going
to go down easily. Looking uncomfortable and with Tinka’s
Boy looking a little tired Markus steered a crafty, cautious course
to come home without incident and now he could finish no worse
than a very creditable third.
Second-last
into the ring came Bruno with Dileme de Cephe and this extraordinary
partnership was nothing if not determined. A father of two who
runs a big riding centre near Lille in France, Bruno is a shy,
private man but his relationship with his 13 year old gelding
is something special. Helped by Eric Navet in recent years the
rider has risen to the top of the sport in France, last year winning
the Grand Prix classes at both Rome and Barcelona but it is the
depth of understanding between himself and Dileme de Cephe which
has brought him to the top – they don’t always seem
to be working in absolute harmony and at times seem to be decidedly
at odds but they want to leave all the fences standing no matter
what happens and their belief in each other is unique.
Dileme
tapped the vertical at fence one and then looked all wrong on
his approach to the oxer at fence five on the new track but, as
always giving it everything he’s got, the horse left it up
and cleared the line to leave Meredith in the hot seat.
Shutterfly
had not made a mistake all weekend and in fact Meredith’s
opening effort on this final day was stunning. Her eye for a stride
had been spot-on all weekend and Shutterfly seemed calmer and
more confident than ever but, when meeting that same oxer at five
a little deep, the gelding put in a big effort which, as Meredith
explained left them long to the first element of the following
double and there was a gasp of disbelief when it fell.
It
seemed incredibly unfair that this sensational duo should be punished
so harshly but, at the end of the day, show jumping comes down
to leaving the fences up and Meredith was gracious in defeat.
"Bruno
deserved his win today" she said afterwards. "I was
a little disappointed to have lost and I think I was a bit unlucky
but I am so pleased with my horse’s performance all weekend
long. He was so good – the fault in the final round was unfortunate
but that’s what happens in this sport! I have to say that
the problem really occurred at the oxer before the planks that
we hit – Shutterfly gave an unbelievable jump over the oxer
and the crowd made a loud gasp – he is very sensitive to
sound and pulled me past the correct distance to the planks. When
we had that fence down it was a terrible feeling but I knew I
had to concentrate and get him home, its easy to get distracted
in those circumstances and things then can go very wrong".
Delighted
but perhaps somewhat shell-shocked at finding himself the newly-crowned
FEI World Cup Jumping Champion, Bruno is clearly not going to
let this success go to his head. When asked how he felt about
his historic victory he commented "I’m just still little
Bruno, nothing changes. I am very happy. When I came here I hoped
to finish in the top five but I never expected to win so I want
to thank everyone who has helped and supported me here".
It
certainly was not the result that had been expected but Markus
Fuchs said "we often have surprises in our sport. Two days
ago I was impressed with Bruno’s confidence when he said
he would not feel the pressure going into the last day –
this is a big, big performance and I would like to congratulate
him".
Under
the most extreme pressure Bruno and Dileme de Cephe never faltered
in their absolute faith in one another and France has now found
another super-hero to further boost the incredible run of French
form on the international stage.
The
Sony Ericsson FEI World Cup Jumping Final was a great success,
particularly taking into account the fact that the Milan organisers
agreed to stage it only eight months ago. In typically direct
fashion Max Amman, who resigned last year after 25 years as World
Cup Director, gave a concise critical analysis of the 26th World
Cup Final.
"The
organisers did a great job technically – the warm-up area,
stabling and the surface in the arena were excellent - but they
failed to provide enough professional staff for the event. There
was a large number of volunteers and their lack of experience
was very evident at the beginning of the show – the welcome
just was not there for many of the riders. However we should be
grateful to the Italian Federation who took on this adventure.
Italy is not like Germany or Ireland where show jumping is so
popular. Here it is a high-society sport".
Commenting
on the lack of spectators over the first few days of competition
he said "on the early days most of the spectators were not
Italian – instead they were from other countries around the
world. For six years a World Cup qualifier was staged in Bologna
and there was no public support over the early days but on Sunday
the seating was full to capacity – that’s the way it
tends to be in Italy".
He
was upbeat about the future for the series. "The World Cup
is solid – it is the best thing that the FEI has. If we had
a major sponsor, as we did for 20 years with Volvo, we would have
the money to do additional things like producing the Media Guide,
organising press receptions etc. but without that we have to just
settle for the basics – hopefully a major sponsor will be
found" he added.
John
Roche, FEI Technical Manager for the World Cup series, is now
Co-Ordinator for all matters in relation to the World Cup said
"what Max has done for equestrian sport in developing the
World Cup series is immeasurable. He gave the indoor season a
focus – a sense of purpose – and he directed and consolidated
the sport in a way that was badly needed. He invested a wealth
of creativity, dedication and enthusiasm and we are now reaping
the benefits of that – we are greatly in his debt".
Those
watching today’s competition were indeed treated to a great
sporting moment.
RESULT
OF 26th WORLD CUP FINAL 2004 (after third final competition):
1,
Bruno Broucqsault (Dileme de Cephe) Fra 0; 2, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum
(Shutterfly) Ger 4; 3, Markus Fuchs (Tinka’s Boy) Sui 8;
4, Eugenie Angot (Cigale du Tallis) Fra 9; 5, Marco Kutscher (Montender)
Ger 13; equal 6, Juan Carlos Garcia (Albin) Ita, Malin Baryard
(H&M Butterfly Flip) Swe 14; 8, Wim Schroder (Eurocommerce
Montreal) Ned 16; 9, Rolf-Goran Bengtsson (MacKinley) Swe 18;
10, Thomas Velin (Equest Carnute) Den 19; 11, Ludo Philippaerts
(Parco) Bel 23; 12, Richard Spooner (Hilton Flight) USA 25; 13,
Marcus Ehning (Anka) Ger 26; 14, Eric Van der Vleuten (Audi’s
Jikke) Ned 27; 15, Michael Whitaker (Portofino/Handel) GB 29;
16, Yann Candele (Mill Creek Sweet Dream) Fra 30; 17, Hubert Bourdy
(VDL Groep Eve des Etisses) Fra 33; 18, Christophe Barbeau (Qerly
Chin) Sui 37; 19, Jean-Marc Nicolas (JPC Modesto Equifoam) Fra
39; 20, Grzegorz Kubiak (Djane de Fontenis) Pol 46; 21, Nicole
Shahinian-Simpson (El Campeon’s So Long) USA 47; 22, Ainsley
Vince (Catch 22) Can Ret (third final competition); 23, Laura
Kraut (Anthem) USA Elim (third final competition); 25, Toni Hassmann
(Camirez B) Ger Ret (third final competition).
www.horsesport.org
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