Reigning European Champion Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum secured a home victory in the fourth leg of the Rolex FEI World Cup™ Jumping series presented by Mercedes-Benz, Allianz and BW Bank in Stuttgart, Germany today with a thrilling jump-off performance from Shutterfly.
And the ladies were in flying form as Ireland’s Jessica Kuerten finished second ahead of Eugenie Angot from France in third, while with Belgium’s Judy-Ann Melchior in fifth and Portugal’s Luciana Diniz in seventh the girls took five of the top ten finishing spots.
There were 14 through to the second-round jump-off over Uliano Vezzani’s track and it was Irishman, Denis Lynch, who led the way with his new ride Lantinus which was formerly ridden by Gregory Wathelet for The Ukraine. Lynch, whose sponsor Thomas Straumann also bought the Daniel Deusser ride Upsilon d’Ocquier from Jan Tops earlier in the season, had two fences down in his path-finding round with the nine year old Lantinus, and Germany’s Thomas Muhlbauer and Asti Spumante did likewise before Brazil’s Alvaro Mirando and AD Picolien Zeidenrust set the first real target when returning with just four faults in 36.19 seconds.
Norway’s Tony Andre Hansen was more than a second slower when leaving two on the floor with Camiro, but Heinrich-Hermann Engemann made only a single error with the 13 year old Aboyeur who broke the beam in 35.59.
It was fellow German, Ludger Beerbaum. who produced the first clear with the eight year old All Inclusive NRW who broke the beam in 37.46 seconds and then, as so often happens, the fault-free rounds just kept on coming. Belgium’s Judy-Ann Melchior left the course intact with some nice jumping from the 10 year old Levisto who broke the beam in 38.15 seconds before the competition suddenly went into over-drive with a spectacular run from Jessica Kuerten and Castle Forbes Libertina.
The Irish partnership are particularly brilliant against the clock and when they crossed the line in 33.74 seconds they were almost four seconds ahead of previous leader Ludger Beerbaum and were now very definitely the ones to beat.
Luciana Diniz was competitive without being crazy when steering the 15 year old Son of Marco home and clear in 36.43, while Frenchman Michel Hecart was faster with Itot du Chateau but his time of 36.09 seconds was still more than two seconds off Kuerten’s pace.
With just four left to go, Germany’s Daniel Deusser and Air Jordan Z stopped the clock in 36.34 seconds to present no danger but, third-last into the ring, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum was on fire when setting off with Shutterfly.
“Jessica had been really fast in the jump-off and I knew it would be difficult to beat her time but I just tried to shorten the turns all the way around and maybe I was a little smoother” said the American-born German rider who will celebrate her 38th birthday next month. And that she did, racing home to stop the clock in 33.34 seconds and relegating Kuerten to runner-up spot.
Eugenie Angot had to follow that and was left with a bit of a dilemma. “The jump-off was really fast and with 14 through it would be easy to jump two rounds and still to go home with nothing” she pointed out afterwards. “I saw Meredith’s round on the screen and my feeling was that I had no chance to catch her and I knew Jessica’s time was good too so I decided to try to slot in behind them” she explained. She could not be sure of third place however until Steve Guerdat and Tresor took their turn. And the Swiss rider had a real shot at it when breaking the beam in 33.80 but leaving one on the floor which left him having to settle for eighth place.
For Meredith this was the perfect result following her disappointing elimination with Checkmate at the previous leg in Verona last weekend. “Yes this felt good - I needed some points and I now I feel I am on my way” she pointed out after taking ownership of the winner’s prize of a brand new “M” class Mercedes-Benz.
Her success today leaves her sharing seventh position with Steve Guerdat on the leaderboard which continues to be headed by Spain’s Rutherford Latham with Sweden’s Helena Lundback and Rolf-Goran Bengtsson in second and third.
And with the European Champion now firmly focused on earning her place at the Rolex FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final in Gothenburg next April the series moves up a gear ahead of the next round in Geneva, Switzerland in three weeks time….
RESULT: 1, Shutterfly (Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum) Ger 0/0 33.34; 2, Castle Forbes Libertina (Jessica Kuerten) Irl 0/0 33.74; 3, Ilostra Dark (Eugenie Angot) 0/0 35.67; 4, Itot du Chateau (Michel Hecart) Fra 0/0 36.09; 5, Son of Marco (Luciana Diniz) Por 0/0 36.53; 6, All Inclusive KRW (Ludger Beerbaum) Ger 0/0 37.46; 7, Levisto Z (Judy-Ann Melchior) Bel 0/0 38.15; 8, Tresor V (Steve Guerdat) Sui 0/4 33.80; 9, Aboyeur W (Heinrich-Hermann Engemann) Ger 0/4 35.59; 10, AD Picolien Zeidenrust (Alvaro Miranda) Bra 0/4 36.19; 11, Air Jordan Z (Daniel Deusser) Ger 0/4 36.34; 12, Lantinus (Denis Lynch) 0/8 36.60; 13, Asti Apumante (Thomas Muhlbauer) Ger 0/8 36.87; 14, Camiro (Tony Andre Hansen) Nor 0/8 37.71; 15, Oki Doki (Albert Zoer) Ned 4/69.15; 16, Nairobi (Leon Thijssen) ned 4/69.26; 17, Madick (Helena Lundback) Swe 4/70.12; 18, Peppermill (John Whitaker) GBR 4/70.21; 19, Isovlas Socrates (Edwina Alexander) Aus 4/70.37; 20, Al Kaheel Spender S (Jos Lansink) Bel 4/71.59; 21, Da Zara Porto Rico (Piergiorgio Bucci) ita 4/71.72; 22, Ideo du Thot (Beat Mandli) Sui 4/71.78; 23, Gestion Priamus Z (Vincent Voorn) Ned 4/71.94; 24, Coster (Christian Ahlmann) Ger 4/72.56; 25, Isaac (Royne Zetterman) Swe 4/72.77; 26, Leonardo B (Thomas Voss) Ger 4/72.85; 27, Quintero la Silla (Rolf-Goran Bengtsson) Swe 4/73.39; 28, Butterfly Flip (Malin Baryard-Johnsson) Swe 8/73.39; 29, Grim St Clair (Thomas Velin) Den 8/69.39; 30, Clausen (Holger Wulschner) Ger 8/70.16; 31, Kanthaka de Petra (Julien Epaillard) Fra 8/70.40; 32, Cornet Obolensky (Marco Kutscher) Ger 8/70.45; 33, Lord Luis (Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst) Ger 8/70.89; 34, Callie Cool (Carsten-Otto Nagel) Ger 8/70.98; 35, Conally (Markus Renzel) Ger 8/71.30; 36, Noltes Kuchengirl (Marcus Ehning) Ger 8/71.97; 37, Calandro (Sebastian Numminen) Fin 8/75.43; 38, Pherna (Julia Kayser) Aut 16/88.19; Equal 39, Obelix (Taizo Sugitani) Jpn, Chika’s Way (Janne-Friederike Meyer) Ger Retired.
ROLEX FEI WORLD CUP™ JUMPING 2007/2008 - WESTERN EUROPEAN LEADERBOARD AFTER ROUND 4 IN STUTTGART:
1. Rutherford Latham - 48
2. Helena Lundback - 33
3. Rolf-Goran Bengtsson - 32
4. Heinrich-Hermann Engemann - 23
5. Albert Zoer - 22
6. Piet Raymakers Snr. - 21
7. Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, Steve Guerdat - 20
9. William Whitaker - 19
10. Juan Carlos Garcia - 18
11. Daniel Deusser - 18
12. Marco Kutscher, Jessica Kuerten - 17
14. Marcus Fuchs - 16
15. Eugenie Angot - 15
16. Piet Raymakers Jnr. - 15
PHOTO CATALOGUE - Photographs of the winning riders in high and low resolution can be downloaded from the FEI online catalogue. To access it, please visit www.horsesport.org>Media Centre>Catalogue. There is no reproduction fee, but please credit photographer (photographer’s name will appear under each photo)/FEI. Usage is strictly for editorial purposes.
For further information on the Rolex FEI World Cup™ Jumping qualifer in Stuttgart, Germany check out website www.stuttgart-german-masters.de. Show Presidents |Andreas Kroll and Martin Rau, Show Director Gotthilf Riexinger, Show Secretary Susanne Assendorf and Press Officer Hartmut - contact Tel (mobile) +49 172972 or Email [email protected]. The next leg of the series takes place in Geneva, Switzerland 6-9 December 2007. Show Director is Sophie Mottu, Sport Director is Alban Poudret, Show Secretary is Chantal Rothen and Press Officer is Corinne Druey - contact Tel +41 213128222, (mobile) +41 702267859 or Email [email protected].
RESULTS
ROLEX FEI World Cup Jumping
Mercedes-Benz, Allianz and BW-Bank:
Grand Prix of Stuttgart
Int. Competition with jump-off
World Cup-Qualification 2007/2008
1 Shutterfly Michaels-Beerbaum, Meredith GER PKW 0 Faults 33.34 sec
2 Castle Forbes Libertina Kürten, Jessica IRL 32000 EUR 0 Faults 33.74 sec
3 Ilostra Dark Angot, Eugenie FRA 24000 EUR 0 Faults 35.67 sec
4 Itot du Chateau Hecart, Michel FRA 16000 EUR 0 Faults 36.09 sec
5 Son of Marco Diniz, Luciana POR 10000 EUR 0 Faults 36.43 sec
6 All Inclusive NRW Beerbaum, Ludger GER 7000 EUR 0 Faults 37.46 sec
7 Levisto Z Melchior, Judy-Ann BEL 5000 EUR 0 Faults 38.15 sec
8 Tresor V Guerdat, Steve SUI 2000 EUR 4 Faults 33.80 sec
9 Aboyeur W Engemann, Heinrich Hermann GER 1000 EUR 4 Faults 35.59 sec
10 AD Picolien Zeldenrust Miranda, Alvaro BRA 1000 EUR 4 Faults 36.19 sec
11 Air Jordan Z Deusser, Daniel GER 1000 EUR 4 Faults 36.34 sec
12 Lantinus Lynch, Denis IRL 1000 EUR 8 Faults 36.60 sec
13 Asti Spumante Mühlbauer, Thomas GER 210 EUR 8 Faults 36.87 sec
14 Camiro Hansen, Tony Andre NOR 210 EUR 8 Faults 37.71 sec
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