Leprevost leads French cavalry-charge at first Longines leg in Oslo

French riders ran rampant at the opening leg of the Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping 2015/2016 Western European League in Oslo, Norway today where Penelope Leprevost came out on top with Flora de Mariposa. In a thrilling 15-horse jump-off, the 35-year-old rider and her fabulous 10-year-old mare pinned her French counterparts, Simon Delestre and Patrice Delaveau, into second and third places, while Kevin Staut also carried the French flag into fifth spot behind Germany’s Marcus Ehning.

A super-star start-list guaranteed a great day of sport. A total of 39 horse-and-rider combinations from 21 nations were in action, and as Show Director, Morten Aasen, said this evening “when the entries were coming in, we had 16 of the top 20 riders in the Longines rankings, so it was like a dream come true! Having such a great line-up was like having a European Championship here – but it turned into a French Championship in the end!”

All the hallmarks

The 13-fence first course carried all the hallmarks of its creator, Germany’s Frank Rothenberger, with no allowance made for the fact that this was the first serious indoor test of the season for many. Big, bold oxers and a demanding triple combination of a double of oxers followed by a vertical stretched them all the way. One of the bogeys of the class however was the narrow, but wide, oxer at fence two which put paid to many chances, while the triple bar at fence eight produced some moments of high drama.

Sweden’s Henrik von Eckermann almost parted company with Cantinero when the pair paddled through the poles here, and, with just five horses left to go, World No 1, Great Britain’s Scott Brash also ran into trouble when meeting this on a wrong stride with Hello Sanctos. Despite concerns about just how tough it might be during the coursewalk however, “the course turned out easier than we expected” according to Leprevost.

First clear

Ireland’s Billy Twomey led the way into the jump-off with the veteran Tinka’s Serenade who collected 12 faults, and it was Ehning who produced the first clear when fourth to run with Comme Il Faut. Once the French got going however it was all about them, Delestre scorching home with the stallion Qlassic Bois Margot in 43.38 seconds to really put it up to the rest of the field, and his fellow-countryman, Delaveau, only 0.12 seconds slower to slot into temporary second place.

Try as they would, none of the rest could touch Delestre’s target-time until Leprevost set sail. She had a clear plan, and she stuck to it. “In the jump-off, most of the other riders took an inside line (around fence 13) to the double, but I went outside because I didn’t want to break the rhythm for Flora, who is anyway always fast – I think maybe that’s what made the difference” she explained. The decision paid off handsomely, with the clock showing just 43.01 seconds, an advantage of 0.37 seconds over her French rival, as she galloped through the timers.

A good surprise

“To win today was a good surprise!” Leprevost said afterwards. “It was the first indoor of the season for Flora, she is a super mare but I didn’t know if she would be perfect indoors just yet, but she was very good”. She now plans to compete in both the third Western European League leg on home turf in Lyon, France in two weeks’ time and at the fourth leg in Verona, Italy at the beginning of November.

Delestre wasn’t unhappy about having to settle for runner-up spot today. “I gave it all to the very last fence, and I could do no more. My horse has a big stride so I decided to take the inside line in the jump-off, and even if I had it all to do again I would do the same!” he said. Talking about the battle that ensued between himself and his fellow French riders, he pointed out that while they have a good team spirit, there was no love lost in trying to collect those all-important maximum qualifying points for the Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final which will take place in Gothenburg, Sweden next March.

“We are a good team and we like to help each other – it’s a great pleasure to compete together. But we have three fast horses, and when it comes to the jump-off we like to play the game!”, he said.

The Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping 2015/2016 Western European League now moves on to Helsinki, Finland on Sunday 25 October.

For further information on the first leg of the Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping 2015/2016 Western European League series at Oslo, Norway visit website http://www.oslohorseshow.com

The second leg of the series will take place in Helsinki, Finland on Sunday 25 October 2015. For all information on the Finnish fixture go to website http://www.helsinkihorseshow.fi/

French rider, Penelope Leprevost, pictured with Morten Thormodsen, Brand Manager Longines Norway, after winning today’s first leg of the Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping 2015/2016 Western European League at Oslo (NOR) riding Flora de Mariposa. (FEI/Mette Sattrup)

Result:

1, Flora de Mariposa (Penelope Leprevost) FRA 0/0 43.01;

2, Qlassic Bois Margot (Simon Delestre) FRA 0/0 43.36;

3, Lacrimoso 3 HDC (Patrice Delaveau) FRA 0/0 43.48;

4, Comme Il Faut (Marcus Ehning) GER 0/0 44.08;

5, Reveue de Hurtebise HDC (Kevin Staut) FRA 0/0 44.50;

6, VDL Groep Arera C (Maikel van der Vleuten) NED 0/0 49.17;

7, Clooney (Martin Fuchs) SUI 0/0 54.02;

8, Don VHP Z (Harrie Smolders) NED 0/4 44.07;

9, Rokfeller de Pleville Bois Margot (Eduardo Alvarez Aznar) ESP 0/4 45.87;

10, Embassy ll (Hans-Dieter Dreher) GER 0/4 46.23;

11, VDL Zirocco Blue NOP (Jur Vrieling) NED 0/4 48.02;

12, Nino des Buissonnets (Steve Guerdat) SUI 0/4 50.34;

13, Vienna Olympic (Shk. Ali Bin Khalid Al Thani) QAT 0/4 55.09;

14, Utamaro d’Escuassines (Joe Clee) GBR 0/8 49.87;

15, Tinka’s Serenade (Billy Twomey) IRL 0/12.

Louise Parkes

Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping 2015/2016 – The Series Of Legends Lives On…..

The FEI World Cup™ Jumping series celebrates its 38th season as the 2015/2016 Longines-sponsored Western European League gets underway in Oslo (NOR) this weekend.

The race for this title is always guaranteed to produce the best of top-quality sport, and reigning Olympic champion, Steve Guerdat, was only the third Swiss rider to claim the treasured trophy when victorious at the thrilling 2014/2015 Longines Final in Las Vegas (USA) last April.

One of the reasons the world’s leading competitors want to hold this coveted award in their hands is because it places their names amongst the legends of the sport. The list of champions includes so many of the greatest horse-and-rider partnerships of all time, including back-to-back winners Ian Millar and Big Ben from Canada and John Whitaker and Milton from Great Britain. Both of these men were riding horses of exceptional ability and enormous character, and their relationships with their equine buddies has been an inspiration to the generations who have attempted to follow in their revered footsteps.

Holds the record

There are four riders who have claimed the FEI World Cup™ Jumping title on three occasions, and Brazil’s Rodrigo Pessoa holds the record for a consecutive hat-trick of wins, all achieved with the same stallion, the brilliant Baloubet du Rouet, who proved unbeatable from 1997 until 1999. Austria’s Hugo Simon, who remains very active in the sport today, was the first champion back in 1979 with Gladstone, and added two more titles with ET FRH in 1996 and 1997.

American riders, who dominated the series in the early years, have made a significant comeback in recent times, but the two remaining three-time champions, Germany’s Marcus Ehning and Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, will undoubtedly be challenging throughout the qualifying rounds ahead of the 2015/2016 Final which returns to Gothenburg in Sweden for the 14th time.

A total of 15 Leagues are taking place across the globe, stretching from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South East and Central Asia and China, across North and South America, the Middle East and on to Caucasia and Central and Western Europe. In all, 108 qualifying events will have been staged before the 2016 Final begins at Gothenburg’s Scandinavium Arena on 23 March next year.

Rapid-fire affair

It’s a rapid-fire affair in this season’s Western European League, with eight of the 11 qualifying legs taking place over the next 10 weeks, beginning with the opener in Oslo on Sunday 18 October.

It was Dutchman Jur Vrieling, on a roll with VDL Zirocco Blue following The Netherlands’ domination at both the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014 in Normandy (FRA) and the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping 2014 Final in Barcelona (ESP), who claimed the honours at the Norwegian fixture 12 months ago when he pinned Germany’s Marco Kutscher and Cornet’s Cristallo into runner-up spot.

The early rounds of this series tend to attract a world-class field of starters attempting to rack up points in order to avoid the intense pressure of chasing qualification later in the season, and the defending champion, Steve Guerdat, did just that last year when finishing third in Oslo with his Olympic gold medal winning ride, Nino des Buissonnets. Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum took fourth spot on that occasion with the fabulous grey Fibonacci who, a year later, is considerably more experienced and one of the most exciting horses in the sport right now.

Jur Vrieling is back on the Oslo startlist again this year, and it really is a sparkling line-up with world number one Scott Brash joined by his British counterparts Joe Clee and Jessica Mendoza, who did a great job to secure runner-up spot for their country at the 2015 Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping Final in Spain at the end of last month. Guerdat will be there again, hoping to collect more of those valuable points that put him on the road to success last season, and with Patrice Delaveau, Simon Delestre, Penelope Leprevost and Kevin Staut lining out for France, and Ludger Beerbaum, Marcus Ehning, Hans Dieter Dreher and 2014 champion Daniel Deusser in action for Germany, it looks set to be a rip-roaring opening competition.

Guerdat Steve, (SUI), Albfueren S Paille
Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final III round 1
Las Vegas 2015
© Hippo Foto – Dirk Caremans
19/04/15

Season continues

The League continues with the second leg in Helsinki (FIN) on 25 October followed by Lyon (FRA), Verona (ITA), Stuttgart (GER) and Madrid (ESP) in November, and London Olympia (GBR) and Mechelen (BEL) in December. Leipzig (GER) gets the New Year off to a start and then there are only two further legs remaining, at Zurich (SUI) later in January and Bordeaux (FRA) in early February 2016.

The FEI World Cup™ Jumping series has produced many of the greatest talents ever seen in the sport, and the Western European League has been the breeding ground of legends. With the dawning of another Olympic year only a few short months away, there is great anticipation of exceptional sport over the coming months as skill, accuracy, courage and stamina are tested in the demanding confines of Europe’s finest indoor arenas.

Don’t miss a hoofbeat! Watch it all LIVE on http://www.feitv.org

Louise Parkes