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| Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (Checkmate) receives her watch from Rolex's Anthony Schaub. By FEI |
Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum recorded Germany's third consecutive victory of the 2010/2011 Rolex FEI World Cup jumping season when topping the line-up at Lyon, France, on Sunday, 31 October 2010 following a great performance from Checkmate. And it was a very special victory for the three times champion, who most recently helped the German team to gold at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky, USA.
"My last World Cup ride was in Las Vegas in 2009," she said. "I have been out of the indoor sport for almost two years now so this was a big day for me today and a great day for me too."
Her win wasn't easily achieved. She had the best of the draw when last to go in the nine-horse jump-off, but she had to chase the super-tight target time set by the Netherlands' Gerco Schroder (Eurocommerce New Orleans) in a competition that was filled with surprises. Not least of these was the third-place finish for Colombia's Rene Lopez, who nearly brought the house down with the excitement he created during his race against the clock with his brave mare Noblesse Des Tess.
Scope and control
Before the class began, course designer Frank Rothenberger talked about his track.
"The oxers are wide, riders will need a scopey horse and plenty of control," he said. "I don't expect too many clear rounds, between eight and 10 I think."
And he was pretty accurate as only nine of the 29 starters found the key.
With four fences at the maximum 1.60m and horses asked to shorten and lengthen throughout the course, it was always going to be challenging. The questions began at the very first, a big oxer followed by a tall FEI vertical. Fence three was an oxer with water tray.
"There are seven short strides to this one and it is difficult because the poles are white and there is no filler," said Frank. "It is the widest oxer at 1.80m."
There were five long strides from the oxer at four to a light-coloured double at five, which had a very short one-stride distance inside, and horses were then asked to extend once again with three long strides to a vertical at six.
Four long strides from a vertical at seven to a triple combination at eight, two big oxers followed by a vertical, proved the undoing of many. The majority of faults were accumulated at the combination which fell 12 times; the middle element hitting the floor on nine occasions. And there were plenty of further questions before the end of the track, including whether riders could control their horses on a very short four-stride distance from fence 10 to skinny planks at 11, the final two oxers also taking their toll.
With nine French riders amongst the 39 starters it seemed the jump-off should be top-heavy with home runners, but clear rounds proved difficult to get and three of the French were among the four retirements, while the only elimination was incurred by Finland's Mikael Forsten whose mare, Evli Nandele, dislodged him when slamming on the brakes in the middle of the double.
Eleven horses had jumped before Belgium's Jos Lansink recorded the first clear with the clean and careful grey stallion Calistro. Rene immediately followed suit and seven others joined these two in the timed round, but there was only one Frenchman among them, Kevin Staut, who continues to wear the coveted green-and-gold Rolex armband that indicates his position as number one in the Rolex World Rankings.
Jump-off
The clever eight-obstacle jump-off track claimed its first victim when pathfinder Jos's horse hit the white oxer, now located three fences from home, but Rene then put it up to the rest of them when next into the ring. His first tour of the course had been exciting enough, but this time he truly threw caution to the wind as he galloped flat out all the way with Nobless des Tess. And the nine-year-old mare never flinched, despite near-impossible questions, scorching home to set the target at 42.52 seconds.
Spain's Sergio Alvarez Moya, winner of the previous day's Masters, then set off with the Heartbreaker stallion Action-Breaker. The pair had given an exhibition ride in the previous round, but two fences on the floor ensured they would finish down the order. Denmark's Karina Rie Truelsen was another surprise inclusion in the jump-off line-out, but she showed she well-deserved her place when producing another clear from her bay stallion Lord If de Chalusse to slot temporarily into second place and when Ireland's Denis Lynch (Abbervail Van Het Dingeshoeve) left two on the floor he presented no danger to the leaders.
Final few
Gerco Schroder did threaten, however, when producing a fast round from Eurocommerce New Orleans which included a superbly-judged tight turn to the FEI vertical and with 41.88 seconds showing on the clock, he went in front. That same vertical, however, drew a groan of disappointment from the crowd when Kevin Staut's gelding, Le Prestige St Lois de Hus, left it on the floor, and when it also penalised Sweden's Rolf-Goran Bengtsson (Casall la Silla) only Meredith stood between Gerco and the coveted maximum Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping points.
Completely focused, the American-born rider and her high-stepping 15-year-old gelding took all the risks, clinching victory with the bravest gallop down a long run between the final two fences finishing just fractionally faster in 41.74 seconds.
Schroder was philosophical about having to settle for runner-up spot.
"I'm happy with my second place," he said. "I knew Meredith was coming after me and you can never be sure about anything until she is done."
His profile has not been so high of late, but he explained that much of this last year had been spent bringing on good seven- and eight-year-old horses.
"My brother (Wim) and I have a good system for finding younger horses and bringing them along," he said.
But he has also had some great results with Eurocommerce New Orleans.
"He was double clear at the three-Star in Moorsele, sixth in Dortmund and fourth in the Grand Prix at Calgary so he has been going really well," he added.
The winner
Meredith's life has changed dramatically since the birth of her daughter, Brianne, last February.
"She is the priority now and my riding comes next," she explained.
She said she had been disappointed with her performance in the individual competition at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games and joked that today's double of oxers in the triple combination were placed there by Frank Rothenberger "to give me some more practice. I was relieved when I jumped them clear in the first round and after that I felt that this could just be my day."
She talked about the challenges of parenting and how Brianne has travelled with her to every show since she was born. However, this weekend her daughter stayed at home with her husband, Marcus.
"She was a bit jet-lagged after Kentucky, so I didn't bring her here," Meredith explained.
As a result, she missed her mother's first big indoor win for quite some time. But on today's form, the triple Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping champion has plenty more to look forward to. She goes to Verona, Italy, next weekend, where her great old jumping partner Shutterfly will jump in a few small classes as he gets back into world-class shape.
"He is looking very well," said Meredith. "And if everything goes well, I want to jump him in a World Cup before the end of the year".
For full results, click here
Western European League standings after Lyon:
1. Christian Ahlmann GER - 40
2. Kevin Staut FRA - 32
3. Leon Thijssen NED - 27
4. Philipp Weishaupt GER - 24
5. Malin Baryard-Johnsson SWE - 23
6. Lars Nieberg GER - 22
7. Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum GER - 20
7. Rodrigo Pessoa BRA - 20
9. Julien Epaillard FRA - 18
10. Gerco Schroder NED - 17
Ludger Beerbaum GER - 17
12. Ludo Philippaerts BEL - 15
Rene Lopez COL - 15
14. Karina Rie Truelsen DEN - 13
Marco Kutscher GER - 13
Nina Fagerstrom FIN - 13
17. Rolf-Goran Bengtsson SWE - 12
18. Wout-Jan Van der Schans NED 11
19. Jessica Kuerten IRL - 10
19. Jos Lansink BEL - 10
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