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| Kevin Staut (Silvana de Hus) receives his watch from Jean-Noel Bioull of Rolex. By Kit Houghton/FEI. |
Kevin Staut and Silvana de Hus claimed victory today in the sixth leg of this season's Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping series in Geneva, Switzerland (12 December). The 30-year-old Frenchman, who continues to hold the number one spot in the Rolex World Rankings and who was already leading the Western European League series going into this competition, produced a last-to-go run that squeezed Olympic champion Eric Lamaze from Canada out of the top spot. Sweden's Rolf-Goran Bengtsson finished third ahead of Germany's Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum in fourth.
It was a special afternoon for the German rider, as her three-time Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping winning partner Shutterfly - now 17 years old but looking as fresh and keen as ever - showed he is right back to his best. And for Staut, today's victory was further confirmation of the quality and class of the 11-year-old mare which helped him claim team silver at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky two months ago.
"I've had her for one-and-a-half years now and this is the first big Grand Prix I have won with her," he said. "I've learned to know her a lot better over the last few months and she is a really top horse."
First round
Rolf-Goran described the first-round course as difficult, and only eight of the 40 starters managed to leave it intact. Swiss course designer Rold Ludi made good use of the expanse of the Palexpo arena and created a series of questions while demanding big jumping.
A massive triple bar at fence six - 1.55m high and 2.10m wide - was at the beginning of a tough line that included a following wall and then a vertical to oxer double over water-trays. Those who cleared the triple bar too extravagantly often paid the price by hitting one of the knockable cows that adorned the top of the wall, while others made it past these two tricky obstacles only to find themselves stretched too far at the double.
The planks at fence nine then demanded plenty of respect while a triple combination at10 was jumped off another curving line, which increased the degree of difficulty. One of the biggest surprises, however, was the manner in which the line from the penultimate vertical to the final oxer left many off-balance and reaching desperately for the last.
There was no luck for the Swiss, however. The host nation fielded nine of the 40 starters, but none of them managed to qualify for the jump-off.
Jump-off
Portugal's Luciana Diniz led the way against the clock with the nine-year-old bay gelding Lennox, who she co-owns along with Edouard de Rothschild, with another clean tour of the track in 34.39 seconds. There were two Spanish riders in the final shake-up. Pilar Cordon was the first of these to go and was next in with her nine-year-old chestnut mare Nuage Bleu. But despite improving the target time to 33.99 seconds, her mistake at the triple bar, now the third fence on the track, ensured she wouldn't be claiming the coveted Rolex winner's watch this time.
Her compatriot Sergio Alvarez Moya produced a great round from his 10-year-old stallion Action-Breaker, but his more cautious time of 37.48 seconds posed no threat to Luciana's lead either. However, the following partnership certainly did.
Eric Lamaze and his Olympic gold medal ride Hickstead galloped through the timers in 32.65 seconds to re-set the parameters.
Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and Shutterfly were not far behind in 33.28 seconds to go temporarily into second place. The USA-born rider was clearly delighted with her great old warrior, who seemed to be revelling on his return to the big-time indoor circuit after the birth of Meredith's first baby earlier this year.
Sweden's Rolf-Goran Bengtsson, however, edged the German partnership down the leaderboard with a flowing round from Quintero la Silla finishing in 32.88 seconds. And when Dutchman Harry Smolders' mare Regina Z, hit the first part of the former triple combination, now reduced to two jumping efforts, then it seemed Eric had it in the bag.
But that wasn't accounting for the skills of Kevin Staut, whose turn to the penultimate oxer was particularly tight.
"I was really short to the triple bar and I tried everything at the last fence as well," he said, after pipping Eric by 0.15 seconds.
"I certainly didn't think I'd won it, knowing the riders who were coming after me," said Eric. "There's always someone who is going to try harder and Kevin rode brilliantly."
But Kevin admitted he wasn't sure he could oust the Olympic champion from pole position.
"He was so quick I really didn't know if I could beat him going into the ring, so I just went as quickly as I could," he said. "I watched Eric and Meredith on TV, so I knew what they had done."
Silvana was rested for six weeks after Kentucky and will now be aimed at the ninth qualifying round of the Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping series in Zurich, Switzerland, at the end of January. But, he has a punishing schedule ahead for himself before that, which includes next week's tournament at Olympia, London, then Mechelen in Belgium followed by two days off before heading to Basel, Switzerland, and then Zurich followed by Bordeaux, France.
"I will take Le Prestige St Lois to London," he said, and it seems quite possible that he will shoot even further ahead at the top of the Western European League table on which he already holds a 13-point lead over Meredith in second and Rolf-Goran in third.
For Eric, however, it is time to pack his bags and head for the USA circuit and time for a holiday for his super-stallion Hickstead.
"I'm going to Wellington and Hickstead will come with me, but the next time he will compete will probably be at the end of Wellington," he said.
Reflecting on 2010 he said: "I couldn't have asked for much better this year, even though I had a bit of a setback when I broke my foot in Aachen.
"At the Masters in Spruce Meadows and at the WEG my foot wasn't in good shape, but I still won in Aachen and now I've been second in Geneva so I'm not complaining. I'm better and fitter since the World Games; before that I was taking the cast off every day when I was riding but now I don't have that anymore so it's great."
Kevin reflected on how quickly his career has developed over the past two-and-a-half years and said he gained the discipline with which he conducts himself during the time he spent working in Switzerland some years ago.
"I learned then about structure and method, although as I see it I still have a lot to learn. I only really arrived into this sport two-and-a-half years ago and I am still learning and so are my horses," he said.
Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping 2010/2011 Western European League standings
1. Kevin Staut FRA - 63
2. Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum GER - 50
3. Rolf-Goran Bengtsson SWE - 49
4. Harrie Smolders NED - 41
5. Christian Ahlmann GER - 40
6. Rodrigo Pessoa BRA - 36
7. Carsten-Otto Nagel GER - 33
8. Ludger Beergaum GER - 31
9. Sergio Alvarez Moya ESP - 29
10. Gerco Schroder NED - 28
11. Robert Whitaker GBR - 28
12. Billy Twomey IRL, Leon Thijssen NED - 27
14. Philip Weishaupt GER - 24
15. Malin Baryard-Johnsson SWE - 23
16. Marco Kutscher GER - 23
17. Lars Nieberg GER - 22
18. Jeroen Dubbeldam NED - 20
19. Marcus Ehning GER - 20
20. Nina Braaten NOR - 20
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