Spain's Rutherford Latham claimed the first leg of the Rolex FEI World Cup showjumping competition of the season in Oslo, Norway, at the weekend.
The Spaniard was no less than 1.87 second faster than what seemed to be the winning result of Thomas Velin for a long time. ""I'm not brilliant, just lucky! If I would have had to ride in the beginning, Thomas would have beaten me. I had the advantage of my friend Philippe Guerdat watching Thomas in the jump off. Then Philippe told me what I should do to beat him. And I did!"
Thirteen riders remained clear and prepared themselves for what soon turned out to be a spectacular jump-off. With so much competition and a lot at stake, every competitor had to give his utmost in order to grab the first points for the Rolex FEI World Cup final in Las Vegas in April 2009.
Especially when first rider Maikel van der Vleuten kicked his hot tempered mare VDL Groep Parmala Douche on and stayed clear in a very fast time: 35.25 sec. Which at the end only was good enough for fourth place. But young Van der Vleuten really had put the pressure on.
Two local Norwegian heroes, Morten Djupvik and Geir Gulliksen, spiced the jump off. Djupvik performed the ultimate jump off round aboard the big and scopy stallion Bessemeinds Casino, but disappointment was immense when he raced across the finish line having one rail down, yet improving the super time of Thomas Velin, who was in the lead at that time.
The Dane lead the field for quite some time. His super stallion Grim St Clair, a naturally fast and agile son of the famous thoroughbred stallion Laudanum xx, seemed invincible in Helsinki (0/34.79 sec). But World Cup specialist Latham used all the experience he has to be fast in small spaces, chasing forward where others would use the break: 0/33.14 sec.
Latham seems to feel at home in the northern part of Europe. Last year the Spaniard laid a solid foundation in Scandinavia in order to get qualified for the FEI World Cup final. In 2007 Rutherford Latham was fourth in Oslo and he won the next round in Helsinki.
The Helsinki leg of the Rolex FEI World Cup competition was a tremendous success for French show jumper breeding. Two Selle Français bred and approved stallions dictated the competition. Grim St Clair (Laudanum xx x Invincible) was fast and gave everything for his Danish rider Thomas Velin, but Guarana Champeix (Rivage du Poncel x Jalisco B) had a little bit more. To Rutherford Latham this was the decisive bit.
Experienced riders all aim to qualify for the Rolex FEI World Cup final. But the younger riders, like 19 year old Abdel Said, are less outspoken in their ambitions. Yet, the young Egyptian, who moved to Jos Lansink's yard two weeks ago, can be a little bit more hopeful to make it to the final. "The World Cup Final is a dream", said the member of Princess Haya's Team Harmony after ending up 11th and winning his first WC points of the season. "Riding in the final is not something that you can choose to do, so it was not in my mind before Oslo. I mean, everybody would love to qualify for Las Vegas! I will stay calm now, go to Helsinki and Mechelen and if possible some more World Cup qualifiers. Why not at least try to make it to the final."
Abdel Said just left school and moved from Emile Hendrix to Jos Lansink. "Emile has been of great help for many years, but it's always good to look for new things. Jos is very, very critical about training. He really focuses on improving both horse and rider and doesn't let go. It was obvious for me to go to Jos Lansink now, as we know each other from Team Harmony. We discussed the course together, but it was hard for Jos to help me for the jump off, as he himself had to tide Valentina. I made a mistake taking a short turn to the white vertical number 3. Team Harmony Sky High is such a wonderful horse, but there I made it too difficult for her. If I would have turned a little wider and rounder, she would have cleared it for me."
Abdel Said lives far away from his native country Egypt in order to be able to live the top sport life. "But I could not live this life without the fantastic support of Princess Haya and Team Harmony. It's the best that could have happened to me."
Anders Hafskjöld had designed a moderately difficult course, in order to get the riders on track for the indoor season. Thirteen fences, 16 jumping efforts, with one double and one triple combination. Some riders were surprised by the time allowed, especially in the beginning of the competition, and had time faults. This was particularly bad news for the Italian riders Omar Bonomelli and Giuseppe d'Onofrio, who stayed wonderfully clear, thanks to their brilliant horses Quintero 4 and Landzeu 2, but could not start in the jump off because of one painful time fault.
"It's always hard to design the first course of the indoor season", said Hafskjöld. "Riders and horses have to get accustomed and foremost I wanted to be fair to the horses. I always aim to have eight or 10 riders in the jump-off. Thirteen is a bit much. But it's better than being unfair to the horses."
The competition was sold out and held in front of an enthusiastic public. The show was organized at the Spektrum, in the middle of Oslo, for the very last time. Next year the event will take place in a brand new facility outside of the city.
The next edition of the Rolex FEI World Cup competition in the Western European League will take place from 16-19 October 2008 at the CSI4*-W in Helsinki.
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