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Guerdat Claims The Longed-for Longines Trophy at Last

News Desk — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 09:11:31 +0000

Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat was a happy man when claiming the Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping 2015 title at the Thomas & Mack arena in Las Vegas, USA today. “I’ve been waiting a long time for this moment!”, said the 32-year-old Olympic champion whose last-to-go ride was an absolute thriller.

Written by by Louise Parkes

He came into today’s drama-filled final competition sharing the lead with America’s Rich Fellers, but it was French rider Penelope Leprevost who lined up second at the end of the day, while 19-year-old Irish talent, Bertram Allen finished third.

“I’ve been trying a long time to win this and I’ve come close many times. It’s the third time I was in the lead going into the final competition, and today I nearly messed it up again! Coming to the last I was riding more like a cow-horse rider”, Guerdat said afterwards. “I’m so happy, I feel blessed!”

Six clear rounds

With riders going in reverse order of merit, there were only six clears from a start-list of 29 over another tough course from Anthony D’Ambrosio in the first round today. The vertical at fence nine claimed a number of victims but there were also plenty of faults posted later on the track, with horses beginning to fade after three days of demanding jumping.

One of the features of the 2015 Final has been the remarkable performances of the younger generation, and it was 24-year-old Douglas Lindelow from Sweden, lying 12th with Casello, who was first to leave all the poles in place. The Netherlands’ Maikel van der Vleuten and VDL Groep Verdi immediately followed suit and when America’s Beezie Madden (Simon) and Belgium’s Jos Verlooy (Domino), who each carried six penalty points into the last day, were also fault-free, they shot up the leaderboard, while Penelope Leprevost (Vagabond de la Pomme) carrying five penalties, put the pressure on the top three when also foot-perfect .

Bertram Allen and Molly Malone were just one penalty point behind the leaders as the day began, but they began to look vulnerable when the massive 1.75m-wide oxer at fence five hit the floor. And when Guerdat jumped clear, but joint-leader Fellers had two fences down, the Swiss star went into the second round still on a clean sheet. With Leprevost and Allen now lying joint-second with five faults apiece, he had a fence in hand as the second round began. But things didn’t go quite to plan for the eventual champion this time out.

Faulted once more

Both Leprevost and Allen faulted once more to put them on a nine-fault final total, and it seemed the Longines 2015 title must surely already be in Guerdat’s grasp. But the crowd gripped their seats and gasped when his chestnut mare, Albfuehren’s Paille, hit the first element of the double at five. And then it almost completely unravelled for the Swiss star on the turn to the last.

“I don’t really want to think about it!” he said afterwards. “I didn’t expect the first mistake, those four strides (from fence 4 to 5a) turned out to be very, very long, and that triple combination wasn’t good for me at all, but once we were past that I thought now stay calm. But coming to the last I knew the time was tight. I could hear Martin Fuchs outside the arena saying “go, go!” and I don’t know what I did. I just went as fast as I could to the finish line, but unfortunately there was a big fence in the way!” he said with a laugh.

The last fence indeed hit the floor with crash, and it was only his ferocious gallop to get through the beam inside the 68 seconds time-allowed that saved the day. If he had added a single time fault to the eight fence penalties he had just collected, would have been forced into a three-way jump-off against Leprevost and Allen. And he has endured too many unsuccessful FEI World Cup™ Final jump-offs before to make that an enticing prospect.

Leprevost’s faster time of 65.30 with Vagabond de la Pomme secured runner-up spot while Allen had to settle for third when a half-second slower.

A real fighter

Guerdat described his winning ride, Albfuehren’s Paille, as “a real fighter, today a lot of horses were really struggling but every time she sees a fence she wants to jump it, no matter what.”

Today’s victory is particularly sweet for the new champion. “I’ve been three-times on the podium, twice in the jump-off and always finished in the top 10. I always wanted to win this”, Guerdat said. Talking about his determination to eventually succeed, having competed at 10 finals, he said, “I have good people around me who keep me calm and confident and keep me going. You need a little bit of luck, you have to keep believing in yourself and your horse and if you come so close so many times you deserve to win it one time!”

Bertram Allen IRL commented- “In the first round I made a mistake but felt she (Molly Malone) jumped quite good, but the second round was a bad round – I got much too close to fence two. But I’m very happy to be here. I’ve had a great week and feel honoured to be sitting up her with these riders at this young age.”

Result: 1, Steve Guerdat SUI 8; 2, Penelope Leprevost FRA 9/65.30; 3, Bertram Allen IRL 9/65.87; 4, Beezie Madden USA 10/65.78; 5, Jos Verlooy BEL 10/67.34; 6, Maikel van der Vleuten NED 12; 7, Rich Fellers USA 16/67.70; 8, Douglas Lindelow SWE 18; 9, Lucy Davis USA 19; 10, Jur Vrieling NED 20.

FEI World CupTM Finals All-Session Tickets Now Available to the Public!

News Desk — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 11:03:13 +0000

Las Vegas, Nevada – July 16, 2014 – Tickets for the 2015 FEI World CupTM Finals in Las Vegas are now on sale to the general public.

The FEI World CupTM Finals return to Las Vegas, April 15-19, 2015, marking the Finals’ first time in the U.S. since 2009. The Thomas & Mack Center will host both the Longines FEI World CupTM Jumping Final and the Reem Acra FEI World CupTM Dressage Final. This marks the sixth time that Las Vegas has had the honor of hosting one of the world’s most prestigious equestrian events.

The public now has the opportunity to buy all-session tickets for both the Longines FEI World CupTM Jumping Final and the Reem Acra FEI World CupTM Dressage Final, which are now available for purchase to anyone.

Spectators have a variety of ticketing options from which to choose. For either the Jumping or Dressage Final, spectators may purchase an all-session balcony level ticket (priority seating) at $200 per person, an all-session plaza level ticket (priority seating) at $350 per person, or the VIP package, which includes one premier all-session seat, access to a private VIP hospitality area complete with deluxe food and beverage each day and VIP preferred parking, for $1,500 per person.

Combo packages are also available with seats for both Jumping and Dressage with discounted prices as follows: balcony level at $350, plaza level at $650, or the VIP package at $2,950.

“Las Vegas has proven to be an extremely successful host city for the FEI World CupTM Finals,” said Pat Christenson, president of Las Vegas Events. “We are just nine months away from hosting this premier event for the sixth time, and the anticipation has never been greater. We look forward to welcoming the world’s top equestrians and fans from across the world to our city in April 2015.”

All of the excitement will begin on Wednesday, April 15, 2015 with the warm-ups for both jumping and dressage. Actual competition begins on Thursday, April 16 with the Reem Acra FEI World CupTM Dressage Grand Prix at noon, followed by the Longines FEI World CupTM Jumping Final I at 7:00 PM. Competition continues the next day, Friday, April 17, with the Reem Acra FEI World CupTM Dressage Freestyle Rehearsal at 7:30 AM, the Las Vegas Dressage Showcase at noon and the Longines FEI World CupTM Jumping Final II at 7:00 PM.

Saturday, April 18 features the Reem Acra FEI World CupTM Dressage Final (Freestyle) at noon, followed by the Las Vegas Jumping Grand Prix at 7:00 PM. The competition concludes on Sunday, April 19 with the Longines FEI World CupTM Jumping Final III at noon. All times are Pacific Time.

Founded in 1979, the FEI World CupTM Jumping Final is an annual international competition featuring the world’s best show jumping horses and riders. In the 36 Finals held through 2014, United States riders have emerged with the most titles, having won the championship nine times. Previous FEI World Cup™ Jumping Finals held in the United States include Baltimore (1980), Tampa (1989), Del Mar, CA (1992) and Las Vegas (2000, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009).

Started in 1986, the FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final showcases the world’s best dressage horses and riders. The United States has won the championship twice – in 2003 (Debbie McDonald with Brentina) and 2009 (Steffen Peters with Ravel). The Final has been held in the United States in Los Angeles (1995) and Las Vegas (2005, 2007, 2009).

Las Vegas Events is a private, not-for-profit organization that serves as the exclusive major special events agency for the city. Founded in 1982, LVE is funded by hotel room tax. Through its Signature Event initiative, LVE has created a model to integrate all elements of special events and formally improve communication between event producers and Las Vegas’ hotel properties and sponsors. Since 1991, Las Vegas Events has produced, presented or supported more than 600 events.

To order your tickets, or for further information, please visit the World Cup’s website at www.WorldCupLasVegas.com

Twomey Withdraws From Last Rounds of World Cup Final

News Desk — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 16:27:33 +0000

DESPITE qualifying for Easter Monday’s penultimate round of the show jumping World Cup Final at Lyon, Ireland’s Billy Twomey this afternoon declared that he was withdrawing from the competition.

The Cork-born rider, who is Ireland’s only representative at the prestigious event, said today: “Considering I’m four fences off the leader I decided to save Tinka for another day. There’s Grands Prix and Nations’ Cups on the horizon, and considering her age I feel this is the right decision.”

Twomey and Sue Davies’s 17 year-old Tinka’s Serenade had finished eighth in the opening competition of the Final on Friday, and on Saturday, despite having two rails down in the first round of the class, were still ranked equal 17th in the 38-strong table.

The top 30 riders achieved qualification for the first of Monday’s two final rounds, so Twomey was well within the classification zone. He would had to have finished in the top 20 after the first round to be eligible for the final competition.

Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat and France’s Patrice Delaveau currently lead the rankings in joint first place after two days of competition.