GERMANY JUMPS AHEAD ON TEAM LEADERBOARD, SAUDI ARABIA’S AL EID HEADS INDIVIDUAL RANKING by Louise Parkes
Lexington, 5 October – As the American team lost their grip on pole position, Germany snatched the lead in the Jumping Championship at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky, USA today. And, lying fifth overnight, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Khaled Al Eid rocketed to the top of the individual leaderboard when all those ahead of him faltered. The 41 year old Saudi rider added just a single time penalty to his tally in an otherwise flawless performance from his stallion, Presley Boy, but the 2000 Olympic bronze medallist has his tutor, Brazil’s Rodrigo Pessoa, breathing down his neck going into tomorrow’s next Championship leg. It’s going to be a hard-fought battle for the 2010 individual title, with only a fence dividing the top 13 riders heading into the third day of competition.
Brazil lies second in the team standings, less than a fence behind the leading Germans, while only fractions further in arrears in third, the host nation holds a narrow advantage over Canada, with France and Saudi Arabia in fifth and sixth places. Perhaps not the biggest surprise of the day was the success of the strong Australian foursome who produced two of just 17 clear rounds to move up from 14th to seventh position. Belgium lies eighth, Sweden ninth and Great Britain holds tenth spot, and only the top ten teams from today’s competition go through to tomorrow evening’s second round team medal decider.
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