Category Archives: Competitions

*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Dressage, Eventing/H.T., Events, Kentucky Three-Day, Show Jumping

Mary King Takes 1st and 2nd at Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event

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Mary King, riding Kings Temptress. Photos credit Stock Image Services.com, provided by Rolex.

Mary King (GBR) today, Sunday 1st May 2011, held her nerve, and her overnight lead, to finish in first and second position after the final Show Jumping phase at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, in Lexington.

William Fox-Pitt riding Neuf Des Coeurs finished in 4th position and Oliver Townend riding ODT Sonas Rovatio was 6th, with both riding clear rounds in the Show Jumping.

Quotes from Mary King/Kings Temptress: “I was much too excited to get much sleep last night – I ended up watching a film at 2am in the morning! I was fairly calm today, I always feel that with three day events that yesterday is the big day, you want to get through it and your horses to be well, and today whatever will be will be – you just have to go in there, try and keep calm, ride each fence and try and forget about all the crowds around, and you sort of feel whatever’s going to happen is going to happen and hope they are going to pick up their feet and that it all works out!”

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Events, FEI, FEI, Show Jumping

Ahlmann Claims Rolex FEI World Cup in Thrilling Finale

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On the winners' podium for the 2010/2011 Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping final at Leipzig, Germany today: Eric Lamaze, Christian Ahlmann, and Jeroen Dubbeldam. Photo: FEI/Kit Houghton.

Leipzig (GER), 1 May 2011 – Germany’s Christian Ahlmann claimed the Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping 2010/2011 title in a thrilling finale on his home ground in Leipzig today with superb jumping from his stallion, Taloubet Z.  Sharing the lead with fellow-countryman Marco Kutscher, the 36-year-old rider added just four faults to an otherwise foot-perfect performance to finish ahead of reigning Olympic champion Eric Lamaze from Canada, while The Netherlands’ Jeroen Dubbeldam rocketed up from overnight 11th to finish third when producing one of only two clear double clears on the final afternoon.

There was huge disappointment for Kutscher who had the world’s most prestigious indoor title in his sights until his luck ran out at the very end.  Such was the unforgiving nature of Frank Rothenberger’s testing courses however that the slightest of errors proved very costly indeed.  Today’s jumping was about scope, speed, courage, accuracy and, most importantly, the rideability of the horses.  In the end it was Ahlmann’s 11-year-old Taloubet Z who put all the ingredients together to create the winning formula.

Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=13781

*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Dressage, Events, FEI, FEI, USEF

Jan Ebeling and Rafalca Finish Eleventh in the Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage Final

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Jan Ebeling and Rafalca. Photo by Aly Sanderford/ Phelps Media Group.

Leipzig, Germany – A strong field of 15 riders from nine nations contested Saturday evening’s Grand Prix Freestyle, to bring the Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage Final to a close. There were three nations that qualified three riders each for tonight’s class: the United States, The Netherlands and Germany. America’s Catherine Haddad-Staller, Shawna Harding and Jan Ebeling performed up-tempo freestyles in front of a large audience in Hall One of the Leipzig Exhibition Center.

Haddad-Staller (Vechta, Germany) and her own Winyamaro started the evening’s competition with an impressive freestyle. The music selection played up the Hanoverian gelding’s expressive gaits and allowed for his character to shine through. Highlights of Haddad-Staller’s test included expressive lateral work and her one-handed canter extension. The pair rode to a score of 70.161% and finished the Grand Prix Freestyle in 12th place.

Fellow American, Shawna Harding, followed Haddad-Staller into the ring with an equally fun ride, scoring 67.625%. Harding (Aiken, SC) and her own Come On III started their test with a high degree of difficulty by performing tempi-changes upon her entrance on the centerline. Come On III was more relaxed in his extended walk tonight than he was during Thursday’s Grand Prix test and had beautiful half-passes in both the trot and canter. This pair ended their test with an exclamation point by finishing completely in sync with their music. Harding and Come On III finished in 14th place.

Continue reading Jan Ebeling and Rafalca Finish Eleventh in the Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage Final →

*Featured/Spotlights, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Dressage, Eventing/H.T., Events, FEI, Kentucky Three-Day, Show Jumping

Mary King on Song for a One-Two at the Second Leg of the HSBC FEI Classics

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Mary King (GBR) is lying in both first and second position after the Cross-Country phase at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. © Amy Dragoo/FEI

Lexington, KY (USA), 30 April 2011 – Great Britain’s Mary King is the one to beat in tomorrow’s final jumping phase at the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event, second leg of the HSBC FEI Classics. The Devon-based rider holds the lead aboard Kings Temptress while the Portuguese-bred Fernhill Urco is two penalties behind in second.

“I never dreamed that I would be in this position when I left England,” said King. “They are two very different horses. Kings Temptress is very experienced at this level and was fluent all the way round. Fernhill Urco has no experience at this level and he was a bit green at the first water but he improved the further he went.”

A clear jumping round for 2.8 time penalties sees Australia’s Clayton Fredericks in third with Be My Guest, a rise of seven places through the scoreboard following the Dressage.

“The first time I walked the course this week it was under water but today I thought it was perfect going,” said Fredericks. “After watching Mary spin round inside the time I thought the ground was going to be fast but actually it did take its toll, particularly later in the day.”

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Eventing/H.T., Events, Kentucky Three-Day, USEF

King Is Queen at 2011 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event; Halpin Leads American Effort

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USA's Sinead Halpin and Manoir de Carneville. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Lexington, KY – Great Britain’s Mary King was unstoppable on cross-country day at the 2011 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, presented by Bridgestone. She guided two horses around Derek di Grazia’s course to claim the top two places on the leaderboard. Australia’s 2007 winner, Clayton Fredericks, sits third on Be My Guest and Sinead Halpin jumped up to fourth in her first CCI4* with Manoir de Carneville, to lead the assault on the USEF National CCI4* Championship.

King cruised around on Kings Temptress, her 11-year-old homebred mare. She was one of only three double-clear rounds all day and jumped her way from fourth after the dressage, to the top of the leaderboard on a score of 47.7. With her less experienced horse, Fernhill Urco, she used all of her expertise to guide the Portuguese-bred gelding home for owners Sue and Edwin Davies in his first try at this level. Second after the dressage behind American rider Tiana Coudray, Fernhill Urco kept his position even after he picked up eight time faults. His score of 49.7 means his stablemate doesn’t have a rail in hand.

“The mare was pretty fluid all the way around,” said King. “I was amazed, galloping along thinking how good the ground was. The mare had a fairly fault-free round and she was quite easy with the time.”

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Driving, Events, FEI, FEI

Boyd Exell Claims Hat-Trick in FEI World Cup Driving Final

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Leipzig (GER), 1 May 2011 – Boyd Exell from Australia has successfully defended his FEI World Cup Driving title in a thrilling finish in Leipzig (GER) to become only the second driver to score a hat-trick of World Cup victories. The popular Australian sped to victory in front of an enthusiastic and ecstatic crowd that packed the Leipzig Messe to capacity. Hungary’s Jozsef Dobrovitz drove two brilliant rounds with his team of Lipizzaner horses to finish second, ahead of IJsbrand Chardon from the Netherlands.

Happy to be first
Jozsef Dobrovitz was happy to go first in the Final round. In Budapest he had won the warm-up competition but made mistakes in the Final round, so he felt the starting grid Leipzig would favour him. His only goal in the first round was to equal Boyd’s time on the first night and to stay clear as well. Dobrovitz put in an amazing performance to meet both his goals and pile the pressure on his opponents.

No expectations
Second starter IJsbrand Chardon was determined to make up for his mistake on the first night, but his leader horses started pushing against each other in the warm-up arena and there was not enough time left for IJsbrand to fix it. The result was three knockdowns on course, but Chardon kept on driving at such high speed that he finished in a record time of 113.89 seconds, to slot into second behind Dobrovitz. Chardon had no expectations of making it to the Winning Round but Georg von Stein (GER), Werner Ulrich (SUI), Koos de Ronde (NED) and Tomas Eriksson (SWE) all made mistakes, which kept Chardon in second place. After Exell had conquered the course in a fast time despite one knockdown, it was clear that the colourful trio was going to battle it out in the Winning Round.

Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=13776

*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Dressage, Events, FEI, FEI

Cornelissen’s Dream Comes True

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The Netherlands' Adelinde Cornelissen claimed the Reem Acra FEI World Cup 2010/2011 Dressage title tonight in Leipzig, Germany with a superb performance from Jerich Parzival. Photo: FEI/Kit Houghton.

Leipzig (GER), 30 April 2011 – The dream came true for the Netherlands’ Adelinde Cornelissen tonight when the biggest Sugar Plum Fairy of them all, the magnificent Jerich Parzival, danced to victory in the Reem Acra FEI World Cup 2010/2011 Final at Leipzig, Germany.  To the strains of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite the 14-year-old gelding produced another powerful performance in the hands of his 31-year-old rider who has endured plenty of disappointments over the last few years.  But at last it was her turn to stand in the limelight she has so long deserved.  The spotlight is not something Parzival revels in, as his post-presentation antics confirmed, but the partnership has now entered the equestrian history books as the 11th Dutch winners of the coveted title.

Repeating the result of yesterday’s Grand Prix, Denmark’s Nathalie zu Sayn-Wittgenstein and Digby finished second, while Germany’s Ulla Salzgeber steered Herzruf’s Erbe into third.  The 2010 title-winner, Edward Gal (GER), finished fourth with a great performance from the ever-more-confident Sisther de Jeu, while Germany’s Isabell Werth and Satchmo were fifth ahead of Sweden’s Patrik Kittel and Watermill Scandic in sixth.

The spectators had strong opinions about what they saw in the Leipzig arena tonight and didn’t hold back in expressing them, but they celebrated Cornelissen’s win with all the enthusiasm a new champion deserves.

Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=13771

*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Dressage, Eventing/H.T., Events, Kentucky Three-Day, Show Jumping

Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, Cross Country Day

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Mary King and Kings Temptress. All photos credit Stock Image Services.com, provided by Rolex.

Mary King (GBR) today, 30th April 2011, is currently lying in both first and second position after the Cross-Country phase at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, in Lexington. Rolex Grand Slam contender Mark Todd (NZL) is lying in 18th with his horse Grass Valley after a run out late on in the course.

William Fox-Pitt riding Neuf Des Coeurs is lying in 6th position and Oliver Townend riding ODT Sonas Rovatio is in 7th place.

Quotes from Mary King/Kings Temptress: “I was a bit too fast. I was slightly back at nine minutes, and I pressed her and she really responded!” “The ground was amazing. If this had been a horse trial in England, it would have been cancelled days ago!” [Horse’s third 4-star]: “I bred this mare, and looking back on how awkward she was at her first event, and how she’s adapted to make it work is very rewarding. The course rode very much as it walked, which shows what a fabulous course designer he is.”

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Events, FEI, FEI, Vaulting

FEI World Cup Vaulting Final 2010/2011

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Leipzig (GER), 30 April 2011 – Patric Looser (SUI) today became the very first title holder of the inaugural FEI World Cup Vaulting Finals held in Leipzig (GER).

Germany’s Simone Wiegele claimed the inaugural women’s FEI World Cup Vaulting title.

FEI Media Contacts:
Grania Willis
Director Media Relations
Grania.willis@fei.org
+41 78 750 61 42

Ruth Grundy
Manager Press Relations
ruth.grundy@fei.org
+41 78 750 61 45

Leipzig Media Contact:
Andreas Kerstan
andreas.kerstan@comtainment.de
+49 4307 827970

Competitions, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Events, FEI, FEI, Show Jumping, USEF

Kessler Leads American Effort in Final Round of EY Cup

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Reed Kessler and Ligist. Aly Sanderford/ Phelps Media Group

Leipzig, Germany – The EY Cup, held in conjunction with the Rolex/FEI World Cup Final, came to close in Leipzig this morning with the final round of the CSI2*. The six Americans riders that have been contesting the competition all week looked to complete their time in Germany on a high note. With each competitor limited to riding one horse, there was all to play for over Frank Rothenberger’s 1.45m course. Twenty-nine combinations would start the first round with six returning to the jump-off.

Reed Kessler of Armonk, NY lead the American effort placing fifth with her Swedish Warmblood Ligist. Throughout the three rounds of the EY Cup, Kessler improved her performance each time she entered the ring. As the sixth horse in the ring, Ligist jumped a confident clear round to be the first to qualify to return for the shortened course.

“I had some really bad luck yesterday, I had a really fast time and he just nicked the back rail in front which is so unlike him. The luck evened out today, as he nicked the first couple, after the first few jumps he started jumping really well. I was definitely excited to be the only clean American.”

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