On the eve of his 55th birthday, Thomas Fruhmann underpinned his
dramatic return to top-level show jumping when recording his second
victory of the 2005/2006 World Cup Jumping season at Leipzig in Germany
today.
The veteran Austrian pipped Germany’s Ludger Beerbaum with a
breathtaking last-to-go ride with his 10 year old horse The Sixth Sense
and, after a long period in the shadows, looks set to qualify for the
final in Kuala Lumpur in April.
From a starting field of 40, a total of 13 horse-and-rider combinations
jumped clear over Frank Rothenberger’s first round track to go through
to the jump-off and Ireland’s Jessica Kurten, winner of the US$760,000
Grand Prix in Dubai nine days ago and last into the ring today having
won Friday’s Preliminary competition, just missed out when collecting
four faults with Castle Forbes Libertina.
Sweden’s Maria Gretzer and Spender S set the early target when, first
to go against the clock, they came home clear again in 37.09 seconds.
Belgium’s Patrick McEntee (Sherryj Mury Marais Z) had two fences down
but then German star, Ludger Beerbaum, shaved over three seconds off
Gretzer’s time with a superb run from the brilliant 14 year old mare
Gladdys S.
That really put it up to the rest of them and Markus Beerbaum collected
eight faults with Leena as he attempted to rise to the challenge thrown
down by his brother. With six of the jump-off contenders flying the
German flag it seemed very likely indeed that the honours would stay at
home and Marco Kutscher reinforced the German attack when steering Cash
home in 34.15 seconds to slot in temporary second spot.
Rolf-Goran Bengtsson proved no threat when picking up four faults in
35.64 seconds while Germany’s Ulrich Kirchhoff was slower still but
clear in 35.92 seconds with Carino. Otto Becker and Dobel’s Cento kept
up a strong pace in their fault-free run but 34.35 seconds was never
going to be quick enough and when Finland’s Sebastian Numminen and
Sails Away faulted twice, Frenchman Philippe Leoni and Cyrenaika FRH
were clear but slow and Holland’s Gerco Schroder and Eurocommerce
Monaco lowered two on their tour of the track it was still looking good
for Ludger with just two left to go.
Heinrich-Hermann Engemann, winner of the opening round of this series
in Helsinki in October, put his foot to the floor when second-last into
the ring with Aboyeur who scorched home in the super-fast time of 33.01
seconds but leaving a pole on the ground, and when Fruhmann set off he
knew exactly what he had to do.
“Ludger did a really fast time and I just knew that I had to go as fast
as I possibly could if I was to have any chance of beating him” the
Austrian rider said afterwards and, with The Sixth Sense in top gear,
he did just that. Fruhmann’s riding style is a little unorthodox but
his 10 year old horse has had no difficulty in forging a trusting
relationship with his rider who, after a lifetime in the saddle, knows
a special horse when he finds one. “The Sixth Sense is world class” he
said afterwards. “At home he jumps better over 1.60m than he does over
1.50m and he really enjoys his competitions” he added.
Setting off at a cracking pace the Austrian partnership blazed a trial
to come home clear in 33.12 seconds - almost a full second quicker than
Ludger Beerbaum - to seal a significant victory and to shoot up from
16th to 6th place on the World Cup Jumping leaderboard. His surprise
win in Geneva marked a major moment in Fruhmann’s career as he had all
but quit top-class competition in recent years for a number of reasons
including the lack of a truly competitive horse.
“I’m very surprised at the form of my horse. He has done very little
really and this was only his fourth World Cup competition so I’m also
very pleased” he said. “Now I will go to the qualifying rounds at
Bordeaux and Vigo and hopefully make it to the final if I can” and,
with 40 points already to his credit, it looks very much like he should
make the cut.
Bordeaux takes place in two weeks time and, with just three further
legs of the series remaining after that, the pressure is rising fast in
the race for those precious points. Second place in today’s class
still only leaves Ludger Beerbaum with 25 and well down the leaderboard
in 14th position, while third-placed marco Kutscher also has plenty to
do with only 22 to his tally so far but Switzerland’s Beat Mandli is
sitting comfortably at the top of the Western European League table
with 56 points while Gerco Schroder lies second and is well-qualified
for the Malaysian finale with 52 points to date.
RESULTS:
1. The Sixth Sense (Thomas Fruhman) Aut 0/0 33.12;
2, Gladdys S (Ludger Beerbaum) Ger 0/0 33.70;
3, Cash (Marco Kutscher) Ger 0/0 34.15;
4, Dobel’s Cento (Otto Becker) Ger 0/0 34.35;
5, Carino (Ulrich Kirchhoff) Ger 0/0 35.92;
6, Spender S (Maria Gretzer) Swe 0/0 37.09;
7, Cyrenaika FRH (Philippe Leoni) Fra 0/0 37.15;
8, Aboyeur W (Heinrich Hermann Engemann) Ger 0/4 33.01;
9, Grandina (Rolf-Goran Bengtsson) Swe 0/4 35.64;
10, Leena (Markus Beerbaum) Ger 0/8 34.10;
11, Sails Away (Sebastian Numminen) Fin 0/8 35.21;
12, Eurocommerce Monaco (Gerco Schroder) Ned 0/8 37.03;
13, Sherry Mury Marais Z (Patrick McEntee) Bel 0/8 42.31;
14, Castle Forbes Libertina (Jessica Kurten) Irl 4/64.84;
15, Hofgut liederbach’s Abrisca (Pia-Luise Aufrecht) Ger 4/64.89;
16, Gio Granno (Manuek Fernandex Saro) Esp 4/65.81;
17, Candy (Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst) Ger 4/66.06;
18, Quel Homme (Rene Tebbel) Ger 4/66.09;
19, Sandro Boy (Marcus Ehning) Ger 4/66.10;
20, Okidoki (Albert Zoer) Ned 4/66.15;
21, Clausen (Holger Wulschner) Ger 4/66.67;
22, Topic van’t Voorhof (Bernardo Alves) Bra 4/67.04;
23, ET Royal Volo (Tony Andre Hansen) Nor 4/67.09;
24, Pherna (Julie Kayser) Aut 4/67.64;
25, Godsend du Reverdy (Thomas Velin) Den 4/67.79;
26, Pikeur Calanda (Franz-Josef Dahlmann) Ger 5/69.18;
27, Alfredo (Ben Maher) GBR 5/71.85;
28, Verelst Goliath (Marc van Dijck) Bel 8/66.71;
29, For keeps (Lars Nieberg) Ger 8/66.87;
30, Aquino (Franke Sloothaak) Ger 8/67.51;
31, Audi’s Jikke (Eric van der Vleuten) Ned 8/68.03;
32, Rezonanz (Vladimir Beletskly) Rus 9/69.37;
33, Cattani (Geir Gulliksen) Nor 9/70.37;
34, La Toya (Markus Fuchs) Sui 12/65.78;
35, Luidam (Billy Twomey) Irl 12/67.85;
36, Argelith Stakkato (Eva Bitter) Ger 12/68.10;
37, Checkmate (Meredith Michales-Beerbaum0 Ger 12/81.53;
38, Nike (Katharina Offel) UKR 13/72.00; 39, Unique X (Pius Schwizer)
Sui 17/69.57; 40, Killian (Giuseppe Rolli) Ita Ret.
FEI WORLD CUP JUMPING 2005/2006 LEADERBOARD AFTER ROUND 8 IN LEIPZIG:
1. Beat Mandli - 56
2. Gerco Schroder - 52
3. Marcus Ehning - 48
4. Robert Smith - 46
5. Heinrich Hermann Engemann - 41
6. Thomas Fruhmann - 40
7, Nick Skelton - 34
8. Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst - 32
9. Juan Carlos Garcia, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum - 28
11. Pia-Luise Aufrecht, Philippe Leoni - 27
13. Piet Raymakers - 26
14. Ludger Beerbaum, Harrie Smolders - 25
16. Thomas Velin, Patrick McEntee - 23
18. Marco Kutscher, Linea Ericsson, Rolf-Goran Bengtsson, Jessica
Kurten, Markus Beerbaum - 22.
The WEBSITE for FEI World Cup Jumping in Leipzig, Germany is
www.engarde.de. Show President and Show Director is Volker Wulff, Show
Secretary is Conny Reuss - mobile ++49173 3506259, email
[email protected] and Press Officer is Andreas kerstan - mobile ++49177
827970, email [email protected].
The NEXT leg of the series takes place in Bordeaux, France from 3-5
February. Show President is Marc Lecoq, Show Director is
Francois-Bernard Martin and Show Secretary is Sabine Palau. Press
Officer is Marie-Sol Fournier, Tel: +33556 119943 or email
[email protected]. WEBSITE: www.jumping-bordeaux.com.
For all information on the FEI World Cup Jumping final in Kuala Lumpur
(26-30 April) check out the WEBSITE www.klworldcupfinal.com or contact
Press Officer Lo Wai Fai at email [email protected] or Tel
(mobile) +6012 209 0068. Show Director is Peter Winton, email
[email protected].
2005/2006 FEI WORLD CUP JUMPING SERIES - CALENDAR OF EVENTS:
1, Helsinki (Finland) - 6/9 October; 2, Oslo (Norway) - 14/16 October;
3, Verona (Italy) - 4/6 November; 4, Stuttgart (Ger) - 16/20 November;
5, Geneva (Switzerland) - 8/11 December; 6, London-Olympia (Great
Britain) - 13-19 December; 7, Mechelen (Belgium) - 26/30 December; 8,
Leipzig (Germany) 19/22 January; 9, Bordeaux (France) - 3/5 February;
10, Vigo (Spain) - 9/12 February; 11, ’s-Hertogenbosch (The
Netherlands) - 23/26 March; 12, Goteborg (Sweden) - 13/16 April. Final
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 26/30 April.
BIOGRAPHIES of riders competing in the FEI World Cup Jumping series are
available at www.horsesport.org.
MBPtv BROADCAST SCHEDULE FOR FEI WORLD CUP JUMPING QUALIFIER AT LEIPZIG:
LIVE:
MDR (Germany) - Sun 22 January 16.30
SVT (Sweden) - Sun 22 January 17.00
TVE Teledeporte (Spain) - Sun 22 January 15.15
RAI (Italy) - Check local service
Equidia (France) - Sunday 11 January 20.45
HIGHLIGHTS
CNBC ASIA - Check local service
CNBC EUROPE - Check local service
ESPN STAR - Mon 6 February 09.00, Tues 7 February 19.00, Weds 8
February 05.00, thurs 9 February 11.30,
Sat 11 February 11.00
ESPN Brazil - Check local service
Eurosport - Weds 25 January 21.00
Finnish Sport TV - Mon 30 January 22.00, Mon 27 February 18.00
Fox Sports TV - Check local service
Horse TV USA - Check local service
M-Net Pan Africa - Friday 3 February 19.30, Sat 4 February 01.00,
Sunday 5 February 01.00
VIASAT SPORTS - Check local service.
YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE RULES for World Cup Jumping riders from FEI
website www.feiworldcup.org.
FEI World Cup Jumping has entered its 28th year. The series, created
in 1978, today comprises 13 leagues on all continents. The best riders
from 116 World Cup preliminary competitions will qualify for the Final
in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia which takes place from 26 to 30 April 2006.
The title-holder is Germany’s Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum.
The Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI), founded in 1921, is the
international body governing equestrian sport recognised by the
International Olympic Committee (IOC) and includes 133 National
Federations.
Equestrian sport has been on the Olympic programme since 1912 with
three disciplines - Jumping, Dressage and Eventing. It is one of the
very few sports in which men and women compete on equal terms. It is
also the only sport which involves two athletes - horse and rider - and
the FEI has relentlessly concerned itself with the welfare of the
horse.
For more information contact:
FEI Communications, Muriel Faienza [email protected] or consult
FEI website www.horsesport.org.
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—
Louise Parkes
Tel: + 353 86 2345 307
email: [email protected]
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