Gothenburg, Sweden – April 5, 2019 – Swedish Olympian Peder Fredricson made his home nation proud on Friday as he claimed the second round of the 2019 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final at the Gothenburg Horse Show with Ebba Berglöf’s aptly named Catch Me Not S.
Thirty-two athletes returned to the Scandinavium to contest over Spain’s Santiago Varela’s first round course, which saw eight finish fault-free over the challenging 14-obstacle track. Day two of the championship proved to be quite the game changer as none of the top three finishers from Thursday’s initial speed round (Steve Guerdat, Pieter Devos and Olivier Philippaerts) managed to qualify for Friday’s jump-off, which consisted of eight efforts.
Returning in reverse order of their phase one standings from Thursday, Austria’s Max Kühner was the early clear pathfinder of the first round as 15th in the order and, in turn, was the first to return for the jump-off aboard his own Chardonnay 79.
The pair stayed consistent and kicked off the tiebreaker with the first double-clear performance of the evening, stopping the clock in 39.44 seconds.
Two rounds later, Jaroslaw Skrzyczynski from Poland and Mariola Dyrek’s Chacclana posted the next double-clear finish, but just missed Kühner’s time by two-tenths of a second in 39.68 seconds.
Hometown hero Fredricson and the 12-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding followed Skrzyczynski and left out a stride between the third-to-last and penultimate fence before galloping over the final oxer, ultimately shaving two seconds off the leading time in 37.94 seconds.
Last to go, Eduardo Alvarez Aznar (ESP) and Rokfeller De Pleville Bois Margot, owned by Kaliyuga S.L, produced the fourth and final double-clear round and crossed the finish line in 37.97 seconds to garner him second place honors and Fredricson the win, while Kühner secured third place and Skrzyczynski fourth place.
At the conclusion of Friday’s second round, points were awarded to athletes based on their finishes throughout the first two rounds, which were then converted into penalties that will be carried into Sunday’s final round.
Although Fredricson was Friday’s big winner, Aznar tops the phase two overall standings of the 2019 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final. His sixth place finish on Thursday combined with his runner-up finish on Friday earned him a cumulative tally of 60 points, which converts to zero penalties going into Sunday’s third round. Fredricson currently sits in the second place position with 57 points or 1 penalty, while Guerdat is in third place with 55 points or 2 penalties.
Leading the way for the U.S. contingent and defending their 2018 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final title, Beezie Madden and Breitling LS, owned by Abigail Wexner, are tied for fourth with Niels Bruynseels (BEL) with 53 points and Martin Fuchs (SUI) and Philippaerts (BEL) with 54 points, all of which converts to 3 penalties each.
The champion of the 2019 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final will be crowned on Sunday, April 7, following the third and final round of the competition, which will begin at 2 p.m. (8 a.m. EST). The third phase has two rounds, with the top 28 athletes returning for the first round. The 20 best-placed athletes following round one will move on to the second round, where, in the end, the athlete with the lowest number of penalties will determine the overall winner.
To see the full standings following round two of the 2019 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final, click here.
FROM THE WINNER’S CIRCLE
Peder Fredricson (SWE) – Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final II winner
On Catch Me Not S:
“To do this in front of a home crowd is an unbelievable feeling. I got the horse less than a year ago — he was jumping 1.50m national level [classes] with very good results with another rider — and he developed really quickly [at the international level]. I’m really, really proud of him today — going in there with this atmosphere and keeping his concentration. He’s a very big horse, but he has a lot of blood. He is very sensitive.”
On his jump-off strategy:
“My wife walked the course and she said it was possible to do five strides if you get a good shot on the third-to-last [fence] so I tried to get a good shot and went on five strides to the second-to-last [jump]. I think that’s where we earned some time in the jump-off.”
Eduardo Alvarez Aznar (ESP) – Second place
On being in the lead heading into Sunday’s final round:
“I was not expecting this. I was expecting a good result. The horse has been jumping very well throughout the whole season. I think that today he jumped fantastic. I couldn’t go and try to win because it was safer to be in the top placings for the final on Sunday. I’m the leading rider now so I cannot be more happy. Of course I want to be on the podium in a big championship like this. Now I am in the right position for Sunday and I only need to stay focused and try to do what I did today — two clear rounds.”
On Rokfeller De Pleville Bois Margot:
“We have a lot of trust in each other. He has a lot of experience now and we’ve known each other for four–five years. We’ve been to plenty of championships together but it seems like at the age of 14, he is [in his prime].”
On preparing for the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final:
“I am based in Madrid. Most of the time I am traveling because I am at shows almost every week. For these big events, I always train with Thomas Fuchs so I take my horses to Switzerland to train with him. I have been doing this for the past three or four years and it looks like it is working so I will keep going to him. I have had very good results with this horse. He is maybe not the fastest so it is difficult to win with him, but he is always there in the top five or top three, that is what makes him a very good, consistent horse. He can jump a lot so I am very pleased with him.”
Max Kühner (AUT) – Third place
On his jump-off strategy:
“I was the first one to go with quite enough people in the jump-off. [Chardonnay 79] is not the most naturally fast horse, but she was there for me to go a little bit forward, but mostly to stay clear.”
Santiago Varela (ESP) – Course designer
On Friday’s results:
“First, I would like to congratulate these riders because they did a super great job today. Everybody needs to be careful because we have two rounds on Sunday and 25 more fences and 31 more efforts. That means that the championship is only [at the halfway point] and everybody needs to be focused. I am very happy with the result today. The horses jumped really well and it was a really big class.”
RESULTS
Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final II:
Place / Horse / Athlete / Country / Owner / R1 Faults / R2 Faults | Time
1. Catch Me Not S / Peder Fredricson / SWE / Ebba Berglöf / 0 / 0 | 37.94
2. Rokfeller de Pleville Bois Margot / Eduardo Alvarez Aznar / ESP / Kaliyuga S.L / 0 / 0 | 37.97
3. Chardonnay 79 / Max Kühner / AUT / Max Kuehner / 0 / 0 | 39.44
4. Chacclana / Jaroslaw Skrzyczynski / POL / Mariola Dyrek / 0 / 0 | 39.68
5. Breitling LS / Beezie Madden / USA / Abigail S Wexner / 0 / 4 | 34.75
6. Delux van T & L / Niels Bruynseels / BEL / Global One Horses Ltd. / 0 / 4 | 38.01
7. Tempo de Paban / Olivier Robert / FRA / E.A.R.L Global Dreams Stables, Monica Dutruilh / 0 / 4 | 38.33
8. Cool Feeling / Ludger Beerbaum / GER / Madeleine Winter-Schulze / 0 / 4 | 39.72
9. Clooney 51 / Martin Fuchs / SUI / Luigi Baleri / 4 | 75.23
10. Toveks Mary Lou Henrik von Eckermann / SWE / GT Elite Scandinavia AB / 4 | 75.54
11. H&M Legend Of Love / Olivier Philippaerts / BEL / Team Philippaerts / 4 | 75.86
12. Scuderia 1918 Tobago Z / Daniel Deusser / GER / Stephex Stables,Scuderia 1918 / 4 | 76.06