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Posted April 28, 2006 Mac Kinley 3 and Rolf-Göran Bengtsson Climb Their Way to Round Two Victory in 2006 FEI World Cup Jumping Final in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Marcus Ehning and Mändli Tied for First in Standings for World Cup Final
Round Two was a Table A, FEI Art. 238.1.2, 658.2.3 competition with the initial round not against the clock and a jump-off against the clock. The height of the fences ranged from 1.55 meters to 1.60m. The track included a tricky two to one stride triple combination and a difficult bending line with a triple bar that caught many horses and riders. The courses for this year’s World Cup Jumping Final are designed by Germany’s Frank Rothenberger, who will also design the 2006 World Equestrian Games (WEG) in Aachen, Germany. Only 32 riders returned for Round Two, and it took sixteen horses before the anticipatory crowd saw their first clear round. France’s Philippe Leoni and the crafty mare Cyrenaika FRH thrilled the crowd after crossing the timers with no faults. Five more duos would eventually join Leoni in a timed jump-off for the title of Round Two winner. Leoni returned first in the jump-off and turned in a careful, clear round in 40.50 seconds. He left the door open for any risk-takers who were ready to fight for the win. The next pair would prove their worth in that capacity. Sweden’s Rolf-Göran Bengtsson and Mac Kinley 3, a tall, large, 12 year old Dutch Warmblood gelding, hit their lick at the first jump and never slowed down. Despite his size, Mac Kinley proved that he can turn with the best of them after two tight rollbacks to large oxers in the jump-off. They galloped down the long side of the ring to the last oxer and crossed the finish line to the cheers of the crowd in 34.17 seconds. “When I knew which riders were coming after me, I knew for sure it was going to be close,” Bengtsson remarked. “I went on six strides to the second fence and took a risk to the next oxer. I tried a little extra today.” Following that fast round was Germany’s Heinrich Hermann Engemann and Aboyeur W. They had a fantastic rollback to the large, red oxer, but had a disappointing rail at the out of the two stride. They came home in a time of 35.42 seconds with four faults. It was no surprise when Jessica Kürten of Ireland entered the ring for the jump-off with Castle Forbes Libertina. The fantastic Westfalen mare came forward out of every turn and had a breathtakingly tight two stride, but they were just off the pace when they broke the beams in 34.92 seconds with a clear round. “I’m absolutely thrilled with Libertina. I’m going to have to give full credit to Libero [her sire] for making such a super horse!” Kürten said, beaming. The top two ranked riders for this year’s Final were to follow. Beat Mändli of Switzerland and his up and coming new horse, Ideo du Thot, made hairpin turns and ran down to the last jump with the crowd roaring. However, Mändli decided to add a stride to the last jump which gave him a clear round, but a slower time of 34.54 seconds and second place. Another top ribbon today ties Mändli for first place in the Final standings. Last in the ring was one of the most formidable riders in the world and the current number one, Marcus Ehning of Germany and Sandro Boy. After their flawless round yesterday, Ehning was going for the win today as well. Sandro Boy made the spectators gasp as he cleared jump after jump with feet to spare and when he stretched out over the final oxer. It was not quite enough as he posted a time of 35.21 seconds which put him in fourth place for Round Two, but kept him tied for first place in the Final standings with Mändli. The standings are computed through points given according to placings in each round and accumulate throughout the three rounds. Mändli is sitting atop the leaderboard with Ehning and feels secure with Ideo du Thot. “He gave me a super feeling yesterday. He just felt fantastic and was so easy to ride,” he confirmed. While Mändli’s horse is somewhat inexperienced in big international competition, the Swiss rider did not hold back going into the jump-off today. “I thought I’d try,” he confided. “I think I was very fast into the last fence. When I came around the last turn, I thought I was faster than Rolf, but in the minute I thought that, I waited one stride and didn’t get the stride to go again. I put two more strides into the last fence, and maybe that was where I lost the time.” Regarding today’s course, Bengtsson commented, “We had a nice one, two, three, and then it started. You had to make decisions. Luckily, we were not really under time pressure today in the first round.” Kürten added enthusiastically, “It was a very difficult course, and it was a very exciting jump-off. The sport has been stunning again today.” Kürten went on to say, “I watched Rolf’s round and thought, ‘Bugger. We can’t touch him today.’ It was perfect from start to finish. He had the horse beautifully balanced, he took strides out everywhere; it was a perfect round. We all chased, but none of us were perfect. It was an absolutely deserved winner today.” Bengtsson had high praise for his longtime partner, Mac Kinley. “He’s a fantastic horse, and I’ve hardly had a horse as long as this!” he said to the laughs in the press conference. “I know him quite good now. He’s a hard trier, and he wants to fight for it. He really wants to please you and do his very best.” The top Swede knew that he would bring Mac Kinley to Kuala Lumpur early on and will rely on a fairly new horse for the WEG in August. “Mac Kinley is not the very best horse in Aachen. He doesn’t really like it there, so I preferred to bring him here,” he explained. “I know the other people here are in very good form. My horse is also okay and to beat them will be very hard. But we have to try.” Official Results: Round Two, 2006 FEI World Cup Jumping Final, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
American Rider Standings:
2006 FEI World Cup Jumping Final Current Standings After Rounds 1 and 2:
Additional American Rider Standings:
Did not show in second round: Madison and Kent Farrington PHOTO CREDIT: Mac Kinley 3 and Rolf-Goran Bengtsson, winners of Round Two of the 2006 FEI World Cup Jumping Final in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Photo © Peter Llewellyn. |
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Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia – April 28, 2006 – It was another furiously
exciting round of show jumping at the 2006 FEI World Cup Jumping Final
in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Sweden’s Rolf-Göran Bengtsson
and his towering Mac Kinley 3 rose to the top of the field in today’s
class. Bengtsson, ranked sixth in the world in the FEI Gandini Rider
Rankings, showed today that he is in the running for the title.
