‘Mental fitness’ key as showjumping’s king begins defence of World Cup title

The king proved he’s still on the throne as world number one Henrik von Eckermann piloted the brilliant King Edward to victory on day one at the Longines FEI World Cup Jumping Final. The opening event of these showjumping World Cup Finals (17 April), held for the first time in its 44-year-history in Saudi Arabia, was a 1.60m speed class in front of both packed stands and the two-tier VIP suite.

The defending champions had to pull out all the stops to take the €46,000 first prize. Riding second-last of the 34-strong field, the Swede knew what he had to do, and he raced round with pinpoint accuracy for a clear in the fastest time of 66.28sec.

“It was a great round, much better than in Omaha [last year], even if the result was the same after the first day,” said Henrik, riding in his seventh World Cup Final. “The feeling was better, much calmer. King Edward felt amazing jumping, from the first to the last fence, I could do it without chasing, just keep the big strides going, and save him for the jumps, so the course was in my favour.”

Henrik explained how he keeps the 14-year-old in perpetual winning form: “I have a great team behind me and we know him very well, so we know how to plan not too many or too few shows, and to give him breaks before a big occasion. He is an amazing jumper; you just have to keep him mentally fit in the head so he enjoys being in the ring, and feeling fresh.

“For me, too, the first day is a bit of mental game. If I get too hot then King Edward gets hot and that’s not a good combination, so I needed to find the flow over the first two, not get too aggressive and to take my time. Then once he’s confident I can start to go for it. I’m glad it’s over!”

Fellow Swede Peder Fredericson steered his 18-year-old Catch Me Not S to a smooth clear for second place. Peder was spotted walking the course several times earlier in the day, and his diligence paid off. He never looked to be hurrying the veteran to clock 67.4sec.

“We were lucky to be near the end, as I saw what striding was possible; that’s a big advantage,” Peder said. “You find a horse and rider that’s fairly similar to you and see if they have a good round, copy them and try to do better.”

For an 18-year-old to be in such top form is a credit to those who manage him, and Peder believes the Cardento gelding is “better than ever”.

“I make sure I move him around a lot but still keeping him fresh,” he explained. “I lunged him in the morning, then again at lunch. I don’t do much, just keep the muscles supple. I do it all myself, because at these shows it’s really important to see the horse, know the horse, see whatever you can do to make him feel good. And then I don’t jump much in the warm-up, maybe four jumps so I save him and keep him fresh.

“On a day like today it’s really handy to have an experienced horse and we know each other so well.”

Germany’s Hans-Dieter Dreher jumped clear and fast on Elysium to take the lead two thirds of the way through the competition, at a point when a new leader kept emerging round by round. Hans-Dieter didn’t seem to be hustling, even taking an extra stride to set up for the Liverpool, but the flashy grey’s smooth style belied his speed, clocking 68.49sec.

“I’m really proud of my horse and my round, to lose against Henrik and Peder is not a shame!” said Hans-Dieter. “Normally he’s not so fast but he has a big stride.”

The final 10 riders looked to hold the key to this contest, with the world numbers one, two and three all drawn to play their cards late.

First of that trio was the world number three, the 2012 Olympic champion Steve Guerdat. He set out with intent on the grey mare IS-Minka and hit the planks at fence four to add 3sec, but the Swiss kept the round tidy for eventual ninth.

World number two Ben Maher seemed to be heading for victory until he was scuppered by the penultimate fence. He took a risk on the turn with his mare Dallas Vegas Batilly and she ploughed her back legs through the top pole. But he was third fastest with 67.16, giving him sixth overall.

Ahead of Ben was a tie for fourth place. Speed merchant Julien Epaillard hit a wing midway through the course and the rail fell, yet his time was so quick – 66.69sec – that the Frenchman still took the lead at the halfway stage of the competition even with the three added seconds. He did not waste a centimetre with his chestnut mare, Dubai Du Cedre, and while he left the arena shaking his head at the fallen rail, but he was just a fraction of a second slower than the winner.

US rider Kent Farrington risked everything with another mare, Toulayna, accelerating through the final line to clock exactly the same time as Julien’s time-adjusted score of 69.69 to share fourth spot.

How the jumping World Cup Finals played out on day one

Clear rounds were at a premium, yet both Julien and Ben featured in the top six with a rail down. Britain’s Scott Brash posted one of the early fast clears on the grey Hello Valentino, but was quickly superseded by another clear, from Christian Ahlmann (Mandato Van Der Neerheide). They finished 11th and seventh respectively. Christian said that the course-designer Frank Rothenburger had set a clever challenge.

“You have to work it out so that your horse doesn’t get flat,” he said. “But I’m so happy we had a good start, and that gives us optimism for the next day.”

Other riders to catch the eye included the Czech Republic’s Sara Vingralkova, aged 21, who conjured an impeccable round out of Kas-Sini DC, jumping clear in 74.5sec to finish 13th. And Jessica Mendoza, competing in her her first World Cup Finals, just lowered the first part of the double en route to a decent time of 71.78, good enough for eventual 14th. Prize money went right down to 16th.

World number four Martin Fuchs had a round to forget on Commissar Pezi. They were clearly going for speed, but a slightly ragged round meant an uncharacteristic two down on top of their time of 72.98 put them well out of the reckoning.

Home rider Ramzy Al Duhami, an Olympic bronze medallist who should take much of the credit for putting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the showjumping map, had one down aboard Untouchable 32 for 22nd place.

“It’s great to be at home, with this amazing crowd and amazing facility, but a lot of pressure because we wanted to make the crowd happy,” he said. “My plan for today was to try to be in the top 10. My mare isn’t the fastest but she has a huge stride so I take strides out where I can, and she really jumped well. Tomorrow is another day, and I will try to get closer to the highest spots.”

The next event in the showjumping World Cup Finals, a 1.60m jump-off class, starts at 4.35pm UK time on Thursday, 18 April.

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