Flawless performances put the two on top.

Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and Shutterfly looked every bit the winners as they trotted placidly around the Scandinavium Arena this afternoon before their final round. With clear rounds scarce and not even a rail in hand, the experienced pair had no room for mistakes, but they finished the weekend without one single jumping fault to clinch their second FEI World Cup title.

The pair, who also won the World Cup Final in Las Vegas, Nev., in 2005, carried their only penalty points after the conversion of their 1 time fault in Round 2. Their slight imperfection kept them out of Friday’s jump-off, but served to keep the 15-year-old Shutterfly fresh.

“He jumped beautifully on Friday night, and I was a little disappointed with the time fault,” she said. “Technically I was leaving the door open for the others. But I needed to add the strides in the lines and that takes time, so there really wasn’t much that I could have done. He jumped so unbelievably on Friday.”

Shutterfly, a bay Hanoverian gelding owned by Octavia Farms LLC, certainly fulfilled all expectations today as well, clearing almost every fence with room to spare. The horse rubbed the top rail on the final jump, a narrow vertical off a difficult distance that served as the bogey fence on this course, and Michaels-Beerbaum whipped her head around in suspense as they galloped across the finish line. But the rail held, and a crowd of 12,000 spectators roared their approval.

“Shutterfly showed that he was in wonderful form,” Michaels-Beerbaum said afterward. “He jumped every day beautifully. I have to say that I’m proud of myself too, if I’m allowed to say that. It’s a lot of pressure to ride the greatest horse in the world. If you mess up, everyone says it was your fault!”

Today’s victory made up in part for last year’s disappointing finish in Las Vegas, where the pair was in first place going into Sunday, but was eliminated after Michaels-Beerbaum fell in the penultimate round.

“To be quite honest I thought about last year’s Final on Friday night when there was a tough distance with a short oxer going up to the end of the ring,” she said. “I thought, ‘You better not fall off.’

“Today when I was walking the second course I thought, ‘Well you made it farther than you did last year’,” she added with a laugh.

Fellers Takes Gothenburg By Storm

In comparison with the massive European fame of Michaels-Beerbaum, an unknown guy from Oregon named Rich Fellers was barely a blip on the radar screen when he arrived here on his first trip to Sweden and only his second World Cup Final. But Fellers out-performed even his own expectations with Flexible, logging a foot-perfect round over today’s final course to take second.

In third place with 6 points after this morning’s first round, Fellers and Flexible put the pressure on the leaders.

“I’ve seen Meredith ride since she was a young girl in California,” he said. “She’s a pressure rider. I have to say, I had a lot of confidence that she was going to jump through and win.”

Flexible, a 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse stallion owned by Harry and Mollie Chapman, proved he could handle the pressure as well, despite his inexperience and relatively small 16-hand frame.

“I felt a bit surprised that my horse performed as well as he did,” Fellers admitted. “I was very hopeful that I could be competitive, but I had a big question mark whether this little horse would have the ability to stretch like he did. He doesn’t have the experience that Shutterfly has. I was thrilled to death when he jumped a clear round in the second round today.”

Germany’s Heinrich Hermann Engemann and Aboyeur W, previously in second, were not so lucky. They dropped one rail to place third overall. In a three-way tie for fourth were last year’s winners, Beat Mändli and Ideo du Thot of Switzerland, yesterday’s leaders Jessica Kürten and Castle Forbes Libertina of Ireland, and Ludger Beerbaum and All Inclusive NRW of Germany.

A Force To Be Reckoned With

Several other U.S. riders made an impression at this year’s Final. Like Fellers, Peter Wylde and Esplanade 7 also logged a double-clear round this afternoon to bounce back from their previous three-rail round and tie for seventh place overall.

Kent Farrington landed in 13th place with Up Chiqui after pulling just one rail in each of today’s rounds. Close on his heels were Lauren Hough and Quick Study, who had two rails in today’s Round A and one rail with 1 time fault in Round B, placing 14th.

Danielle Torano made a significant impression on the international scene over the course of the week, finishing 17th in her first World Cup Final. She and Vancouver D’Auvray had two rails in each of today’s rounds, but looked calm and polished in the spotlight.

Richard Spooner followed in 18th place with Cristallo, followed by Mandy Porter in 19th with Summer. Brianne Goutal did not jump in Round B, and Todd Minikus retired during Round A.

On the whole, U.S. Team Chef d’Equipe George Morris was “very happy” with his riders’ performances.

“This was 10 horses here, and in the Super League we have another nine,” he said. “So we have almost 20 [combinations] who are at least decent at this level. That’s depth. We work to encourage and nurture depth, so I’m very encouraged.”

2008 Rolex FEI World Cup Final Top 10

Place    Rider/Horse/Nation    Points

1. Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum/Shutterfly/GER        4
2. Rich Fellers/Flexible/USA                                      6
3. Heinrich Hermann Engemann/Aboyeur W/GER   9
4T. Beat Mändli/Ideo du Thot/SUI                                  12
4T. Ludger Beerbaum/All Inclusive NRW/GER           12
4T. Jessica Kürten/Castle Forbes Libertina/IRE         12
7T. Peter Wylde/Esplanade 7/USA                         15
7T. Steve Guerdat/Tresor V/SUI                                       15
9. Michael Whitaker/Suncal Portofino/GBR                18
10. Rolf-Göran Bengtsson/Ninja La Silla/SWE          19