Lexington, Ky.—Oct. 9

The stage is set for tonight’s show jumping final four, and it should be an interesting night, indeed. Four riders from very different parts of the world, on four horses with very different styles, prevailed over five rounds of jumping to qualify to jump for individual medals in the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

Reigning Olympic individual gold medalist Eric Lamaze of Canada is at the top of the individual list at the end of the five rounds, after posting two clear rounds on the night of Oct. 8 on Hickstead. Philippe Le Jeune of Belgium is in second on Vigo d’Arsouilles after collecting just 1 time fault in the second round. The 1998 individual World Champion, Rodrigo Pessoa of Brazil, is third, with a newcomer to the top level of championship sport rounding out the four.

Abdullah Al Sharbatly of Saudi Arabia will join the three after riding a horse he’s had just six weeks into fourth place in the individual standings. Al Sharbatly and Seldana di Campalto were the only horse/rider combination to jump all five rounds clear.

U.S. rider McLain Ward made a meteoric rise up the individual standings today with two brilliant clear rides on Sapphire, but he couldn’t overcome the faults he’d collected earlier in the week, and had to settle for seventh.

“She was great again—she’s really jumped well all week, Unfortunately we made a few foolish errors in the Nations Cup and dug ourselves into a little too deep a hole,” Ward said. “I’m pleased with her performance tonight, obviously, but I’m disappointed. It is what it is. I’m 34, I’ll have a couple more swings at it, but it wasn’t meant to be.”

Listen to an interview with McLain Ward.

The only fault marring Le Jeune and “Vigo’s” score for the week was the 1 time fault they earned in the second round tonight, when Le Jeune was being extra careful to keep the rails up. Lamaze was in second behind him, having collected just 1 time fault in the first round of the Nations Cup. Pessoa and HH Rebozo jumped clear all week and led the standings coming into tonight’s two rounds. One rail in Round 1 tonight dropped them to third overall, but didn’t keep them out of the final. Sweden’s Rolf-Goran Bengtsson was in contention for the final four until the last round, when he and Ninja La Silla dropped a rail.

Tomorrow night, Oct. 9, the four will meet again in the Rolex Ring to jump for individual medals. They start on a clean slate, not carrying over the scores from the week. They each ride a round on their own horse, then they all switch and ride again on all three of the other horses. If there’s a tie in faults after they’re done, they jump-off on their own horses.

The Final Four Are….

Eric Lamaze of Canada: age 42, living in Schomberg, Ont.
Hickstead: 14-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion (Hamlet—Jomara, Ekstein)

Lamaze and Hickstead are the reigning individual Olympic gold medalists. Hickstead, just 16 hands, has a dramatic style over fences, jumping with a lot of energy and verve. He’s the horse that Rodrigo Pessoa is most looking forward to riding. “He looks like fun!” Pessoa said. Hickstead goes with a lot of pace and explodes off the ground.

Lamaze has been limping around the grounds with his broken foot suffered this summer, but he hasn’t let it hinder his riding. “It’s no worse now than when I started the week. Walking is harder than riding, especially on uneven surface. I’m being cautious, wearing a cast when I’m walking. It hasn’t given me any trouble in the saddle,” he said.

Lamaze said he didn’t think Hickstead benefitted from his enforced vacation while Lamaze recuperated. “He jumps the best when he keeps going and goes from show to show. The first day here, he felt good, but still not his best. Every day he’s gotten better and better from the jumping. It’s just the kind of horse he his; he needs to stay jumping fit. These types of competitions with multiple rounds suit him very well,” Lamaze said.

Listen to an interview with Eric Lamaze.

Philippe Le Jeune of Belgium: age 50, living in Lennik, Belgium
Vigo d’Arsouilles: 12-year-old Belgian Warmblood stallion (Nabab de Reve—Fleuri du Manoir)

Le Jeune actually rode “Vigo’s” sire, Nabab de Reve, on the bronze-medal winning Belgian team at the 1998 World Equestrian Games. He and Vigo also helped Belgium earn bronze again. Vigo is a big horse with a huge gallop and jump, and he’s a deliberate, powerful jumper. “I think Philippe’s horse will be the most difficult to ride for me. I’m not used to a bigger horse like him,” said Lamaze.

Le Jeune started riding Vigo five years ago. “I realized in the end of his 8-year-old year that he had tremendous potential with a lot of scope and he’s very careful,” Le Jeune said. “He’s a big horse, and even with so much scope, he was very weak. I had to do a lot of work on his flatwork. He has a very big stride, but he couldn’t even do flying changes when I started riding him.

“I went to train with Nelson Pessoa and he helped me very much with him. When he was 9 he jumped the European Championships in Mannheim. He was still a young horse and he jumped two clear rounds and two four-fault rounds [and finished eighth individually]. I realized he was a real horse for championships. He’s a big horse and he’s not the fastest horse. He’s not as fast as the horses of the other three riders, but he’s a horse you can rely on. He has all the scope in the world and he always tries.” 

Listen to an interview with Phillip Le Jeune.

Rodrigo Pessoa of Brazil: age 37, living in Brussels, Belgium
HH Rebozo: 10-year-old Mexican Sport Horse stallion (Tlaloc La Silla—Renata La Silla, Ramiroz)

Pessoa won the individual gold at the 1998 WEG in Rome. What’s changed since then? “A few kilos more, a divorce, a child, and new owners, but I still have the same desire to compete and be world champion,” Pessoa said. “I realize I’ve been very lucky with my life and to be in a final four a second time is really a great opportunity. It’s nice to have the chance to go again.”

Pessoa’s owners, Double H Farm, bought HH Rebozo in February. He’d been brought along to the grand prix level by Candice King, who was the U.S. team’s reserve rider at this WEG. “She did a great job developing him. She really took her time, and today I’m still seeing the results of her good work,” Pessoa said.

Rebozo jumps like a hunter and appears to ride like an equitation horse—he looks to be the most straightforward ride of all the horses. 

Listen to an interview with Rodrigo Pessoa.

Abdullah Al Sharbatly of Saudi Arabia: age 28, living in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Seldana di Campalto: 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare (Emilion—Alme Star)

Al Sharbatly started riding at age 7 and progressed through the ranks, winning the FEI Children’s World Championships at age 15. He lived fulltime in Saudi Arabia, traveling to Europe to compete, but will take up residence in Europe after the WEG to ride as a professional rider.

Saudi Equestrian bought Seldana di Campalto, a horse who competed for the Italian team, six weeks before the WEG, and Al Sharbatly showed her just twice before traveling to Kentucky. “I don’t know her so well, but I’m used to riding this type of horse,” he said. “I’m happy I got to know her so quickly; she’s a great horse. She’s not the easiest. She’s a bit difficult. That’s why I’m so happy that I got to know her so quickly. I’m so happy to be with these great riders. I think we’re going to have a great show tomorrow.”

Seldana is the only mare in the final four—the other three horses are stallions. She’s a hot type of mare, very explosive off the ground and keen on course.

Listen to an interview with Abdullah Al Sharbatly.

Check back at the Chronicle site for all the action, including a round-by-round blog of the action.