The crowd may have been holding their breath as Meredith Michaels Beerbaum jumped the lastround of the BudweiserFEI World Cup Show Jumping Final, but Beerbaum wasn’t quite as nervous.

“He jumped so phenomenally that I got more and more confidence as we went. I just knew it was going to be my day,” Beerbaum said. And her day it was indeed, as she and Shutterfly turned in a faultless performance to clinch their victory, April 20-24 at the Thomas & Mack Arena in Las Vegas, Nev.

It was also a good day for Kim Frey, who rode Marlou into fifth as the top American finisher. It was Frey’s first World Cup Final.

“Marlou was spectacular. Every round, she got better and better. I have all the faith in the world in her,” said Frey.

And while the boisterous and enthusiastic crowd seemed to overwhelm some horses, Marlou “absolutely loved it. She loved the applause, the energy, and just being there. And I felt a lot calmer than I expected to. I knew I had a great horse. And on the last day, I felt very honored to be so high among such great riders. It was very special.”

Beerbaum and Shutterfly had started the weekend with a sixth place in the first leg, a speed round, with a clean and quick trip. And then she noted that placing sixth on the first day has historically been prescient. The last four World Cup winners–Marcus Fuchs in 2001, Otto Becker in ’02, Marcus Ehning in ’03 and Bruno Broucqsault in ’04–all placed sixth in the speed round.

But winning the World Cup is about consistently good performances, not just brilliance on one day, and Beerbaum and Shutterfly proved their worth over the next two legs. They won the second leg by topping a highly competitive nine-horse jump-off. That effort put her into the lead, and she looked forward to the final day.

“As we all know, anything can happen on Sunday, but Shutterfly is in the form of his life and has all the ability in the world. I’m not going to lose much sleep over what the course builder is going to build on Sunday,” she said confidently.

Still, a rail in round 1 of the third leg gave Beerbaum some pause. “I got a bit worried, but it was just a light rub and a silly fault,” she said.

But three-time World Cup winners Rodrigo Pessoa and Baloubet du Rouet put the pressure on by jumping clean in the first round, putting them tied for the lead–carrying 4 faults–before the final course.

Michael Whitaker and Portofino also lurked, with just 1 time fault in round 1 that put their total at 6 faults before round 2.

Whitaker didn’t let up there either, collecting just 1 more time fault. But Pessoa and Baloubet faded from the picture as the elastic and enthusiastic stallion grabbed two rails. Beerbaum still didn’t have any room for error, though, as one rail down would send the World Cup home to England with Whitaker. But Shutterfly, 13, didn’t put a foot wrong in the second round.

The feisty, bay Hanoverian gelding, by Silvio I, jumps with extravagant effort, and seemingly endless scope.

“He’s always been an unbelievable jumper and a phenomenal talent, but I feel like now I’ve gotten to the point where he and I are a nearly perfect combination. I know him so well, and he trusts me,” said Beerbaum. “I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t mind what the course designer builds because I know he can do it.”

It was almost a hometown win for Beerbaum, 31, since she was born and raised in California. She rode on the East Coast as a junior with George Morris, then moved to Germany. After marrying Markus Beerbaum in 1998, she assumed German citizenship and has been near the top of the FEI World Rider rankings ever since.

“I still feel American. So many people who I hadn’t seen in years came to watch and to see me. I felt so much enthusiasm, and it motivated me all weekend,” she said.

The win was a welcome change from the rollercoaster year Meredith endured last year. After placing second in the 2004 FEI World Cup Final–losing the title by pulling a rail in the last round–Shutterfly tested positive for medication. Meredith appealed her case to the FEI Judicial Committee and was cleared of all charges just two weeks before the Las Vegas final. But in the meantime, she and Shutterfly were left off the German Olympic team in a controversial decision.

“I’m very happy that whole nightmare is over. Shutterfly went on to win a tremendous amount in the indoor season, and the only thing I can do is try to look at the whole experience in a positive light,” she said.

Counting Backward

Frey and Marlou started the weekend positively, with a fourth-placed finish in the speed leg. “I knew I needed to be sixth or better to be in contention at the end, so I wasn’t really going for the win. I was shooting for quick and clean, and she jumped fantastically. I didn’t even feel like I was going that fast, but she was very comfortable in that ring,” said Frey.

Marlou jumped just as well in the second leg, with just one rail in the first round. “That’s a rail I would never normally have with her–the back rail of an oxer. But I think she just shifted a bit off the ground, looking into the turn. I can count on two fingers the mistakes she’s ever made,” Frey said. That mistake left them 10th before the final day.

“I was very calm going into the final day. I had McLain Ward and Katie Prudent telling me I was still in there, and I know there’s no course she can’t jump,” said Frey.

But course designer Guilherme Jorge built a very tricky line to the triple combination in round 1 of the last leg. A narrow vertical led in either a direct four strides or a bending five strides to a scopey triple combination down the ring’s long side.

“I was planning on doing the four strides, but she jumped big over the vertical and kind of landed on her nose, with all her balance downhill. I pulled her out to the right to do the five strides, and that was my mistake. We got there in the five, but she was dead off the ground, and landed in the oxer [of the A element]. She fit two strides in the one-stride distance, somehow made it over the B element, and then took one neat stride and jumped the oxer out without even reaching for it. She made a great effort there and jumped the rest of the course just amazingly,” said Frey.

Those 4 faults kept them in 10th before the final round, and when Frey and Marlou turned in a clean round to polish off their weekend, she got to sit back and watch herself rise as others made mistakes.

“I was standing with Conrad Homfeld, and we just kept looking at each other and counting backward, ‘Now you’re seventh, now you’re sixth?’ ” she said.

Schuyler Riley and Ilian were the top-placed Americans in fifth at the 2000 World Cup Finals in Vegas, and Riley’s trusty campaigner came through for her again this year, tying for 12th with Ludger Beerbaum on Couleur Rubin. They kicked off with a thrilling clean round in the speed leg, placing 12th. Then, 8 faults in the first round of the second leg put them 17th before the final day. Just one rail in round 1 and a wonderful clear in round 2 moved them up to 12th.

If Only?

Lars Nieberg, who tied with Marcus Ehning for third place, was the only rider to not lower a rail throughout the whole weekend. He and Lucie had jumped to eighth in the speed leg with an efficiently clean round. And a fifth place in the second leg tied them for second with Pessoa heading into the final day.

But the tricky turn that had caught Marlou and Frey in round 1 on Sunday also frazzled Lucie. The light and typey Hanoverian mare by Landadel stopped abruptly at the A element of the triple.

“I don’t know what happened. She’s a very sensitive mare, and she didn’t like the atmosphere here–the music, the flashbulbs, the crowds. She was very nervous. I wanted to ride that line in five strides, even though most did it in four, to give her more time to see the triple, but I don’t know what she did. She’s a mare,” said Nieberg simply.

He circled around quickly, and Lucie flew over the rest of the course without touching a toe to a rail. They incurred 4 faults for the stop and 2 time faults.

Ehning and Gitania 8 also had their only fault of the final leg in that triple, when the impressive gray mare caught the front rail of the C element’s oxer with a hind leg. They’d started out with second place in the speed leg, blazing around the course. But then a rail in the first round of the second leg dropped them to a four-way tie for sixth before the final day. Just the one rail in round 1 and a lovely clear round in round 2 put them into the tie for third, a result that pleased the 2003 World Cup winner (on Anka).

“I’ve only been riding the horse for six months, so I am very proud,” Ehning said. He’s riding Gitania, a 13-year-old Holsteiner by Capitol I, for American Ellen Holgters (nee van Dyke). The amateur jumper rider has married and moved to Europe, and due to pregnancy asked Ehning to take the reins.

“I thought from the start that she was a good horse, but she’s just been going better and better,” said Ehning. “She was on really super form here, and I had a good feeling. I think the faults she had were small faults, and I’m very happy to be in the top three.”

Pessoa’s last round was perhaps the most heartbreaking. He and Baloubet, who at 16 still looks as athletic as ever and seems to enjoy himself immensely, were tied with Meredith for the lead going into round 2 of the last leg. But Baloubet’s freshness worked against him when he caught the top rail of the Budweiser vertical behind, and then charged into a two-stride combination and picked up another 4 faults that dropped them to seventh.

A Few Mistakes

The other American riders experienced a similarly disappointing weekend. Laura Kraut and Anthem, who looked to be one of the best hopes for a top U.S. finish, came to grief in the first leg. Anthem lost his focus on a tight turn back to an oxer, and stopped. Kraut came off, eliminating them in that round and from contention, so Kraut never returned to the ring.

McLain Ward, another bright American hope, didn’t have his best weekend either. He and Sapphire placed 30th in the speed leg with two fallen rails and a conservative time.

“I knew the speed leg was going to be tough for me. Sapphire’s not a particularly fast horse, and I made a few mistakes. And then it was such a fast class that it just didn’t play into my hands and I ended up really far down the list,” said Ward.

One rail in the first round of the second leg left them tied for 10th in that class and put them in a tie for 21st. They finished with two four-fault rounds on the final day to tie for 16th.

Nicole Simpson and El Campeon’s So Long had similarly bad luck. Four faults in the speed leg, and 8 in the first round of the second leg, put them tied with Ward for 21st before Sunday. Then El Campeon’s So Long picked up a rail in each round of the last day, plus a time fault in round 2, to put them 18th overall.

Richard Spooner chose to ride his veteran campaigner Robinson in the speed leg, but things didn’t go well.

“I feel bad for Robinson. I rode poorly to fence 3 right off the bat, and then we had two down even before the fifth fence. After that, it was just a comedy of errors. I have no excuse,” Spooner said.

Spooner turned to Hilton Flight for the second leg, and the bay gelding turned in a four-fault first round. Spooner then withdrew from the World Cup and showed Robinson in the $50,000 Las Vegas Grand Prix, where they placed fifth.

Candice King and Coco Cabana had an excellent clean, but conservative, round to claim 20th in the speed leg. But the gray mare got rattled in the second leg. A rail at fence 5, followed by a rough trip through the triple combination, preceded a stop at the next fence. With only four bending strides from the triple’s C element to a plank vertical, Coco Cabana “was totally surprised by it. It was a total rider error,” said King.

Although they qualified to compete in the final leg, King decided to show Coco Cabana in the Las Vegas Grand Prix instead. “I want to keep her confident and give her a positive experience. I’ve only had her less than a year, and with her lack of experience and my not having the true partnership with her, this has been difficult. She’s for sure a horse for my future,” said King. The decision paid off with a third-placed finish.

Gabby Salick and Sandstone Laurin finished up in 21st place with a few rails in each leg of the competition. And Georgina Bloomberg, in her first World Cup appearance, rode better and better as the weekend went on. She made one mistake in the speed round on Nadia, causing a stop, which put them 35th, but then had 8 faults in the second leg aboard Riviera. Lauren Hough came to grief in the speed leg when Clasiko stopped twice at two different fences, eliminating them. She contested the Las Vegas Grand Prix on him, but had four rails there.

Van der Vleuten Finds The Winning Rhythm

The first two legs of the Budweiser FEI World Cup Show Jumping Final didn’t go quite as Eric van der Vleuten of the Netherlands had planned.

“The mare wasn’t jumping badly, but we just couldn’t find a rhythm,” he said of his rounds on Audi’s Jikke. They placed 25th in the speed leg, and then lowered four rails in the first round of the second leg, leaving them out of the final day of competition.

But Audi’s Jikke kicked into a new gear in the $50,000 Grand Prix of Las Vegas, blazing to a jump-off time that defeated four American horses. “She was back to herself today and jumped very well, especially considering it was after two days of big World Cup jumping,” said van der Vleuten.

But the sentiments of the crowd admittedly lay with Richard Spooner and the charismatic Robinson. The California duo have been formidable competitors for many years and won the Grand Prix of Las Vegas in 2003. A clean first round set the stage for a fairy-tale second victory in what Spooner said would be Robinson’s last appearance at a World Cup Final. But Spooner attempted a near-impossible slice back to an oxer, and Robinson stopped, ending their bid to win.

Van der Vleuten, next in, didn’t hold back at all and gambled with a big gallop to the last fence. His clean round in 34.65 seconds would be the time to beat. Anne Kursinski and Roxana made a determined bid at that mark, but fell just .10 seconds short. Schuyler Riley, riding Opus Sept, was close too but felled a rail on the way.

Finally, Candice King on Coco Cabana were just a little slow, finishing clean in 35.40 seconds for third place.

The red ribbon was a great way to end the weekend for Kursinski. She’s only had the ride on Roxana for six months, and she didn’t quite know what to expect at the World Cup. They had a quick time in the speed leg, but two rails there put them in 29th. “She was a little bit overwhelmed that first day. She was starey and stunned, but she tried hard,” said Kursinski.

Roxana upset just two rails in a very tough triple combination the second day. “She jumped great; I just rode into the triple a bit too fast,” Kursinski said. “I’m very proud of the way she came back today and jumped two clean rounds after jumping all those big fences the days before.”

Kursinski and Roxana will travel to Europe this summer to represent the U.S. on the Samsung Super League Nations Cup tour, along with Laura Kraut, Beezie Madden, Schuyler Riley and Georgina Bloomberg.

Europeans Hunt For More Wins

As if it weren’t enough that they dominated the FEI World Cup Final, the European riders also turned their hands to conquering that ever-so-American domain of the show hunter. In an innovative and entertaining class, four European World Cup riders faced off against four of the top U.S. hunter riders in the AHJF Hunter Challenge, held just after the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Saturday afternoon, April 23.

Riding donated horses–all top junior and amateur mounts–the eight dueled it out over a hunter course and then a handy hunter course. Louise Serio, John French, Scott Stewart and Peter Pletcher represented the U.S. side, while Rodrigo Pessoa, Nick Skelton, Michael Whitaker and Marcus Ehning good-naturedly agreed to try their hand at navigating a 3’6″ course to perfection.

The horses all looked quite spooky in the first round, and Serio’s first ride–Ocean Park–even stopped at the first fence. Whitaker’s first-round score of 87.6 was the top ride, and the Europeans led the Americans by a score of 249 to 244 going into round 2.

This round was a handy course, and since the horses had gotten over their stage fright, all the riders were able to show them off. Stewart started things off on Historic Lane with an 86, but then Ehning took things to a new level on In Sync.

Ehning, of Germany, rode the sensitive off-the-track Thoroughbred with amazing feel and tact that got the best jumping efforts out of him. The six judges–Hap Hansen, Jimmy Torano, Alex Jayne, Missy Clark, Brian Lenehan and Jack Towell–gave them a score of 94.

The Europeans were at their best on the handy course, making inside turns and short approaches that flowed without looking like a jumper attempting a hunter course. You could almost see them concentrating on staying out of the tack and finding longer distances than they’re used to. Pessoa lost a lead on Ocean Park around one turn, but he made up for the mistake with his deadly accurate eye and lovely pace.

Pessoa had a bit of an advantage, since his wife Keri is originally a product of the American hunter and equitation rings and he surely had some home-schooling on how to finesse a hunter. But Keri shared her expertise too, as she gave hunter videotapes to Ehning to study.

“I watched the tapes, and I tried some things at home. It’s different, but not too hard,” Ehning said.

Whitaker had the most help, having shown a second year green hunter in Tampa, Fla., a few weeks before in preparation for the class. He earned a fourth there with the tutelage of George Morris, Scott Stewart, Don Stewart and many other grand prix and hunter riders. “It was fun; we didn’t take it too seriously,” said Whitaker.

“It wasn’t hard because we’re used to very technical things, but you do need to know the tricks and have the system to do well,” said Pessoa. “We had to improvise a bit, but it went well.”

In the end, the European team took the title with 518.1 points over the Americans’ 511.3 points.

For daily coverage of the World Cup Final–and to walk the final course with Linda Allen–click on the Online Coverage Archives on the top navigation bar.