All you need to know about the individual Jumping contest
IF you thought the team Jumping rounds over the last few days have been exciting, hold onto your seats as there is yet more fantastic action to come in the d’Ornano Stadium in Caen.
Saturday sees not one but two individual rounds where the best riders in the world will be pitted against each other to see who will go through to the four-man (or woman) jump-off that is unique to the World Equestrian Games format.
Get set for Sunday’s thrilling final
In this unique final each rider competes his/her rivals’ horses after he/she has jumped his/her own mount.
Each finalist has just three minutes to school a rivals’ horse in a specially built enclosure in the main arena, in which there will be a vertical and a spread practice fence set no higher than 1,30m. Each rider may only jump each practice fence once.
After all four riders have ridden their own and their three rivals’ horses the one with the lowest score will, of course, be declared the winner.
In the event of a tie there will be a jump-off against the clock over the same course on the rider’s own horse.
And after all that, whoever is crowned World Champion in the electric d’Ornano Stadium will truly deserve the accolade.
But back to the beginning…
However, before we can watch Sunday’s thrilling final our global superstar riders have two rounds to get through first.
Thirty of the best-placed competitors will face a maximum of 12 obstacles up to a height of 1,60m in round A tomorrow (Saturday). Round B will consist of a completely new course, but both are designed by Frederic Cottier, who has been earning plaudits for his tracks all week.
Horses will run in reverse order of merit, carrying forward the penalties they have accrued over the previous rounds.
This means that the last pair to jump in round A will be Thursday’s team bronze medallist Beezie Madden from the US and her great gelding Cortes C, who have shown the most consistency and skill this week. They carry forward just 0.16 penalties after three arduous rounds against the best in the world. Will they make Sunday’s shake-up? A lot of people will be rooting for them.
Entering the arena just before Beezie is that stylist Rolf-Goran Bengtsson and Casall Ask for Sweden, while Denmark’s Soren Pedersen and his grey Holsteiner mare Tailormade Esperanza De Rebel will be third last to jump.
The best of the French on the individual scoreboard is currently Patrice Delaveau (Orient Express HDC), fourth, but his silver medal-winning teammate Penelope Leprevost (Flora De Mariposa, above), seventh, would be an equally popular finalist. Imagine if there were two — not just one — French riders in the final. You would be able to hear those cheering crowds well beyond the boundaries of the historic and beautiful city of Caen.
So join us here for all the action — live results and extensive reports of all of Saturday’s and Sunday’s thrilling Jumping rounds.
CLICK HERE for more information on Jumping at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.
