By: Mirjam Van Huet/FEI |
Robert Whitaker (GBR) and Vermento won the second leg of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Western European League 2024/2025 in Helsinki (FIN). With ease he dominated the competition in the Finnish capital, while Kevin Staut (FRA) and Dialou Blue PS took second place and Steve Guerdat (SUI) and Is-Minka came in third.
It was an afternoon full of agility, control and focus at the Helsinki Ice Hall. Guilherme Jorge (BRA) designed a course with 13 jumps and a total of 16 efforts. In one word, it was tight. Short turns and lines demanded full focus.
Although this course was challenging, many more athletes made it to the jump-off than last week in Oslo (NOR). Out of the 39 athletes, 13 advanced to the jump-off. To compare, last week there were four out of 40.
Amanda Landeblad (SWE) and For Killy had the honour of discovering how fast the jump-off could be completed. As the first of the 13 athletes qualified for the jump-off, she started the fight for qualification points. Beforehand, she had given herself a stern pep talk. “I don’t ride fast jump-offs, but I have decided to do so now,” she said with a smile. She kept her word. From the first moment the rhythm was there, and with short turns she completed the course faultlessly in 38.89 seconds. This was enough for seventh place.
When the third athlete in the jump-off, Steve Guerdat, entered the ring, the other athletes watched the master at work. He has already won the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final three times, with three different horses (Albfuehren’s Paille in Las Vegas 2015; Corbinian in Göteborg 2016; Alamo in Göteborg 2019). With great control and overview, he steered Is-Minka faultlessly around. The new time to beat was 37.56, almost one and a half seconds faster than Landeblad, although he could have been even faster if he had ridden tighter in the turn from the first to the second obstacle.
Whitaker rode the 11-year-old stallion Vermento. Because of his size, he wasn’t expected to be the fastest horse, but he proved to be the most agile one. He gained metres throughout the jump-off by turning short, especially in the turn to the FEI vertical. He clocked a time of 36.84 seconds. And made it even harder for the athletes who followed.
Kevin Staut and Dialou Blue PS rode smartly, flew through the double jump and gained time with that. It turned out to be enough for the second place. ‘Number two’ seems to be Staut favourite position lately – and the French athlete is completely fine with it. “We have now finished second three times in a row,” Staut said, referring to Oslo one week ago and Barcelona (ESP) at the beginning of this month. “I prefer to be second three times than taking a risk and winning one time and then maybe having to miss the next competition.”
Mario Stevens (GER), who has been competing with his partner Starissa FRH since June 2021, played it safe. It resulted in a clear but relatively slow round. With 40.10 seconds, he finished eighth.
Edouard Schmitz (SUI), the athlete who took second place last week in Oslo, was now determined to bring home a few more points for the World Cup Final in Basel (SUI), but he ended up disappointed with his own performance. He and Gamin van’t Naastveldhof had one fence down on the second combination and went home empty-handed. “But this is not the end of the world,” he said afterwards, referring to the 12 more legs remaining.
Steve Guerdat, on the other hand, is doing good business when it comes to claiming qualification points: “I have a few (five) points from last week in Oslo, and good points today (15). Now it’s up to me to secure my qualification for the Final soon.”
After this second leg of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Western European League 2024/25, the standings are as following: Yuri Mansur (BRA) leads on 25 points, while Kevin Staut (24 points) and Peder Fredricson (SWE – 21 points), are second and third respectively, followed by Gregory Wathelet (BEL), Robert Whitaker and Steve Guerdat, each with 20 points.
The next leg takes place on November 3 in Lyon (FRA), followed by Verona (ITA) and Stuttgart (GER). Whether Whitaker will be in Lyon next Sunday isn’t sure. “I will discuss my schedule with the chef d’equipe. Personally, I prefer Madrid (ESP) and A Coruña (ESP) in December. It seems good to me to jump two shows in a row.”
What’s already certain is that the British athlete is more than happy for now. “Vermento was amazing. He looked ahead to every fence. I think our round yesterday helped him. Then we had a fence down. He is a horse that doesn’t want to make mistakes, so I think that made him extra sharp today. He gave me the chance to guide him to victory.”
Full results here.
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