Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ 2023-2024 Western European League: Guerdat Takes The Win

© Artiste Associé
© Artiste Associé

Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ 2023-2024 Western European League: Steve Guerdat and Jeanne Sadran thrill the crowd!
 
Swiss rider Steve Guerdat loves these atmospheres, like the one in Bordeaux, where the public "carries" the sport and the athletes to victory. Four years after winning this FEI Longines World Cup Grand Prix with the chestnut Victorio Des Frotards, the Swiss did it again on Saturday evening with his grey mare Is-Minka. Also spurred on by these enthusiastic spectators, France’s Jeanne Sadran put in the best performance of her very young career with her stallion Dexter de Kerglenn, one second and four tenths away from becoming the first woman to win this class, which no woman has won since 1978!

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Coyle and Legacy Storm to Victory at the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ 2023/2024 Western European League in Amsterdam

Copyright ©FEI/Leanjo de Koster
Copyright ©FEI/Leanjo de Koster

Ireland’s Daniel Coyle and the 14-year-old super-mare, Legacy, stormed to victory for the second time in a week at the twelfth leg of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ 2023/2024 Western European League in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The previous week the pair topped the line-up in Leipzig, Germany by a winning margin of almost half a second pinning down Dutch stars Willem Greve and Highway TN NOP into runner-up spot by almost three full seconds in an electrifying seven-way jump-off that had the packed stadium of 6,000 spectators on the very edges of their seats.

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Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ 2019/2020 Western European League (WEL) in Gothenburg, Sweden: Geir Gulliksen Wins!

Photo © FEI /Satu Pirinen
Photo © FEI /Satu Pirinen

Norway’s Geir Gulliksen posted the first World Cup victory of his long and successful career in the thrilling 14th and last qualifier of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ 2019/2020 Western European League (WEL) in Gothenburg, Sweden where he pinned young Swiss star Bryan Balsiger into second place and French Olympic gold medallist, Kevin Staut, into third.
But, not satisfied with having stolen the show with the ride of his life on his brave little gelding VDL Groep Quatro, Gulliksen added even more drama when taking a tumble from the horse during the prizegiving.

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Houtzager is the Hero as Dutch Dominate Amsterdam

Photo Copyright © FEI/DigiShots
Photo Copyright © FEI/DigiShots

Houtzager is the Hero as Dutch Dominate Amsterdam
Compatriot Smolders takes runner-up spot; Belgium’s Clemens and Bruynseels fill third and fourth places


On an afternoon of Dutch delight, Marc Houtzager and the amazing mare Sterrehof’s Dante threw down an extraordinary performance to snatch victory in the twelfth leg of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ 2019/2020 Western European League series on home ground in Amsterdam (NED) today. It was at the expense of compatriot Harrie Smolders who, third to go in the nine-horse jump-off, looked to have set an unbeatable target-time when breaking the beam in 35.03 seconds with the 11-year-old gelding Monaco. But, second-last into the ring, Houtzager’s 12-year-old mare seemed to have grown wings as she flew around the course to shave almost a full second off that when crossing the line in 34.05 seconds. Belgian riders Pieter Clemens and Niels Bruynseels lined up third and fourth.

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Steve Guerdat Posts Swiss Victory at Basel

Photo Copyright © FEI/Richard Juilliart
Photo Copyright © FEI/Richard Juilliart

Reigning series champion and World No. 2 gets new year off to a great start


In the 90th World Cup competition of his spectacular career, three-time series champion Steve Guerdat galloped to victory with Victorio des Frotards in the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ 2019/2020 Western European League qualifier on home ground at Basel in Switzerland today. Despite a tough first-round test from ace German course designer Frank Rothenberger, this tenth leg of the league saw 15 of the 40 starters make the cut into the jump-off so it was never going to be an easy one to win. But the man who claimed individual Olympic gold in 2012 and his third World Cup title in Gothenburg (SWE) last season left the rest in his wake, with Frenchman Julien Epaillard coming closest for runner-up spot with Queeletta ahead of Belgium’s Pieter Devos and Apart in third.

Read MoreSteve Guerdat Posts Swiss Victory at Basel