Friday Evening at the World Cup: Jumping Final II

Jumping Final I had 40 riders, 3 of which "retired" and 1 of which was eliminated (after two refusals). Jumping Final II should have had, then, 36 riders. However, it had 35. Kristaps Neretnieks from Latvia on Romanee Cece apparently withdrew after Final I and placing 35th out of the 36 riders who finished the course. Not a bad idea since she then was able to enter Saturday's "Canadian Pacific" Grand Prix and placed 12th, which put her in the money.

The way I kept track of who was jumping was by taking a photo of the big overhead monitor, then the horse jumping. Although I took photos of every horse, take heart, I'll only post the 16 who placed in the money in this Final II. The top 6 were determined with a jump-off, since all went clear first time around. Only Steve Guerdat on Albfuehren's Paille (who ended up 1st) and Beezie Madden on Simon (2nd) went clear during the jump-off.

To show how volatile (and difficult) this competition, I have given the results after this Final II and then the Final Standings after Sunday's Final III (which Ruth and I did not stay for). Photos are in the order that they jumped on Friday night. (If the photos load slowly, click on one to enlarge and then be patient. I should have split the class into two blogs.)

First Division, from Qatar, 13th (15th after Sunday)

Cool and Easy, Germany, 14th (18th after Sunday)

Glock's Cognac Champblanc, Netherlands, 15th (12th after Sunday)

Casello, Sweden, 8th (still 8th after Sunday)

Barron, U.S., 3rd (9th after Sunday)

better known as Beezie Madden

Simon, U.S., 2nd (4th after Sunday)

Rothchild, U.S., with his signature "determined" look, 6th, ( "retired" after Sunday's Round A)

VDL Groep Verdi..., Netherlands, 12th (6th after Sunday)

Domino, Belgium, 10th (5th after Sunday)

PSG Future, Switzerland 11th (still 11th after Sunday)

Vagabond..., France, 9th (2nd after Sunday)

Albfuehren's Paille, Switzerland, 1st (still 1st after Sunday)

VDL Zirocco Blue N.O.P., Netherlands, 16th (10th after Sunday)

Flexible, USA, 4th (7th after Sunday)

Molly Malone V, Ireland, 7th (3rd after Sunday)

Edesa S Banjan, Norway, 5th (25th after Sunday)

The jump-off between the 6 riders with no faults made a huge difference for McLain Ward and Rothchild. After going clear in the first round, they had 18 penalties in the jump-off. You never know what's going to happen in world class competition.

Steve Guerdat and Beezie Madden both went clear in the jump-off, but Guerdat won on his faster time: 32.87 seconds versus 33.31 seconds for Beezie. So close.