Christian Ahlmann eases to Longines FEI World Cup Jumping success in Stuttgart

The current world number one rider steered Taloubet Z to victory ahead of defending Longines champion, Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat, in second and Ireland’s Cian O’Connor in third, and in doing so also repeated success in this leg of the League for the second year in a row.

Forty horse-and-rider combinations from 14 countries started the day’s competition in The Schleyer Halle in Stuttgart, of which 19 negotiated the course designed by Belgium’s Luc Musette to qualify for the second-round jump-off against the clock.

Eleven of those combinations would go on to produce double-clear performances, but it Ahlmann and Taloubet Z, who together won the FEI World Cup™ Jumping title at Leipzig, Germany in 2011, who led the way to win by more than a two-second margin.

It was O’Connor who initially set the jump-off target in 45.03 seconds when fourth to go on Good Luck. Guerdat then shaved a fraction off that time on Bianca by coming home clear in 44.95 seconds

However with six riders left to go, Ahlmann produced a trademark round, stopping the clock on 42.85 seconds for the win.

The result has moved Ahlmann into joint twelfth position on the Western European League leaderboard, which also has a new leader with Guerdat now into pole position ahead of France’s Kevin Staut in second and Switzerland’s Romain Duget in third.

The next leg of the Longines FEI World Cup Jumping 2016/2017 Western European League will take place in Madrid, Spain on this Sunday 27 November.

Longines FEI World Cup Jumping 2016/2017 Western European League
Result: Round 5 – Stuttgart, Germany

1. Taloubet Z (Christian Ahlmann) Germany 0/0 42.85 seconds (jump-off)
2. Bianca (Steve Guerdat) Switzerland 0/0 44.95
3. Good Luck (Cian O’Connor) Ireland 0/0 45.03
4. Clooney 51 (Martin Fuchs) Switzerland 0/0 45.10
5. Goja (Janne Friederike Meyer) Germany 0/0 45.34
6. Reveur de Hurtebise (Kevin Staut) France 0/0 45.78
7. Armitages Boy (Lorenzo de Luca) Italy 0/0 47.11
8. BSC Skipper (Holger Wulschner) Germany 0/0 47.40
9. Admara 2 (Carlos Enriques Lopez Lizarazo) Colombia 0/0 47.82
10. Pikeur Dylon (Markus Brinkmann) Germany 0/0 50.71
11. Cornet Kalua (Max Kuhner) Austria 0/0 51.56
12. Cool and Easy (Hans Dieter Dreher) Germany 0/4 44.15
13. Grand Cru van de Rozenberg (Jerome Guery) Belgium 0/4 45.28
14. VDL Groep Zidane NOP (Leopold van Asten) Netherlands 0/4 45.69
15. Arrayan (Sergio Alvarez Moya) Spain 0/4 47.02
16. Hector van d’Abdijhoeve (Bertram Allen) Ireland 0/8 46.46
17. H&M Legend of Love (Olivier Philippaerts) Belgium 0/8 46.60
18. SFN Zenith NOP (Jeroen Dubbeldam) Netherlands 0/8 47.96
19. Pegase du Murier (Roger Yves Bost) France 0/8 54.41

Longines FEI World Cup Jumping 2016/2017 Western European League
Standings after Round 5 in Stuttgart, Germany

1. Steve Guerdat Switzerland 42 points
2. Kevin Staut France 39
3. Romain Duguet Switzerland 37
4. Simon Delestre France 31
5. Lorenzo de Luca Italy 31
6. Martin Fuchs Switzerland 29
7. Pieter Devos Belgium 28
8. Lauren Hough USA 25
9. Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum Germany 25
10. Cian O’Connor Ireland 22