Philipp Weishaupt (GER) drew on the experience of his long-term partner, the 14-year-old gelding Coby 8 to produce a blistering jump-off round in what proved to be an unbeatable time of 36.11 seconds to take victory in the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ in A Coruña (ESP).
Victorious in Helsinki (FIN), Great Britain’s Robert Whitaker and Vermento chased hard from final draw of the 14-horse jump-off, but despite calling upon the 11-year-olds huge stride, his time of 36.56 wasn’t enough to knock an inspired Weishaupt from the top of the podium. The home crowd had plenty to cheer about when Jesús Garmendia Echevarría set the jump-off alight from the halfway stage of round two to break the beam in 37.19 and take eventual third place with the impressive 13-year-old Callias.
Santiago Varela made full use of the vast arena at Casas Novas, the stunning venue for this seventh leg of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ in A Coruña. He set a track that incorporated a range of fence types using the lengths and breadth of the 80m x 40m arena at this incredible facility that will play host to the FEI Jumping European Championship in July 2025. His test included 14 fences, six maximum height verticals, a combination with oxers as the second and third elements and a blue double with a 1.60m liverpool vertical as part B.
The quality field however, appreciative of the world-class facilities offered by Casa Novas, must have left Varela scratching his head and wondering what he must do to test the athletes here in A Coruña. Pieter Devos (BEL) and his exciting home-bred gelding cruised round the track, making light of the course and finishing just inside the time allowed. Their round looked like that of a seasoned combination, not that of the first man out aboard a nine-year-old horse in his first season at this level.
They set the tone for what was to come as after five combinations had been, no fences had fallen. Daniel Deusser (GER) incurred a single time fault to deny him a place in the jump-off as his partner Otello de Guldenboom appeared only to lose time in the air in an otherwise flawless round.
Iván Serrano Sáez (ESP) raised the roof when producing a sensational clear in front of a home crowd and was quickly joined by Norway’s Victoria Gulliksen, Maikel van der Vleuten (NED), Kim Emmen (NED) and Germany’s Marco Kutscher before the first fence fell. Spanish hopes were further fuelled when the in-form Jesús Garmendia Echevarría joined his compatriot Serrano Sáez when producing clear round number 11.
World number one, Henrik von Eckermann (SWE), lived up to expectations with the incomparable King Edward producing an exhibition of jumping to add their names to the jump-off list. Marlon Modolo Zanotelli (BRA), Leopold Van Austen (NED) and Hans-Deiter Dreher closed out the first half with faultless performances to see 11 clears already after just 20 of the 40 athletes had started in round one.
In an unprecedented turn of events, the second half of the competition saw eight combinations fault before Weishaupt reminded the field how to successfully navigate Varela’s test. Max Kühner, three times a podium finisher here in A Coruña, emulated that form when producing the 13th clear of the evening aboard the 10-year-old gelding EIC Julius Caesar, his partner when finishing in runner up spot here 12 months ago. With 10 combinations left to go, a marathon jump- off was beginning to look likely, but just one of those remaining 10 pairings produced all the answers and Robert Whitaker secured the enviable position of last to go in the battle against the clock.
Prioritising the future and giving his exceptional young horse a positive experience at this early stage in his career, Pieter Devos opened the jump-off with a perfectly pitched clear round in 39.39 seconds. Serrano Sáez delighted his home crowd when taking nearly a second off Devos’ time to take an early lead aboard Rain Man, with whom he took third place in Saturday’s Grand Prix.
Emmen and Kutscher produced steadier clears before Jesús Garmendia Echevarría got the crowd on their feet as he broke the beam to a standing ovation, a worthy gesture of their appreciation for the display of talent given by the Spaniard and his talented grey gelding Callias. Von Eckermann followed, taking out strides and cutting down angles he looked assured of taking the lead. But in a bid to take out a stride to the last fence, he went a little wider than planned on the turn from the penultimate oxer and was going to reach the final fence on an impossible distance. King Edward and his pilot thought better of this and slipped off to the side of the last fence before re-presenting, incurring four faults in the process.
Hans- Deiter Dreher, bidding for a clean sweep of wins in A Coruña’s feature classes having won the Grand Prix Saturday and Friday’s 1.50m class aboard Vestmalle des Cotis, made a valiant attempt to produce another faultless round in 37.50 to slot them into second place with just three athletes remaining.
Weishaupt followed; hungry for success, he set sail with his long-term partner Coby 8. Taking a stride less than many of his rivals to the second fence, he relaxed into a beautiful rhythm, maintaining a consistent pace that allowed him to flow around the track without the need to take unnecessary risks and stop the clock in what proved to be an unbeatable time of 36.11 with just one athlete remaining.
Buoyed by his victory in Helsinki and consistent form in the series thus far, Whitaker chased hard utilising Vermento’s huge stride to great affect around A Coruña’s colossal arena. Despite his best efforts, Whitaker crossed the line in a fractionally slower time of 36.56 to clinch second place and relegate Garmendia Echevarría to third.
“It was a super fast jump-off, we had to give everything,” reflected Weishaupt. ‘The horse (Coby 8) loves the indoor (arena) here!”
He was full of praise for the venue and for the host nation’s athletes. “Big congratulations to all (of the) Spanish riders. Twenty years ago when we came here first they only had one competitor at this level. Today they showed how strong they are now!”
Of the facilities at Casas Novas, Weishaupt said “The whole place here is made for horses. It is something special and the atmosphere is super warm. We are looking forward to coming back next year.”
Whitaker was gracious in defeat and quick to acknowledge the German athlete’s performance here tonight. “Philipp is very fast on Coby. To be quicker than him was going to be difficult, I don’t know where I could have done better!”
Santiago Varela congratulated the athletes and was quick to point out that “The course was big tonight. The first part of the class looks like the class was easy, but eight of these riders were fighting for a medal in Paris!”
Hans-Deiter Dreher rounded off a dream week with fourth place with Elyssium whilst Iván Serrano Sáez added fifth place to his week’s impressive haul. Emmen, Devos and Kutscher completed the top eight with double clears apiece. (Canadian Kara Chad competed in this class aboard Igor Gph, placing 18th with just a single rail down in the opening round.)
After seven legs of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Western European League, Kevin Staut remains at the top of the provisional Western European League Standings with 49 points. Robert Whitaker catapults up the order to take over the second position with 45 points and in doing so secures his place for the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final in Basel (SUI) next April. Richard Vogel (GER) sits comfortably in third on 42 points ahead of Gregory Wathelet (BEL) and Steve Guerdat (SUI) in fourth and fifth. Pieter Devos’s performance today sees him move up to sixth position in the provisional standings after the the seventh leg of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ in A Coruña with 32 points.
The Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Western European League jumps over to London (GBR) for the eighth leg of the series on 22 December. Mechelen (BEL) then plays host to the last of the 2024 qualifiers on December 30 and hands over to Basel (SUI) who open 2025 with Leg 10 of 14 of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Western European League.
Full Results here.
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