KUERTEN KEEPS THE BELGIANS AT BAY ON THEIR HOME TURF AT MECHELEN by Louise Parkes

Ireland's Jessica Kuerten fended off a powerful challenge from the host nation contingent to scoop maximum points in the eighth
leg of the 2010/2011 Rolex FEI World Cup™ Jumping series at Mechelen in Belgium
this afternoon.  From a starting field of 38 only four went into the
second-round jump-off, and the 41 year old German-based rider snatched victory
when second-last to go against the clock riding Lady Georgina Forbes' Castle
Forbes Myrtille Paulois. 

"It was a very special win, and I feel quite emotional" Kuerten said afterwards.  "We really wanted to win, we were
unbelievably motivated and we had to go very fast to beat Gregory Wathalet. 
Winning this and the Queen's Cup on Tuesday has made it a fairytale week!" she
added.  Belgium's Wathalet took runner-up spot with Sea Coast Cortes C while his
fellow-countrymen Jos Lansink (Casper Van Spieveld) and Niels Bruynseels (NASA)
filled third and fourth places respectively as the home riders put on a great
show in front of their own crowd in the packed Nekkerhal Arena.


TESTED THE SKILLS
Kuerten described the track set by course designer Lucien Somers as "big, wide and technically difficult" and it
certainly tested the skills of the competitors from 17 different nations who
lined out at this popular annual fixture at the Nekkerhal Arena.  The triple
combination - oxer, vertical, oxer - proved particularly influential.  "The
distances in the triple were difficult and when the horses arrived at the double
(the penultimate obstacle on the 13-fence track) they tended to remember that
and sometimes jumped it awkwardly too" the winning rider pointed
out.

Finland's Nina Fagerstrom decided to call it a day after a hair-raising ride through the triple with Talent while Great Britain's Ellen
Whitaker also retired after double-faulting with Equimax Ocolado.  Two
competitors - Simon Delestre from France riding Couletto and Germany's Daniel
Deusser with AD Untouchable - suffered the intense frustration of completing a
clear jumping round only to collect a single time penalty, but they had the
compensation of claiming fifth and sixth places respectively while a total of 14
riders left a single fence on the floor in the first round and the fastest of
these was Dutchman Albert Zoer who slotted into seventh spot with
Sam.

PATHFINDER
Gregory Wathalet, who celebrated his 34th birthday on Christmas Eve, was pathfinder against the clock with Sea Coast
Cortes C - one of two 8 year old horses to make it through to the timed round. 
And the Belgian rider who recently returned to compete under his native flag
after transferring is allegiance to the Ukraine for the last few years, set the
pace with a great clear in 40.44 seconds. 

Fellow-countryman Niels Bruynseels followed with the handsome mare NASA who carries all the hallmarks of
her famous sire Cumano who carried Jos Lansink to individual glory at the 2006
World Championship.  But Bruynseels realised he was behind on time as he turned
to the last, and when he pushed the nine year old grey towards the final planks
she hit that for four faults in 41.28.

ROSE TO THE OCCASION
Kuerten's round was crisp, clean and filled with determination however, and Castle Forbes Myrtille Paulois rose to the occasion
as never before.  "She's really in top form right now" the 41 year old rider
said afterwards.  "She was second in the Grand Prix at La Coruna last week and
this was only her second World Cup competition - she was really fast today"
Kuerten pointed out.  Riding with pin-point accuracy all the way, the Irish
rider was clearly up on time coming to the last which she cleared to re-set the
target at 39.94 seconds.  But Kuerten knew the game wasn't over yet because
Lansink was yet to go. 

And the 2006 World Champion produced a thrilling ride from the 8 year old Casper Van Spieveld which he has only had in his yard
for the last two weeks.  The big grey by Mr Blue defied his massive frame to
shave more than a half-second off Kuerten's target, but once again the final
planks would claim another Belgian victim so Lansink had to settle for third
place while the Irish rider scooped the €13,000 winner's purse, a brand new
Landrover vehicle and the coveted Rolex watch that goes to the winner of each
round of the Rolex FEI World Cup™ Jumping series.

Having rocketed up from 43rd to 11th place on the leaderboard after today's success, Kuerten now has the
final in Leipzig, Germany firmly in her sights. "I really want to get there and
my plan is to compete in Basel and Amsterdam, then I have a wild-card for Zurich
and the Irish spot for Bordeaux and Vigo" she explained.  But most of all today
she was just really happy with the result produced by Myrtille who, like all the
rest of the Irishwoman's string, has long competed in the shadow of her great
ride Castle Forbes Libertina.  "Libby" as she is better known lined out in the
minor classes at Mechelen this week and is expected back in top-flight action
very soon after a long injury break, but in her absence Castle Forbes Myrtille
Paulois got her chance to shine - "I'm really proud of her" Kuerten said. "It's
the perfect end to the year and I'm hoping that 2011 continues in the same
vein!" she added. 

Result: 1, Castle Forbes Myrtille Paulois (Jessica Kuerten) IRL 0/0 39.94; 2, Sea Coast Cortes C (Gregory Wathalet) BEL 0/0 40.44;
3, Casper Van Spieveld (Jos Lansink) BEL 0/4 39.62; 4, NASA (Niels Bruynseels)
BEL 0/4 41.26; 5, Couletto (Simon Delestre) FRA 1/72.58; 6, AD Untouchable
(Daniel Deusser) GER 1/72.96; 7, Sam (Albert Zoer) NED 4/65.61; 8, Kraque Boom
(Kevin Staut) FRA 4/65.98; 9, Nuage Blue (Pilar Cordon) ESP 4/66.10; 10, Calado
(Jorg Naeve) GER 4/66.51.

Facts and Figures:
This was the 30th anniversary of the Belgian fixture which is dedicated to the memory of
the late Eric Wauters
There were 38 starters in today's competition
Only 4 riders jumped clear in the first round
3 of these were from the host nation of Belgium, the remaining rider was the eventual winner, Ireland's Jessica
Kuerten (Castle Forbes Myrtille Paulois)
2 completed with a single time fault
14 picked up just four faults in the first round
2 retired in the first round - Finland's Nina Fagerstrom (Talent) and Great Britain's Ellen
Whitaker (Equimax Ocolado)
A total of 17 nations were represented in today's competition - Ireland, Australia, Austria, Germany, Belgium, Finland,
Switzerland, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Colombia, The Netherlands, France,
Italy, Great Britain and New Zealand.
There were five 8 year old horses in the competition including Sea Coast Cortes C which finished in runner-up spot
for Gregory Wathalet and third-placed Casper Van Spieveld ridden by
fellow-Belgian Jos Lansink.
The 5-day fixture at Mechelen attracted 89,000 spectators
This was round 8 of the 2010/2011 Rolex FEI World Cup™ Jumping series

Quotes:
Jos Lansink - "I only have my horse for the last two weeks - we competed in just one competition before this at a
CSI 2-Star in Holland last week".
Gregory Wathelet - "If I had been third to go against the clock I might have taken more of a risk but I also maybe would
have had more faults - I'm happy with the way it worked out for me
today!"
Jessica Kuerten - "I decided going into the ring against the clock that it was a case of 'all or nothing' !"

Rolex FEI World Cup™ Jumping 2010/2011 Western European League - Standings After Round 8 at
Mechelen, Belgium:
1.    Kevin Staut FRA            -        87
2.    Rolf-Goran Bengtsson SWE    -        57
3.    Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum GER -    50
4.    Christian Ahlmann GER        -        46
5.    Billy Twomey IRL            -        44
6.    Harrie Smolders NED        -        41
7.    Rodrigo Pessoa BRA        -        36
8.    Michael Whitaker GBR        -        35
9.    Carsten-Otto Nagel GER        -        33
10.    Ludger Beerbaum GER        -        31
11.    Jessica Kuerten IRL            -        30
12.    Malin Baryard-Johnsson SWE -        29
12.    Sergio Alvarez Moya ESP    -        29
14.    Gerco Schroder NED        -        28
14.    Robert Whitaker GBR        -        28
16.    Lars Nieberg GER            -        27
16.    Leon Thijssen NED            -        27
18.    Jos Lansink BEL            -        25
19.    Philipp Weishaupt GER        -        24
19.    Simon Delestre FRA        -        24

ROLEX FEI WORLD CUP™ JUMPING 2010/2011
CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR WESTERN EUROPEAN LEAGUE: 1, Oslo (Norway) 14-17 October; 2, Helsinki (Finland) 21-24 October; 3, Lyon (FRA) 27
Oct-1 November; 4, Verona (Italy) 4-7 November; 5, Stuttgart (Germany) 17-21
November; 6, Geneva (Switzerland) 9-12 December; 7, London-Olympia (Great
Britain) 14-20 December; 8, Mechelen (Belgium) 26-30 December; 9, Zurich (SUI)
28-30 January; 10, Bordeaux (France) 4-6 February; 11, Vigo (Spain) 10-13
February; 12, Gothenburg (Sweden) 24-27 February; 13, ‘s-Hertogenbosch (The
Netherlands) 24-27 March; FINAL - Leipzig (Germany) 27 April-1
May.

Broadcast Schedule can be downloaded from www.feiworldcup.org

FEI World Cup™ Jumping has entered its 33rd season. The series, created in 1978, today comprises 14 leagues
on all continents. The best riders from 123 preliminary competitions will
qualify for the final in Leipzig, Germany which takes place from 27 April-1 May
2011.

The Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI), founded in 1921, is the international body governing equestrian sport
recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and includes 133
National Federations.

Equestrian sport has been on the Olympic programme since 1912 with three disciplines - Jumping, Dressage and Eventing. It is one of
the very few sports in which men and women compete on equal terms. It is also
the only sport which involves two athletes - horse and rider. The FEI has
relentlessly concerned itself with the welfare of the horse, which is paramount
and must never be subordinated to competitive or commercial
influences.

Media Contact:
At Mechelen
Press Officer Edith de Reys
Email: edith.dereys@skynet.be
Tel: +32 475 659 281

At FEI
Grania Willis
FEI Director Press Relations
Email: grania.willis@fei.org
Tel: +41 787 506 142