World Cup Finals News Flash: We Have New Leaders in Longines FEI World Cup Final Round Two

World Cup Finals News Flash:
We Have New Leaders in Longines FEI World Cup Final Round Two
Ireland's Bertram Allen Maintains Top Three in Points Standing

The jumping got serious today, with a big course and lots of technical questions. Course designer Anthony D'Ambrosio got close to the number of clear rounds he planned, but rails hit the ground frequently. Four riders retired on course and one was eliminated.

Geir Gulliksen and Edesa S Banjan scored the first clear round.

The first clear round came early in the order as Norway's Geir Gulliksen, second in the jumping order, mastered each of the questions on course. Then there was a long series of four, eight, and up to 25 fault rounds until U.S. rider Lucy Davis, 20th in the go order, ensured a jump-off. She was quickly followed by Beezie Madden, Rich Fellers, and Bertram Allen who each achieved a perfect score.

Lucy Davis and Barron

The jump-off was dramatic as McLain Ward and Rothchild had a stop, then lost their rhythm and racked up 18 penalties. Davis, Fellers, and Allen each knocked a single pole, but both Beezie Madden and Steve Guerdat were clear and fast - Guerdat scored the win by 0.56 of a second. Davis was the fastest of the 4-faulters and grabbed third place honors.

Steve Guerdat and Albfuehren's Paille moved fast in the jump-off

Beezie Madden and Simon

For the overall World Cup standings, the results of this leg and from the first competition are converted to points which are added together to determine overall placing. Then total penalties are assigned in relation to the order of finish. Therefore, Steve Guerdat and Rich Fellers are currently tied for first place with 0 penalties. Bertram Allen is currently in third, one penalty behind Guerdat and Fellers. Penelope Leprevost is in fourth with 5 penalties, while Beezie Madden, Martin Fuchs, and Jos Verlooy are tied for fifth with 6 penalties. Lucy Davis, McLain Ward, and Jur Vrieling are all tied in eighth with 7 penalties.

Rich Fellers and Flexible, crowd favorites.

Thus, the result of this calculation is that the riders head into Sunday's two-round third final leg with less than one rail's margin of four faults between Guerdat, Fellers, and Allen. Only two rails, eight faults, separate Leprevost, Madden, Verlooy, Fuchs, Davis, Ward, and Vrieling from the leaders. Gulliksen's difficult ride in the first round resulted in a lower points total, despite his good finish this evening, and left him tied for 18th going into Final III.

Bertram Allen and Molly Malone V, still definitely in the hunt.

And, the courses on Sunday's two rounds are sure to be even more challenging than the one they jumped today, so a couple of rails could easily happen with any of the leaders, always leading to a dramatic final.

Up tomorrow is the Reem Acra Dressage final, musical freestyle. Check back for results and all the news.

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