Frenchman Bruno Broucqsault didn’t let his underdog status stand in the way at the Sony Ericsson FEI World Cup Show Jumping Final. But sometimes the working class works just a little bit harderâ??and Broucqsault and his diminutive Dileme de Cephe didn’t lower a rail during 66 jumping efforts to win the 26th final in Milan, Italy.

And if Broucqsault is the epitome of the blue-collar show jumping rider (see sidebar), his closest rival on April 21-25, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, represents the blue-blooded of the sport. But her impec-cably bred Hanoverian Shutterfly couldn’t match the performance of Dileme de Cephe, a bay Selle Français of Anglo-Arabian heritage. Shutterfly’s one mistake on the final day cost the German rider the title.
This was Broucq-sault’s first World Cup Final appearance, and not since 1984, when 19-year-old Canadian Mario Deslauriers took the title, has such an outsider jumped up to win.

In a dramatic finish, Broucqsault and Michaels-Beerbaum each started the final round with 0 faults. Broucqsault went before Michaels-Beerbaum in the order and laid down the gauntlet, riding an amazing, if not miraculous, clear round.

The spectators, who had adopted the Frenchman as a favorite from the first day, erupted after he finished. They gave Broucqsault a standing ovation, complete with air horns blasting, as he galloped around the arena, hoisting his helmet in the air.

As the crowd quieted, Michaels-Beerbaum entered on Shutterfly. She needed a  clear round to tie Broucqsault and force a jump-off. But, as they approached the line of fences 5 to 6AB, things started to go wrong. Shutterfly jumped 5, a substantial oxer, right from the base and gave a tremendous effort. When he landed, Michaels-Beerbaum leaned way back in the saddle, trying her best to contain him for the tight five strides to 6A, a plank vertical.

“[After fence 5] there was a roar from the crowd because he had made such an unbelievable jump,” she said. “He got extremely strong and pulled me past the distance at 6A. I think he reacted to the roar of the crowd.”

After hearing the planks fall, Michaels-Beerbaum quickly composed herself. Since Markus Fuchs, the 2001 World Cup champion, and Tinka’s Boy had finished on 8 faults, she couldn’t afford another rail to keep second place.

“At first it was a terrible feeling,” she recalled. “But I thought, ‘I have to focus and bring it home.’ It’s easy to have more mistakes. And it was important to get down the last line, which was extremely difficult.'”

Shutterfly returned to form and didn’t touch another rail, giving Michaels-Beerbaum her best finish ever in the final. “I’m absolutely delighted to be here sitting next to Bruno, who deserves the win,” said the 34-year-old Califor-nia native. “The fault in the final round can
happen, and that’s what makes this sport interesting.”

Broucqsault, 45, is still considered a relative newcomer on the international circuit. He and Dileme de Cephe contributed to France’s victory in the 2003 Samsung Super League with their performances at the CSIO Rome (Italy) and the CSIO Rotterdam (the Netherlands). He also won two impressive grand prix events, in Rome and Barcelona (Spain). In 2004, they placed second at the CSI-W at ‘s-Hertogen-bosch (the Netherlands) in late March in preparation for the final.

Even though this is the first time a French rider has won the World Cup, Broucqsault said that fact wouldn’t really affect him. “My feeling is that I’m still little Bruno,” he said, smiling. “Nothing changes. I came here and thought I could be in the top five, but I did not expect to win.”

Moments Of Brilliance
The U.S. riders had hoped to be there tooâ??but just two completed all three legs. Richard Spooner, on Hilton Flight, finished 12th with 25 faults, and Nicole Shahinian- Simpson aboard El Campeon’s So Long had 47 faults for 21st.

Laura Kraut, who had moments of brilliance during the competition, couldn’t keep her momentum. In Sunday’s first round, she fell off of Anthem at the first fence, a triple bar, when he suddenly stopped. She placed 24th.

Peter Wylde, 23rd after the first two legs, chose not to start Lauriston on the final day. Will Simpson, riding El Campeon’s Ado Annie, and Laura Linback, aboard Remember Me, both retired in the second leg.

Linback, 36, at her first World Cup Final, rode with a severe groin injury that occurred the week before she left for Milan. “Yes, it hurts when I ride, and I do think about it as I’m going around [the course]. It was bad timing,” she said. “I was looking forward to coming here. And I wanted to come feeling prepared so I could be confident to do the best I could. It’s frustrating.”

McLain Ward and Norman Dello Joio had the most misfortune. Dello Joio couldn’t start Quriel because while hand-grazing on Thursday, the horse stepped on a two-inch nail, which pierced the heel bulb on his right front foot.

Ward and Goldika miscommunicated during the first day’s speed leg, and they suffered a horrifying fall at the first element of a two-stride double combination, of triple bar to oxer. Goldika left from too great a distance to the triple bar, and she swam through the rails. Ward was thrown to the ground, and Goldika managed to keep from flipping over on top of him, but she took the brunt of the force with her head and neck.

They returned to the ring the following day in a 1.40-meter class. But, after a clear first round, they crashed again in the jump-off. Coming around a corner to a double combination, again Goldika stood off too far and fell. They were both shaken, and Ward chose not to start again.

 A Speedy Start

Fuchs, the world’s No. 2-ranked rider, left no doubt he sought to regain the World Cup when he guided Tin-ka’s Boy to a speedy and precise round (68.35 seconds) in the Table C speed leg (faults converted to seconds).

Markus Ehning of Germany, the reigning World Cup titlist, was hot on his heels in second (69.09). And Michaels-Beerbaum, who made history as the first woman to win the Western European World Cup standings this season, was third (69.77). Broucqsault placed sixth with a solid clear round in 71.44.

For Fuchs, 48, the victory was gratifying because he’s struggling to recuperate from a pulled groin muscle that he suffered last December. “The nature of the injury is that I’m getting older,” he joked. “But, basically, this injury is not for laughing. I have a chronic inflammation.”

Fuchs received a wild card for the finals, but to fulfill the qualifications he was required to compete in the last three Western European League qualifiersâ??Paris (France), ‘s-Hertogenbosch and Gothenburg (Sweden). He said he was in tremendous pain in Paris, but despite the pain he managed to jump a clear round in ‘s-Hertogenbosch with Tinka’s Boy (by Zuidpool), although he withdrew from the jump-off.

He currently employs grand prix rider Leslie McNaught to ride his top-level horses because he can only ride sparingly. He receives daily physical therapy and hopes he “can come back soon, but at this time I do not know.”

Ehning, 30, has also had a difficult spring. He said Anka (by Argentinus) had a three-month break and then “had problems at home.” He finally competed her at Düsseldorf (Germany) three weeks before the Final. “When I arrived, I was not sure I was going to ride her in all three legs. But she was feeling good today, and I will ride her tomorrow,” he said after the speed leg.

Michaels-Beerbaum was pleased with Shutterfly, an 11-year-old (by Silvio I). “My goal was to be in the top five, but not necessarily to win” the speed leg, she said. “To be third was perfect today.”

Italian Uliano Vezzani designed the courses, and the riders, in general, praised his tests. The speed leg, of 13 fences and 16 efforts, didn’t offer the top riders options to make up time, so it was a matter of who could keep the jumps up and retain a strong gallop.

Fences 6AB, a double of airy verticals with liverpools, caused problems, as did the final in-and-out at 13AB, adjacent to the in-gate. For a speed class, the jumps were substantial.

Belgian-based Wylde was the top-placed U.S. rider with the 10-year-old, Dutch Warmblood Lauriston. They had a smooth and accurate round, dislodging just one rail, at fence 9, a skinny oxer, to be 17th (77.84).

Spooner, who won the U.S. West Coast League, had a heartbreaking round on Hilton Flight. Clear and fast until the final double combination, Hilton Flight lowered both rails to stand 18th (78.38).

Simpson and Shahinian-Simpson placed 20th and 23rd, respectively. Simpson and El Campeon’s Ado Annie dropped a portion of the Mitsubishi Motors wall at fence 2 and then had a rail at fence 13A (78.68). Shahinian-Simpson and El Campeon’s So Long had a smooth round, and the 14-year-old Hanoverian just nudged the rail off the last fence (79.21).

Linback lowered two rails and finished 27th (82.29).

Kraut, the best U.S. finisher (fifth) at last year’s World Cup Final, had a refusal with Anthem at the liverpool verticals but otherwise jumped clear for 28th. The approach to the combination was off the short side of the arena, where Kraut shaved the turn. Going first in the order was a disadvantage. Riders later in the order allowed their horses to take a good look at the liverpools before starting.

“He jumped so well,” said Kraut. “He just came around the corner and was totally spooking, looking outside the ring. If I’d gone later, I would probably have taken more time in that corner.”

Three-time World Cup champion Rodrigo Pessoa (1998, 1999, 2000) had a disappointing ride with Baloubet du Rouet, 15. After knocking down two rails, he withdrew the Selle Français stallion.

“Baloubet du Rouet did not jump well yesterday, and I think that he has a back problem,” explained Pessoa. “He felt very stiff.”

Bruno Takes Control

Dileme de Cephe (by Starky d’Anchin and out of an Et Hop mare) resembles a refined Thoroughbred and doesn’t look like an international-level jumper, but during the second leg on Friday he showed his mettle.

The first round course included a challenging triple combination (5ABC) and a tricky double combination (12AB) near the in-gate. But they didn’t faze him whatsoever. He contorted his body in every imaginable way to not touch a jump. Then he returned for the seven-horse jump-off and did it again (0/36.55).

Canadian-based French rider Yann Candele finished .03 seconds behind in second place with Mill Creek Sweet Dream (0/36.58), and Michaels-Beerbaum rode Shutterfly to a conservative clear for third (0/36.74).

“I was riding with tactic in mind,” said Michaels-Beerbaum of her jump-off. “I didn’t want to go full speed today. I hoped [my pace] was enough, but it wasn’t.”

Belgian Ludo Philippaerts and the gray stallion Parco (by Darco) posted the slowest clear for fourth (0/37.75), while the remaining jump-off contenders had faults. German Marco Kutscher and the elegant Montender (by Contender) dropped two rails for fifth (8/37.65).

Kraut and Anthem jumped a fabulous clear first round, but two jump-off rails left them tied for sixth with Swede Rolf-Göran Bengtsson on Mac Kinley.

Spooner and Hilton Flight dislodged one rail in the first round, at the middle element of the triple combination (5B). Overall, they stood tied for 15th with 13 faults.

After two legs, Yann Candele, of Schom-berg, Ontario, who rides for Phil Henning of Mill Creek Stables, was tied for 17th with Kraut and Anthem (14 faults).

Shahinian-Simpson and El Campeon’s So Long also knocked down 5B in the initial round. They were tied for 19th overall (15 faults).
Wylde had a disappointing round with Lauriston. With a clear round up to fences 12AB, then pulled both rails of the combination to stand 23rd overall (18 faults).

Linback’s muscle injury caused her considerable pain on course, and she retired Remember Me after riding hard through the triple combination and pulling a rail at 5C.

Simpson and El Campeon’s Ado Annie suffered a refusal at fence 6, a vertical with a liverpool, which almost dislodged Simpson. After it was reset, he cleared it and then retired.

Sunday’s Showdown

The third leg on Sunday, comprised of two rounds, was built to separate the men from the boys. And it did.
There were just four clear rounds of 25 starters over the first course of 12 fences and 15 effortsâ??Broucqsault, Michaels-Beerbaum, Eugenie Angot and Spooner.

“It was a very scopey and careful and technical course,” said Spooner. “There wasn’t a tight time allowed, which was a good thing. The course designer did a wonderful job.”

Spooner said the oxer at fence 3, which came down for almost one-third of the riders, necessitated a careful approach. “The key was knowing that it was a concern and jumping the wall quietly and setting the horse up for the oxer,” he noted. “The planks didn’t hold them off of it at all.”

Hilton Flight, an 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse (by Errigal Flight), jumped beautifully, making the course look easy. “I watched two go, and I had a hard time deciding whether to do the four or five strides down the yellow [outside] line,” he continued. “I did the four, and it worked for me, but I did see how the five worked for some horses.”

The second round featured a shorter course of nine fences and 11 efforts, but technicalities made it particularly challenging, with several decisive striding options.

And Hilton Flight didn’t have the same spark he had earlier, knocking down three rails with his front end to finish with 25 faults in 12th place.
Shahinian-Simpson and El Campeon’s So Long looked great at times but didn’t seem quite in sync. They had 20- and 12-fault performances.

Fuchs and Tinka’s Boy settled for third place overall with a four-fault performance
in the first round that left him with 8 faults total.

It wasn’t enough because the French riders were on target the final day. Broucqsault and compatriot Angot had the only double-clears on Sunday. This was also Angot’s first World Cup appearance, but she rode Cigale du Taillis, a 14-year-old, Selle Français mare (by Jalisco B) to just 9 faults and fourth overall.

Angot, 33, is the daughter of the musical composer Michel Le Grand, best known for his musical scores for screenplays. She began riding at age 6 during a trip to Colorado while accompanying her father there for a concert series.

Broucqsault rose above the pressure to take the title and impressed even his staunchest critics. He’s now in consideration for a spot on the French team for the Athens Olympics this summer, although he said he must continually prove himself to French Chef d’Equipe Jean-Maurice Bonneau.

“I think we always have surprises in our sport,” said Fuchs. “Two days ago, when Bruno answered the question in this room [regarding his performances under pressure-filled situations], he showed a lot of confidence. I was quite sure he would perform well today. This is a big performance, and I really commend him on the victory.”