It’s Anybody’s Rolex FEI World Cup Show Jumping Final This Year
George Morris and John Madden evaluate the field.
As told to Molly Sorge

The fundamental way that the World Cup works, with the leagues, is very important. It isn’t the best 40 in the world—it’s the best so many from each region. That helps to spread the competition out throughout the world and give different people an opportunity to compete with the best. I think that’s a valuable thing for a lot of people, because it exposes them to the highest end of the sport.

Unlike many years at the Rolex FEI World Cup Final, this year’s field looks like a bit of an open book. Of course, the dynamos of Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, Marcus Ehning, and all the other Europeans are on their way, but I don’t think they’re unbeatable. McLain Ward looks poised to be our best hope for an American win since 1987. If I had to pick three favorites, they would be Michaels-Beerbaum, Christian Ahlmann and  Ward. I’d put them in that order, but any of them could win it.

One major problem for the U.S. riders, however, is that we don’t have difficult enough preparation. I’m not separating East and West coasts. As a country, we don’t have high enough level of competition to be able to prepare properly for this competition. It’s courses, venues, footing, ambiance, everything. We’re not stretching ourselves enough. You can blame it on  anything, but the fact is that we’re not pushing each other hard enough, and we don’t have difficult enough competition to prepare properly for major championships.

There are wonderful horses, but right now there is a lack of enough top horses to go around for all the very good riders in the world. It’s easy to say it’s just a problem in the United States, but everybody’s in the same boat. We have to keep trying to find horses and bring superstars along. I think right now, we have one of our best chances in long time. Things are thin for us in terms of horseflesh, but they’re thin for everybody. But at the top level of our sport, our depth is very shallow.

I do think that the World Cup Final is a very important thing for our sport. If you come from a country strong in horse and rider talent, you might not get many chances to represent your country at major championships. And, if you’re from a country weaker in talent, you might be dragged down in the team results by your teammates sometimes. But at the World Cup Final, everybody has a chance to shine individually.

What’s really good is that it’s a wake-up call for everybody. I don’t care if you’re a German rider, or from Thailand, or wherever, it’s a chance to knock heads with each other and see how good you really are.  I think this is really crucial on a yearly basis so that we can try and get better all the time.

For the best—and that’s a tiny little group—they can expect to win if they don’t have bad luck. For the others, they need some luck to win. I think a lot of these riders look at a thing like the World Cup in different ways. Some go with the intention of winning. Some are just looking to finish with a personal best. And for many it’s a steppingstone in their education.

You have to really put it together for three days there to get to the top of the heap, and very few riders can really do that. Lightening can strike and someone can win one leg, but it’s a much different thing to put all three legs together and come out on top. Someone like Meredith—with her horsepower and experience and skills—can plan on putting the three legs together.

It’s difficult to go into one of these competitions unless you can plan to be successful. The consistency is very hard, and it’s also extremely hard to start out well. At many of the shows, you get going and rev up as the week goes on. But for this, you have to be firing on all eight cylinders right from the first day.

The first round is a speed round, and you can’t shoot yourself in the foot on the first day. If you want to control your destiny, you have to win the first round. But that’s a hard thing, because it’s also easy to ruin your chances in trying so hard. It’s probably easier to self-destruct in the first round than to win it. You have to compromise and say, “I have to go as well as I can while preserving my horse for the next two legs.” You have to be confident that the field will come back to you, but not expect it to come back to you too much.
 
You’re talking about five rounds in total—the speed round, the second round and its jump-off, and the two rounds on the last day. But it is a long road. If you’re in the middle of the pack early on in the game, it’s very easy to feel like the field isn’t going to come back to you. But if you look at it historically, it can change so quickly. You don’t have to win every day to win in the end—you just have to place consistently well in every leg. And that’s difficult to do.

I think that for riders with less experience, in the heat of battle, they have to make themselves remember that it’s just as hard for everybody else and it’s a long three days. Just because somebody’s ahead of you by a rail doesn’t mean it’s any easier for them to jump a clear round.

How The Riders Get To The Final
World Cup-qualifying classes (CSI-Ws) are held at designated shows throughout the world. Geographical areas are divided into various leagues, such as Western Europe, U.S. East Coast, U.S. West Coast, Canada, South America, South Africa, etc. Riders earn points for placing in those classes, and at the conclusion of the qualifying period, the top-ranked riders from each league qualify for the Final. Each league has a different number of riders who qualify for the Final, based on that league’s performance in past Finals.

For instance, the Western European League qualifies 18 riders, the U.S. East Coast seven, the U.S. West Coast three, and various other leagues will be represented by between one and three riders. The FEI has a wild card slot—given in 2007 to Rodrigo Pessoa of Brazil—and the United States was granted two wild card spaces, as host country. The following riders are listed in the respective leagues in which they qualified, in the order of their final placings in the league.

As of press time, three leagues had not completed their qualification classes—Canada, U.S. East Coast and U.S. West Coast—so some changes may occur.

U.S. East Coast League
1. McLAIN WARD: age 29, Brewster, N.Y.
SAPPHIRE: ch. m., 12, Belgian Warmblood by Darco—Idjaz, owned by Blue Chip Bloodstock & McLain Ward.
Members of the gold-medal team at the 2004 Athens Olympics and of the silver-medal winning team at the 2006 World Equestrian Games, Ward and Sapphire are confirmed international com-petitors. They won the $75,000 Idle Dice Classic CSI-W (Fla.) in February, and were second in the $50,000 Rolex/USEF NHS Jumper Championship Round 1 CSI-W (Fla.) in December 2006. They finished their Florida Circuit with a win in the $399,541 CN World wide Florida Open Grand Prix in March.

Sapphire seems to be coming on form very nicely. McLain and that horse know each other very well. The horse looks really great, and I think it’s his time. I think McLain could win it or be in the top three. They’re probably the best chance the United States has had to win the World Cup Final in a long time. McLain is much more mature; he’s grown into his success and he’s worked hard. I feel like it could be his year.

2. LAUREN HOUGH: age 30, Wellington, Fla.
CASADORA: ch. m., 11, Dutch Warmblood by Indoctro—Kadora, Grannus, owned by Laura Mateo.
Hough and Casadora won the $50,000 Kentucky National CSI-W in September 2006, and were second in the $100,000 President’s Cup (D.C.) CSI-W  in October but Hough broke her wrist when Casadora stopped in the first round of the CN Nations Cup (Fla.) on March 9. She plans to have the cast off and be ready to ride by the World Cup Final.

Lauren’s been having a rough go lately. She broke her wrist, and I think Casadora got a little scared with the footing in Florida, so she hasn’t had the winter she wanted. I know she’ll do everything she can to pull it together, but she’s facing an uphill battle. Right now, I think she’s coming off a time where she hasn’t had the preparation she’d want to have heading to the World Cup Final.

3. BEEZIE MADDEN: age 43, Cazenovia, N.Y.
AUTHENTIC: b. g., 12, Dutch-bred Dutch Warmblood by Guidam—Gerlinda, owned by Abigail Wexner.
Authentic and Madden were the anchors of the 2004 Athens Olympic team gold medal, and the 2006 WEG silver medal, and have won all over the world. Madden earned most of her World Cup points on other mounts—Integrity, Judge-ment, Desilvio and Play On—but Authentic is her top mount.

Authentic has only jumped in one grand prix this year [the $26,800 WEF Challenge Cup Round IV in Wellington, Fla., on Feb. 15] because of the erratic footing in Wellington. He won it, but we really held him back because of the footing. He’s not as prepared as we’d like him to be. We’re not giving up—we’ll do our best to be ready, and hopefully we’ll peak at the right time. Beezie and Authentic have such a great rapport and track record that I hope they’ll be on top for Las Vegas.

4. MARGIE ENGLE: age 49, Wellington, Fla.
HIDDEN CREEK’S QUERVO GOLD: ch. g., 14, Belgian Warmblood by Jus de Pommes—Nura, Codexco, owned by Hidden Creek Farm.
HIDDEN CREEK’S PERIN:
On the silver medal-winning team at the 2006 WEG, Engle and “Quervo” qualified for the World Cup Final with a third place at the $50,000 Ariat Congressional Cup CSI-W (Md.) in October, and second in the $75,000 Budweiser World Cup of Syracuse (N.Y.) CSI-W, as well as winning the $75,000 Glen Kernan Golf and Country Club Grand Prix CSI-W (Fla.) in January. Last year, Quervo and Engle competed in the FEI World Cup Final in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in the horse’s first major international outing before the WEG.

Margie and Quervo have been getting better and better all along. Margie is an  unbelievable com-
petitor and fighter, and I think she has a really good chance. She  rode Quervo at the World Cup Final in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last year, and the horse has really come along since then and gotten a lot of experience. Margie has a good shot at having a very successful week there—I think she would be disappointed to be out of the top 10. You have to recognize how competitive Margie is—it’s very difficult to hold Margie down. And Quervo has been jumping very well; I see him coming through for Margie in Las Vegas.

5. SCHUYLER RILEY: age 35, Wellington, Fla.
ILIAN: b. g., 17, Dutch-bred Dutch Warmblood by Zuidhorn—Amara, owned by South Beach Stables.
Riley and Ilian took second in the $65,000 Idle Dice Classic CSI-W (Fla.) and sixth in the $50,000 Ariat Congressional Cup CSI-W (Md.).

Schuyler likes Las Vegas—she and Ilian were eighth in 2000 in the Final in Las Vegas. So, we’ve got the same horse and the same rider with a lot more experience. But, it’s possibly going to be more difficult because Ilian’s getting older—I have nothing against the horse, but it’s a fact. It’s easier to get him right for a day, and have him happy and feeling good and ready to win—I’m sure Ilian still has that in him. But to do that for three days out of four can be a real challenge. Conventional wisdom says that if everything goes perfectly, they have the ability to be in the top five, but I think that his age and their lack of show-ring time this year are going to be  challenges.

6. MOLLY ASHE: age 36, Wellington, Fla.
COCU: g. m., 15, Holsteiner by Cassini I—Bettina, owned by Jane F. Clark.
KROON GRAVIN: b. m., 15, Dutch Warmblood by Grandville, owned by Molly Ashe.
Cocu placed third in the $50,000 Grey Goose Vodka CSI-W (N.Y.) in August 2006 and second in the $60,000 Kilkenny International Cup (Fla.) in February. Kroon Gravin and Ashe won two consecutive Budweiser American Invitational classes in 2001 and 2002, and were eighth at the 2001 World Cup Final (Sweden), but then the bay mare dropped out of the picture due to health problems and ownership issues. But she’s back competing now.

Molly’s going to take Cocu and Kroon Gravin. She’s been using the Florida circuit to prepare for this. Kroon Gravin is one of those horses who’s either great or not great. When she’s great, she’s unbeatable. Possibly, they haven’t had enough practice to be predictably consistent. She could definitely win a leg or two, but
it’s going to be hard to put it all together over the week. On the other hand, when Kroon Gravin gets going well, she’s really good. Cocu has done nicely in Florida, and I think Molly is smart enough to use those two horses the right way. She knows both of those horses very well.

7. CHRISTINE McCREA: age 29, East Windsor, Conn.
PROMISED LAND: b. g., 13, German-bred Holsteiner by Vorr, owned by Windsor Show Stables & Candy Tribble.
VEGAS: b. s., 13, Dutch Warmblood by Voltaire—Dulisinax, owned by Windsor Show Stables & Candy Tribble.
McCrea won the first two World Cup-qualifiers last year on Vegas—the $50,000 Grey Goose Vodka CSI-W (N.Y.) and the $100,000 Wachovia Securities American Gold Cup CSI-W (Ohio). She and Promised Land placed sixth in the $60,000 Idle Dice Classic CSI-W (Fla.) in February. 

Chrissie’s got a couple of good horses. I don’t know which one she’s going to use primarily, or if she’s going to mix them up. Promised Land can jump anything and Vegas is a world-class horse. I think that if she rides Vegas and he goes well, she has a good chance of being in the top five. The hard thing for her will be to realize that it’s a long week, and try to not get too aggressive and work on just being consistent and picking away at it.

Wild Card
KATE LEVY:
VENT DU NORD:

West Coast League
1. JILL HUMPHREY: age 24, Sacramento, Calif.
KASKAYA: br. m., 12, owned by Leone Equestrians Inc.
FELIX 380:
Humphrey has two wins and multiple other placings in West Coast CSI-W classes to qualify for her first World Cup Final appearance.

Jill is 24 years old, and she’s made a big splash. She’s got some very nice horses, and that Kaskaya is an exceptionally nice horse. My opinion is that she rides well, is well-prepared, and has a great horse. She’s an inexperienced rider, and she’ll be doing her best to rise to the occasion. Possibly she’ll come up short based on lack of experience, but it looks like she may be a real player in the future of the sport. The World Cup Final can be a real part of that. You only get experience by doing it, and you only get better by competing with the best.

2. RICHARD SPOONER: age 36, Aqua Dulce, Calif.
CRISTALLO: b. g., 9, owned by Show Jumping Syndication Int’l.
APACHE:
Spooner and Cristallo won the first two CSI-Ws on the West Coast and weren’t out of the top 10 in any of the other four in which they competed. Spooner brought Cristallo to the Winter Equestrian Festival (Fla.) after the conclusion of the HITS Thermal Desert Circuit (Calif.) and placed eighth in the $399,541 CN Worldwide Florida Open Grand Prix.

I have a lot of respect for what Richard has been doing. He came back East last fall and competed, and he’s really trying to expose himself to a higher level of competition all the time. Cristallo is exceptionally nice, and he came out to Florida [in March and April] to compete a little bit. I think that he has the best chance at the World Cup Final that he’s ever had, and I think he could be a real player this year. He’s put a lot of effort, time and commitment into it and tried to challenge himself. He’s a great rider—very fast—and he’s got a great feel for a horse. Cristallo could be a hair short on experience yet, and that’ll be his biggest stumbling block, but he’s putting the puzzle together very correctly.

3. RICH FELLERS: age 47, Wilsonville, Ore.
GYRO: dk. br./b. g., 14, Dutch Warmblood by Harlem, owned by Harry and Molly Chapman.
Rich Fellers traveled to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, last year with McGuinness for his first World Cup Final but wasn’t able to compete after McGuinness ran a fever. This year, he and McGuinness won the $50,000 L.A. National Grand Prix (Calif.) and placed third at the $50,000 Las Vegas Grand Prix (Nev.) and fourth at the $50,000 L.A. Inter-national Grand Prix (Calif.). Gyro placed fourth in the $75,000 Footing Authority Grand Prix (Calif.).

I get the feeling that Gyro might have a tougher time in a tight indoor ring, because he’s a bigger, rangier horse. McGuinness is a very handy, quick horse, but the question for a championship of this size is that we’ve never seen his scope over three days. He’s a lovely horse. Rich is a top rider, and he had some very bad luck when McGuinness got sick at last year’s World Cup Final. Rich showed at the Spruce Meadows Masters (Alta.) last year that no matter the competition, he rides as a master.

4. MANDY PORTER: age 40, Encinitas, Calif.
SUMMER: gr. m., 12, Belgian-bred Belgian Warmblood by Capital, owned by Wild Turkey Farm & Barbara Ellison.
Summer and Porter jumped their way to the win in the $50,000 Del Mar International (Calif.) in October and at the $75,000 HITS DC II Grand Prix (Calif.) in February, and were third in the $50,000 San Juan Capistrano CSI-W (Calif.), among other ribbons.

Mandy is a terrific girl who in the last couple of years has become more and more competitive. Summer is a nice horse, and Mandy is a fantastic horsewoman. She knows her horses inside and out, and she’s very compassionate with them. This will be a great experience for her. It will be a big step up, and I certainly hope for her sake that she will be competitive.

Canadian League
1. JILL HENSELWOOD: age 45, Oxford Mills, Ont.
BLACK ICE: blk. g., 13, Dutch-bred Dutch Warmblood by Indoctro—Joline, owned by Stacie Ryan.
CALLISTO: b. m., 14, Dutch Warmblood by Julio Mariner, owned by Juniper Farms Ltd. & Legacy Investments Inc.
Second-placed finishes with Special Ed in the $86,073 CN Performance CSI-W (Alta.) and the $64,544 CN World Cup Grand Prix (Ont.), along with placings in CSI-W classes at the HITS Thermal Desert Circuit helped Henselwood top the Canadian League standings.

I doubt Jill will take any horse but Special Ed. Special Ed is a little bit hot and cold. Jill is a meticulous preparer, and she always has a good plan. I know she’s going to be trying to peak at the World Cup. She and the horse know each other very well. But it could be either very good or very bad. He’s a spooky horse, and going from outdoors to indoors might be a particular challenge for them. He has the jumping ability, and he can do it, but he’s a quirky horse. With a horse like that, I think it’s tough going into something where you know the course designer is going to test every aspect in a small indoor venue. It can be tough to rely on a horse like that.

2. JOHN PEARCE: age 47, Stouffville, Ont.
ARCHIE BUNKER: dk. b./br. g., Oldenburg by Contender, owned by Forest View Farms.
URIOSO: dk. b./br. g., Belgian Warmblood by Darco, owned by Forest View Farms.
Pearce spent his winter in Thermal, Calif., at the HITS Desert Circuit, and won the $150,000 Grand Prix of the Desert there on Urioso, though he had not designated him for World Cup points. With Archie Bunker, he earned World Cup points with a third in the $75,000 HITS DC II CSI-W, and eighth in the $75,000 Footing Authority Grand Prix CSI-W at Thermal and the $60,251 Quebec Grand Prix CSI-W in Blainville, Que., last July.

Archie Bunker is only 9 this year and might be a little bit young to be really competitive, but John is a great competitor himself. Once again, I think the most difficult thing for him is going to be not having been exposed to enough really big things. A lot of these horses and riders are going to be seeing things that are stepped up a notch from what they’re used to. It’s going to be very difficult. It’s a nice horse, and he’s a good rider, but I don’t think they have enough international-level experience to be competitive.

FEI Wild Card
RODRIGO PESSOA (BRA): age 34, Brussels, Belgium.
COUER: gr. g., 11, German-bred Holsteiner by Calido I, owned by Double H Farm.
OASIS:
Pessoa made history with the legendary Baloubet du Rouet, winning three consecutive FEI World Cup Finals—1998, ’99 and ’00—and in six Final starts, were never worse than third. They were also individual gold medalists at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

This is a new partnership. Rodrigo has only ridden Couer for a few months, and I know he’s been aiming the horse for the World Cup Final. But, I think, no matter how good Rodrigo is, with as little ring time as these two have had together, it would be tough to pull off a win. This is a very big horse, and even though he’s pretty handy, it’s going to be tough to package him into that little ring. And, since the order of go for the speed leg is determined by the riders’ placings in their leagues, and Rodrigo was way down the Western European League standings, he’s going to have to go early in the order. It’ll be hard for him to decide how many chances to take. If Rodrigo is going to do well in Las Vegas, it’s going to be coming from behind and working his way to the top. Having said that, Couer has immense scope, which works in their favor.

Defending Champion
MARCUS EHNING (GER): age 33, Borken, Germany.
GITANIA 8: gr. m., 15, German-bred Holsteiner by Capitol I, owned by Ellen and Ansgar Holtgers.
Ehning and the spectacular Sandro Boy cruised to victory last year in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Ehning has a team gold from the 2000 Sydney Olympics and a team bronze from the 2006 World Equestrian Games to his credit.

Marcus is definitely one of the best riders of our time. He’s a very accurate guy; you know his plan is going to be very good. His whole approach—the whole approach of all the German riders—is very disciplined. He’s not planning on bringing his 2006 FEI World Cup Final winner, Sandro Boy. Gitania is a very nice horse, but that horse would have to be on her best form to win—but if anybody can guarantee that, Marcus can. She’s a very good horse, but not quite as handy indoors as one would like. But I can’t see him being out of the top 10, period.

Click here for Rolex FEI World Cup show jumping roster part II.

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