He and Marcus Ehning come out seconds ahead in a big class in Germany.

After 15 horses qualified for the jump-off of the International Mitsubishi Cup JAB Anstoetz Masters League Final, it became clear it would be a true race to the finish.

And when the dust cleared, Marcus Ehning and Sandro Boy came out on top.  They claimed the lion’s share of the $335,517 purse, which also awarded a Mitsubishi car to the top six finishers. The class was the finale of the Frankfurt CSI, held Dec. 17-21 in Frankfurt, Germany.

Ehning and Sandro Boy won the same class in 2007, the same year they won the FEI World Cup Show Jumping Final in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. But Sandro Boy is known as much for his occasional refusals as he is for his spectacular jump. 

But in Frankfurt, the 16-year-old stallion was on his game. Felix Hassman had set the standard as the first to go in the jump-off, coming home clear in 38.65 seconds on Horse Gym’s Carefina.

This mark was hard to best by the following riders, and it would take until the eighth starter, Franke Sloothaak and the 12-year-old, Holsteiner gelding Aquino, before another combination left all poles up. But Sloothaak came up just short, stopping the timers just fractions of a second slower than Hassman.

Riders like Sweden’s Rolf-Göran Bengtsson on Quintero La Silla, Lars Nieberg on Lucie, and Markus Beerbaum and the promising 9-year-old prospect Centuria failed to best the mark, as well as Austrian veteran Hugo Simon, who after a great initial round had the first two fences of the jump-off down with Ukinda.

It was looking like Hassman was unbeatable until Ehning and Sandro Boy stepped into the ring. It was obvious that Ehning was going for broke, and a slicing turn from the double combination to a vertical sealed the deal.

Ehning and Sandro Boy carved an incredible 2.65 seconds off Hassman’s time to take over the lead.

The excitement wasn’t finished, however. Next to go were leader Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and her top mount, the inimitable Shutterfly. But they lost time with a much wider turn to the double combination and had a rail down at the second element of the double, finishing with the fastest four-fault ride of the jump-off (37.59 seconds) in sixth place.

“Big, gallopy courses suit Sandro Boy better with his big canter stride,” said Ehning. “I knew that my time would hardly be beaten, but you are always afraid of Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and Shutterfly.”

Results from nine German horse shows throughout the year qualified riders for the Masters League Final. They could also qualify at the last minute through results in two classes during the week in Frankfurt.

In 2009, the Masters League will be supplemented by the new series Young Masters League for young show jumpers ages 16 to 25. This series will include 13 shows in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and was developed by the German Young Riders and Juniors team coach Dietmar Gugler.
 
“We lose many talented young showjumpers between the ages of 20 and 22 because they have to compete against the established international riders for starting places at the top shows. Without having the opportunity to compete at the top shows, they lose interest. But these riders are our future!” Gugler said.

In the 2009 Final, 30 participants—who qualified by a point system similar to the World Cup—will be able to earn points for the FEI World Rankings.

But the plans of Frankfurt’s organizer and Escon Marketing director Kaspar Funke go even further.

“The qualifying shows of the Young Masters League will be spread in the next years throughout Europe, and in the end Frankfurt will host a European final,” said Funke.