Welcome to our live updates feed for the International Jumping Rider’s Club Top 10 Final, a thrilling showdown between the 10 best riders in the world as they tackle two rounds for ultimate glory at the CHI Geneva!
Format: Two rounds over two different courses. 1st round: reverse order of FEI ranking. 2nd round: reverse order of standing after round 1. If there is a tie after both rounds, the tie is broken by the faster time in the second round. (source)
Geneva2016: Website, Orders of Go/Results, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Livestream
Order of Go:
2:02 EST – First in is Steve Guerdat for the host nation of Switzerland aboard Corbinian!
2:04 EST – The pair start the show off with a bang, bringing home a clear for Switzerland! Grand Slam winner Scott Brash and Hello M’Lady in next
2:05 EST – Scott has a terribly unlucky rub on the way down the triple combination to leave with four faults, but this fight is far from over!
2:06 EST – Penelope Leprevost in now, the lone female in the world’s top ten.
2:08 EST – Penelope brings home a clear round for France aboard Vagabond de la Pomme!
2:10 EST – Fellow Frenchman Kevin Staut continues to keep the pressure on from within the Olympic Gold Medal team, adding another clear round to the fray! This is going to be a nail biter between champions, folks.
2:11 EST – Germany’s Marcus Ehning and Pret a Tout are brilliantly fast but brings down a bogey fence in the corner just before the triple combination. What a heartbreaker! It’s his only penalty though, so he walks out with a slim hope on four faults.
2:13 EST – Olympic Bronze Medalist Eric Lamaze and his unbearably masterful Fine Lady 5 in now and she looks superbly fit and fast.
2:15 EST – Eric and Fine Lady have a hard rub on the last of the triple combo, but it miraculously stays up to keep them in the title hunt!
Eric and Fine Lady 5
2:17 EST – Daniel Deusser of Germany, who had such a beautiful fall season, had an unfortunate early rail in the double and a couple more hard rubs, but were able to keep the damage to four faults.
2:19 EST – Kent Farrington in now!
2:21 EST – Creedance looked ready for the jump-off the way he was cruising, but guttingly, they bring down the ‘b’ element of the triple combination.
Kent and Creedance
2:22 EST – Simon Delestre and the lovely Chadino sadly weren’t quite on the same page today, having the rails down throughout to leave the ring with 18 faults.
2:24 EST – The last rider in the first round will be Christian Ahlmann aboard my boyfriend and love of my life, Taloubet Z.
Christian and Taloubet Z.
2:26 EST – My boyfriend makes it look like a fast hunter round, bringing home the clear to finish out round one!
Here are the standings after round 1 of competition:
2:34 EST – The riders are warming up and preparing to re-enter for round two now. They will be riding in reverse order of standing, starting with Simon Delestre and Chadino.
2:41 EST – As mentioned above, in the case of a tie after two rounds, the tie is broken by awarding the winner with the faster 2nd round time, so the pressure will be on to go very clear and very fast in this round!
2:44 EST – And we’re back! Simon Delestre and Chadino are back for a little redemption after a rough first round on the new course.
2:46 EST – The new course has a wide open feel to favor the brave forward gallopers. Simon is the perfect first pilot, putting together a calm cool round with Chadino for round two to finish on 2 time faults and a total of 20.
2:48 EST – They’re currently interviewing Simon about his ride on the live stream, and I’m deeply remorseful that I never studied French in school.
2:49 EST – Next in is Daniel Deusser and First Class for Germany, sitting on four faults.
2:50 EST – Daniel and First Class attempt to gallop right through the long diagonal fence in the center of the course and plow through it to add another four faults to their score, finishing on a total of 8 and a time of 43.64.
2:52 EST – They’re now interviewing Daniel Deusser and I’m – again – deeply remorseful that I didn’t study German in school. What have I even been doing with my life.
2:53 EST – Kent and Creedance in now!
2:54 EST – Kent rode superb!!! They galloped that sucker to go clean and get out of there with a 47.05 and a final score of 4.
2:56 EST – When asked if he had regrets: “Regretfully, I had a rail in the first round and had to change my plan, but my horse jumped great and he’s still young, so I’m very excited for his future.”
Kent and Creedance in Rd. 2
Us, too, Kent!
2:58 EST – Marcus Ehning has a textbook round aboard Pret a Tout to now take the top spot of the four-fault horses. Well done, Marcus!
3:00 EST – Scott Brash and Hello M’Lady in now! I do love this Belgian mare. (Indoctro x Baloubet du Rouet)
Hello M’Lady
3:02 EST – Scott pips Marcus by just three tenths of a second to take the (provisional) lead on 4 faults and a time of 45.51.
3:03 EST – Scott looks utterly bummed in his interview. “I’m very disappointed she had the rail in the first round, I thought my mare jumped great tonight.”
3:05 EST – Big man Christian Ahlmann in now with my boyfriend.
He’s. So. Dreamy.
3:06 EST – YES! My boyfriend was ferociously brave on the hairpin turn and had a big rub on the diagonal, but it stays up and they cross the wire at 43.05! With no faults through either round, I don’t know if they’ll be caught, but I’m going to relish watching the others try.
3:08 EST – Entering now is Penelope Leprevost on her clear first round and she’ll be looking to make history as the first female winner since Jessica Kurten in 2007.
3:11 EST – Penelope sadly has the hairpin turn fence down but continued to push onward with Vagabond de la Pomme to finish with a total of four faults and a time of 45.37 to currently sit in second.
3:13 Est – Swiss hero and crowd favorite Steve Guerdat in now aboard Corbinian. Can he make it a hometown victory??
Steve Guerdat takes the crazy turn in the air.
3:16 EST – Steve and Corbinian couldn’t have given any more than they did – it was truly a beautiful round but just heartbreakingly not quite fast enough, though you’d never know from the way the girls in the crowd are screaming for him! He sits in 2nd now on a 44.30.
3:17 EST – Just two left! Kevin Staut in now.
3:18 EST – What a gutter! Kevin was up on the leading time and then had a rail in the triple. He now sits in third with a total of four and a time of 43.37. Christian Ahlmann still holds the lead on a 43.05 with just one rider left to go!
3:20 EST – In comes the story of a man that is Canadian Eric Lamaze on the horse that has defined his recent world class career, Fine Lady 5.
3:22 EST – They set off on a hot pace….
3:23 EST – And he’s DONE IT! Eric Lamaze and the lovely Fine Lady 5 put the pedal to the metal from the very start and ferociously cruised to the finish to win the IJRC Top 10 Final!
3:30 EST – “It’s a great honor for me to bring the title back to Canada – I don’t know if any Canadian has ever won it – I don’t think so. My horse deserves all the credit, she’s incredible. What you’ve witnessed is the very best rider in the world doing the very best he can.” Eric becomes visibly emotional speaking of Fine Lady 5, and it’s darling.
(JUMPER NATION FACT CHECK: Eric is correct, he is the first Canadian to ever win the IJRC Top 10 Final. See the full list of winners here.)
Eric talking about Fine Lady 5.
Here are your final placings overall in the IJRC Top 10 Final:
Thank you for coming on the ride with us, folks, and keep your proverbial dials tuned to Jumper Nation for much more action from Switzerland this weekend!
Go Jumping.