It was “girl power” in Stuttgart

Reigning European Champion Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum secured a home victory in the fourth leg of the Rolex FEI World Cup™ Jumping series presented by Mercedes-Benz, Allianz and BW Bank in Stuttgart, Germany today with a thrilling jump-off performance from Shutterfly.

And the ladies were in flying form as Ireland's Jessica Kuerten finished second ahead of Eugenie Angot from France in third, while with Belgium's Judy-Ann Melchior in fifth and Portugal's Luciana Diniz in seventh the girls took five of the top ten finishing spots.

There were 14 through to the second-round jump-off over Uliano Vezzani's track and it was Irishman, Denis Lynch, who led the way with his new ride Lantinus which was formerly ridden by Gregory Wathelet for The Ukraine. Lynch, whose sponsor Thomas Straumann also bought the Daniel Deusser ride Upsilon d'Ocquier from Jan Tops earlier in the season,

had two fences down in his path-finding round with the nine year old Lantinus, and Germany's Thomas Muhlbauer and Asti Spumante did likewise before Brazil's Alvaro Mirando and AD Picolien Zeidenrust set the first real target when returning with just four faults in 36.19 seconds.

Norway's Tony Andre Hansen was more than a second slower when leaving two on the floor with Camiro, but Heinrich-Hermann Engemann made only a single error with the 13 year old Aboyeur who broke the beam in 35.59.

It was fellow German, Ludger Beerbaum. who produced the first clear with the eight year old All Inclusive NRW who broke the beam in 37.46 seconds and then, as so often happens, the fault-free rounds just kept on coming. Belgium's Judy-Ann Melchior left the course intact with some nice jumping from the 10 year old Levisto who broke the beam in 38.15 seconds before the competition suddenly went into over-drive with a spectacular run from Jessica Kuerten and Castle Forbes Libertina.

The Irish partnership are particularly brilliant against the clock and when they crossed the line in 33.74 seconds they were almost four seconds ahead of previous leader Ludger Beerbaum and were now very definitely the ones to beat.

Luciana Diniz was competitive without being crazy when steering the 15 year old Son of Marco home and clear in 36.43, while Frenchman Michel Hecart was faster with Itot du Chateau but his time of 36.09 seconds was still more than two seconds off Kuerten's pace.

With just four left to go, Germany's Daniel Deusser and Air Jordan Z stopped the clock in 36.34 seconds to present no danger but, third-last into the ring, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum was on fire when setting off with Shutterfly.

“Jessica had been really fast in the jump-off and I knew it would be difficult to beat her time but I just tried to shorten the turns all the way around and maybe I was a little smoother” said the American-born German rider who will celebrate her 38th birthday next month. And that she did, racing home to stop the clock in 33.34 seconds and relegating Kuerten to runner-up spot.

Eugenie Angot had to follow that and was left with a bit of a dilemma. “The jump-off was really fast and with 14 through it would be easy to jump two rounds and still to go home with nothing” she pointed out afterwards. “I saw Meredith's round on the screen and my feeling was that I had no chance to catch her and I knew Jessica's time was good too so I decided to try to slot in behind them” she explained. She could not be sure of third place however until Steve Guerdat and Tresor took their turn. And the Swiss rider had a real shot at it when breaking the beam in 33.80 but leaving one on the floor which left him having to settle for eighth place.

For Meredith this was the perfect result following her disappointing elimination with Checkmate at the previous leg in Verona last weekend. “Yes this felt good – I needed some points and I now I feel I am on my way” she pointed out after taking ownership of the winner's prize of a brand new “M” class Mercedes-Benz.

Her success today leaves her sharing seventh position with Steve Guerdat on the leaderboard which continues to be headed by Spain's Rutherford Latham with Sweden's Helena Lundback and Rolf-Goran Bengtsson in second and third.

And with the European Champion now firmly focused on earning her place at the Rolex FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final in Gothenburg next April the series moves up a gear ahead of the next round in Geneva, Switzerland in three weeks time….

Results (18.11.07)

4th Rolex FEI World Cup
Grand Prix Stuttgart – Germany

1º Shutterfly / Michaels-Beerbaum, Meredith (GER) / 0 / 0 – 33.34
2º Castle Forbes Libertina / Kürten, Jessica (IRL) / / 0 / 0 – 33.74
3º Ilostra Dark / Angot, Eugenie (FRA) / 0 / 0 – 35.67
4º Itot du Chateau / Hecart, Michel (FRA) / 0 / 0 – 36.09
5º Son of Marco / Diniz, Luciana (POR) / 0 / 0- 36.43
6º All Inclusive NRW / Beerbaum, Ludger (GER) / 0 / 0 – 37.46
7º Levisto Z / Melchior, Judy-Ann (BEL) / 0 / 0 – 38.15
8º Tresor V / Guerdat, Steve (SUI) / 0 / 4 – 33.80
9º Aboyeur W / Engemann, Heinrich Hermann (GER) 0 / 4 – 35.59
10º AD Picolien Zeldenrust / Miranda, Alvaro (BRA) / 0 / 4 – 36.19