It's Oki Doki for Albert in Verona…

The Netherland's Albert Zoer and Oki Doki put in a breath-taking performance to head the line-up in the Rolex FEI World Cup™ Jumping qualifier in Verona this afternoon, but the third leg of the 2007/2008 series was a far from predictable affair.

The fixture lured many of the top-ranked riders in the world to the romantic Italian town, but many of them were in for an unpleasant surprise as the form-book was turned on its head over the unusually demanding track set by course-designer Giovanni Bussu.

Few would have expected that the list of eliminations would include World No. 1 Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum from Germany, or that last year's Verona winner, Holland's Gerco Schroder, would be one four riders to retire.

The new formula to decide the order-of-go sees the list of competitors separated into two groups. Riders holding higher positions on the Rolex FEI World Rankings go in the second-half of the competition, and the formula is designed to ensure the excitement builds to a crescendo. Today it did just that, but not quite in the way that had been expected….

Just three of the top-ranked group went through to the eight-horse jump-off, and Zoer was the first of these, Oki Doki popping around the track full of his usual enthusiasm. The surprises had already started with World No. 2, Ludger Beerbaum, picking up 12 faults on an eventful tour of the course with Enorm.

The difficult lines included the run from the mustard-coloured vertical at fence five to an unusual blue wall at six which had a diamond-shaped hole in the centre of it and then there were three forward strides to the oxer at seven. Beerbaum's gelding hit the wall which fell with a resounding crash and when the 10 year old also clipped the middle element of the tall and challenging treble at fence nine and the second element of the penultimate double he was well out of contention.

In sharp contrast however, fellow-German Marco Kutscher made the whole thing look like a walk in the park with a superb round from the lovely grey Cornet Obolensky who completely belied his tender age of just eight years. With nine more still left to go it seemed that the equilibrium might at last be about to be restored but, two horses later, Michaels-Beerbaum's sudden departure left the crowd gasping.

The three permanent pillars in the Verona arena constantly create questions for the riders, and it seemed that the German rider's gelding Checkmate was unsighted by the central pillar when turning after fence five. He stopped dead at the wall, and the newly-crowned individual European Champion who had been introduced by the commentator as “La Prima Donna Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum” could have been forgiven for turning into just that when her horse refused again a second time. Many of the other top riders also lowered fences unexpectedly, both Brazil's Rodrigo Pessoa and Rufus and Germany's Marcus Ehning and Gitania hitting the oxer at fence three for just four faults and Jessica Kuerten, who looked a sure-fire contender with Castle Forbes Libertina after their superb victory in Friday's feature class, picking up eight. Third-last into the ring however, Switzerland's Werner Muff and Plot Blue left the course intact and therefore had the best of the draw when last to go in the jump-off.

It was his fellow-countryman, Daniel Etter, who was pathfinder in the timed round with Peu a Peu, but with two fences down it was left to Spain's Rutherford Latham and Guarana Champeix, winners at the previous leg in Helsinki, to set the early target with a tidy clear in 52.56 seconds.

Belgium's Patrick McEntee erred on the side of caution to come home without incident in 56.26 with Ever Mury Marais Z but Britain's Ellen Whitaker decided to go for it with Locarno, paying a heavy price however when leaving four fences on the floor.

Italian supporters had arrived in their droves for today's competition and went wild when their own Arnaldo Bologni set off with his Irish-bred KEC Destiny but two down hampered their chances and then Zoer was next into the arena.

“Even though he is very brave Oki Doki is also very sensitive and he gets afraid of the crowd sometimes like he did today” the 32 year old Dutchman said afterwards. “But once he knows it is time to start jumping he forgets everything else and then we are ok” he added.

Setting off like a cruise missile the partnership took a stride out down the first line, turned inside a pillar for a tight approach to the following oxer, wheeled round to pop the first two elements of the former triple combination and then galloped to the new oxer four from home. The third-last vertical with a delicate plank on top presented no danger and when the Dutch duo steered right-handed to the penultimate vertical they were already well up on the clock. But still Zoer kept the pressure on and the intake of breath from the sidelines was audible as Oki Doki raced to the final oxer to break the beam in 46.12 seconds to take to total command.

Despite his immaturity, Kutscher's young horse remained completely composed when his rider also set off meaning business, but the German rider knows he has something special here and didn't try to take all the risks when stopping the clock in 50.86 seconds and this was good enough for runner-up spot when Muff and Plot Blue collected eight faults.

“I had a really good feeling with Oki Doki here all weekend. I only rode him on Friday and then yesterday I gave him a rest. Today he felt really good in the first round and full of running in the jump-off” Zoer explained. His horse has had a busy year but the rider gives him regular short breaks. “He had three weeks off after the European Championships at Mannheim and then he went to Barcelona for the Super League Final. The team finished second there and Oki was fifth in the Grand Prix, then he had another week off and went to Arezzo where he was second in the Grand Prix”. The 11 year old Dutch-bred horse enjoyed another short rest before going to Athens where he won the Grand Prix, then to Brussels where he was placed in the Grand Prix and to Lyon last weekend where he won the GPA Masters. “He was so fit after his break before Barcelona that he came out bucking like a mad thing when I got there!” Zoer said of this horse he has been riding now for seven years. “He just loves going to shows rather than staying at home – he really enjoys competing and he is a truly great horse” he said with pride.

Now he plans to take in the Rolex FEI World Cup™ qualifier in Stuttgart next weekend – “then Oki gets another one-week break and we will go to Geneva and Olympia and that is it for the year” the rider explained.

Maximum points today moves him into fourth position on the series leaderboard which is now headed by Rutherford Latham who, with 48 points, looks well-qualified for the 2007/2008 Rolex FEI World Cup™ Final in Gothenburg next April. The Spaniard said today he will just go to one more show, in Geneva, before completing his season.

Sweden's Helena Lundback and Rolf-Goran Bengtsson lie second and third on the leaderboard going into next week's leg in Stuttgart where the home-side runners will be hoping for a little less of the drama they encountered today……

Results (11.11.07)
CSI***** Verona
Grand Prix – AM5 – 1,60m

1º Albert Zoer (Hol) / Okidoki / 0 / 0 – 46,12
2º Marco Kutscher (Ale) / Cornet Obolensky / 0 / 0 – 50,86
3º Rutherford Latham (Esp) /Guarana Champeix / 0 / 0 – 52,56
4º Patrick McEntee (Bel) / Ever Mury Marais Z / 0 / 0 – 56,25
5º Daniel Etter (Sui) /Peu a Peu / 0 / 8 – 48
6º Werner Muff (Sui) / Plot Blue / 0 / 8 – 53,91
7º Arnaldo Bologni (Ita)/ Kec Destiny / 0 / 8 – 59,26
8º Ellen Whitaker (Gbr) / Locarno 62 / 0 / 16 – 53,33
9º Giulia Martinengo (Ita) / Athletica / 4 – 70,28
10º Rodrigo Pessoa (Bra) / Rufus / 4 – 71,01

33º Luciana Diniz (Por) / Suzie Quattro / 22 – 86,52