Markus and Leena make it a double in Amsterdam…

Germany's Markus Beerbaum secured his place at the 2006/2007 FEI World Cup Jumping final in Las Vegas, USA next April when recording his second victory of the qualifying series at Amsterdam in The Netherlands this afternoon.

Soaring up from 25th to fifth spot on the leaderboard he now carries a total of 45 points and lies just behind his wife, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, in the current rankings.

Britain's Mark Armstrong slotted into second position today and Sweden's Malin Baryard-Johnsson was third at the end of a thrilling 14-horse jump-off that kept spectators on the edges of their seats.

It was a truly international field with seven nations represented in the second-round race against the clock including four from Germany, three from Holland, two from both Sweden and Belgium and a single rider each from Britain, Ireland and Italy. Sweden's Helena Lundback, who had established when second into the ring in the opening round that the course was jumpable, led the way against the clock with the 11 year old mare Madick who picked up just four faults at her second attempt.

Both Belgium's Marc Van Djick and Verelst Goliath and Holland's Marc Houtzager and Opium VS did likewise but home spirits were lifted when, fourth to go, Yves Houtackers and the 14 year old stallion Gran Corrado left the timber intact to set the first real target in 39.46 seconds.

Irishman Denis Lynch is well-known on the European circuit, although not at World Cup level. However the 30 year old German-based rider absolutely justified his selection for the series when bringing the 10 year old gelding, Lancelot, across the line clear in 40.09 seconds to slot into second spot temporarily. The leader's target however was about to be blown away by a great round from Juan Carlos Garcia and the astonishing gelding Loro Piana Albin who, at 19 years of age, is still as game as ever. Breaking the beam in 36.54 seconds, the Italian partnership shaved almost three seconds off Houtackers' time before Germany's Heinrich Hermann Engemann showed that it was possible to be even quicker.

However as Engemann and the veteran Aboyeur galloped through the finish in 34.98 seconds they left the very last fence on the floor and it was Britain's Mark Armstrong and Thesaura who would be next to take over at the head of affairs as they cleared in the line in 36.18 seconds to snatch the lead from Garcia.

Daniel Deusser has only recently taken over the ride on the Zangersheide stallion Air Jordan Z from Brazil's Rodrigo Pessoa, and the talented German 25 year old steered his new mount home in 36.48 seconds to ensure a good place in the line-up, while Sweden's Malin Baryard-Johnsson and Butterfly Flip squeezed in ahead of him when stopping the clock in 36.31 seconds. So when the on-form Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst also failed to challenge for the lead when settling for a clear round in 36.67 seconds with Candy it seemed that Armstrong might well have an FEI World Cup victory in his hands. That was, however, reckoning without the intentions of Markus Beerbaum who had calculated all the risks and decided to take all the chances. Setting off with the 15 year old mare Leena who clinched the London leg of the series at Olympia last month, he put his foot to the floor and brought her home in 36.02 seconds to take over the lead.

With only two more left to go he watched the final stages unfold and when Belgium's Patrick McEntee opted for a careful clear from the consistent Ever Mury Marais Z and, last into the ring, Holland's Albert Zoer and Lincoln were denied their moment in the limelight by a mistake at the final fence then Beerbaum was celebrating his second success in the current series – “it's fantastic!” Beerbaum said afterwards.

“It was a quick fast jump-off and two riders were faster than me – Heinrich Hermann and Albert – but they both had the last fence down. It was very close, there was so little between the top few and Leena was very good today. The course suited her because you needed to add strides and that's the way she likes it, although it also suited some of the other horses too” he pointed out.

He was hardly out of the saddle before he was on the phone to his wife, Meredith, who has been competing at the Swisslife CSI in Zurich this weekend and it is now going to be quite a family affair at Las Vegas because both of them are now well qualified for the FEI World Cup™ Jumping final. Making it all the better is the fact that Leena, like Meredith's two super rides Shutterfly and Checkmate, is owned by Nancy Clarke of Octavia Farms in the USA “so it will be great to ride the horses over there” Markus pointed out.

Results (28.01.07)
CSI4*-W Amsterdam
FEI World Cup

1º Leena / Markus Beerbaum (Ger): 0/0/36.02s
2º Thesaura / Mark Armstrong (Gbr): 0/0/36.18
3º Butterfly Flip / Malin Baryard (Sue): 0/0/36.31
4º Air Jordan Z / Daniel Deusser (Ger): 0/0/36.48
5º Albin Iii / Juan Carlos García (Itália): 0/0/36.54
6º Candy / Alois Pollmann Schweckhorst (Ger): 0/0/36.67
7º Gran Corrado / Yves Houtackers (Hol): 0/0 39.46
8º Lancelot / Denis Lynch (Irl): 0/0/40.09
9º Ever Mury Marais Z / Patrick Mc Entee (Bel): 0/0/42.55
10º Aboyeur W / Heinrich Hermann Engemann (Ger): 0/4/34.98

Ranking FEI World Cup after Amsterdam

1º Christian Ahlmann (Ger): 78 pontos
2º Beat Mandli (Sui): 64
3º Albert Zoer (Hol): 56
4º Meredith Michaels Beerbaum (Ger): 48
5º Markus Beerbaum (Ger): 45
6º Judy-Ann Melchior (Bel): 44
7º Gerco Schrode (Hol): 42
7º Rene Tebbel (Ger): 42
7º Patrick Mcentee (Bel): 42
10º Michael Whitaker (Gbr): 39
11º Malin Baryard (Sue): 36
12º Alois Pollmann Schweckhorst (Ger): 34
13º Steve Guerdat (Sui): 30
13º Daniel Deusser (Ger): 30
13º Leopold Van Asten (Hol): 30
16º Marcus Ehning (Ger): 28
16º Mark Armstrong (Gbr): 28
18º Jos Lansink (Bel): 27
19º Eugenie Angot (Fra): 27
20º Tony Andre Hansen (Nor):25