Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum’s claimed the German Master

A thrilling event and once again there was a great atmosphere in the Hanns Martin Schleyer Halle for the 24th International STUTTGART GERMAN MASTERS Horse Show’s knock-out competition for the Prize of the XXL-Sicherheit Group. Sixteen riders saddled their horses for the direct rider against rider contests over two identical courses and to the catchy music deejayed by the witty Stefan Krawczyk and Christian Graf von Plettenberg.

Though the intention was for the competition to be a contest between Baden-Württemberg and the Rest of the World, things didn’t quite turn out that way. But the crowd loved it.

Unfortunately none of the state’s riders, nor for that matter ones from the rest of Germany, made it into the final. Though Armin Schäfer (Baden Württemberg) reached the semifinals on Paradiso’s Girl he met his match in the “old master” Roger-Yves Bost on Kire Royal Star. The Frenchman had previously beaten Schäfer’s fellow club member, Paul Hofmann in the first round. Jürgen Kurz on Aisha was the other German to lose in the semis. He was beaten by the Dane Tina Lund on Winny the Blue D’Ive. She in turn had no chance in the final against the two-time MERCEDES GERMAN MASTER (1990, 1991) winner.

Accompanied by the Stuttgart crowd’s rapturous applause, Roger-Yves Bost duly secured the win and a purse of 2,000 euro. Tina Lund, daughter of the former professional footballer Fleming Lund, had to settle for 1,600 euro.

Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum’s claims the German Master

Riders wanting a starting place for the MERCEDES GERMAN MASTER, the second major competition at the 24th International STUTTGART GERMAN MASTERS Horse Show have to first compete against the jumping world’s crème de la crème in two qualifying events. Only the top twelve – or the top 13 this year as two were equal on points – in the preliminary competitions were given the chance to compete against one another in front of a 5,500 crowd in the well-filled Hanns Martin Schleyer Halle on Friday evening. The show down to find the “best of the best” was eventually won by Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (Germany), whose efforts were richly rewarded with a brand new Mercedes-Benz GLK 280.

The 38-year-old initially mastered the demanding course set by the head designer, Ulliano Vezzani, when going clear on her 15-year-old gelding Shutterfly in 61.01 seconds. Their top form continued in the jump-off when they again went clear in a time of 40.07. Behind Michaels-Beerbaum in second place was the American Kate Levy, whose faultless round in 40.96 seconds on Vent du Nord earned her 16,000 euro prize money. Third was the Olympic Games silver medal winner, Rolf-Göran Bengtsson on Casall La Silla.

“I’m still speechless. Meredith produced an extraordinary performance, said Gotthilf Riexinger, the director of the horse show. “My congratulations and I’d also like to pay my compliments to the horse, which has already been so successful here in Stuttgart.” The newly crowned winner of the MERCEDES-GERMAN-MASTER returned the praise: “Thanks very much for organising such a fantastic competition. It’s one of the best in show jumping.“

Her target was to qualify for the final and after triumphing twice in the Grand Prix (2006 and 2007) she said, “This time it just had to be the GERMAN MASTER.“ She will also be saddling up here gelding on Sunday: “Shutterfly loves Stuttgart.“

Results (20.11.08)

Prova 11 – A2 – 1,40m

1º Roger-Yves Bost (Fra) / Kire Royal Star / 0 – 54,36
2º Emilio Bicocchi (Ita) / Olea / 0 – 55,17
3º Roger-Yves Bost (Fra) /J ovis De Ravel / 0 – 55,65
4º Rutherford Latham (Esp) / Macaco / 0 – 58,95
5º Kate Levy (USA) /Can get you / 0 – 59,1
6º Tim Gredley (Gbr) / Toklund / 0 – 61,06
7º Jessica Kurten (Irl) / Castle Forbes Cosma / 0 – 62,37
8º Uriel Taken (Hol) / Rendez-Vous / 0 – 63,53
9º Jessica Kurten (Irl) / Castle Forbes Carrick / 0 – 63,98
10º Tina Lund (Din) / Carola / 0 – 64,26
14º Luciana Diniz (Por) / Meautry's Locarno / 1 – 74,61

Prova Nº02 – Velocidade e Maneabilidade (1,50m)

1º Janne-Friederike Meyer (Ale) / Cellagon Lambrasco / 62,53s
2º Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (Ale) / Shutterfly / 63,53
3º Emilio Bicocchi (Ita) / Jeckerson Kapitol d'Argonne / 63,61
4º Luciana Diniz (Por) / Suzie Quattro / 64,65
5º Carsten-Otto Nagel (Ale) / Corradina / 64,89
6º Marco Kutscher (Ale) / Pablo / 65,09
7º Kate Levy (EUA) / Vent du Nord / 65,39
8º Franke Sloothaak (Ale) / Aquino / 65,43
9º Steve Guerdat (Sui) / Ferrari VI / 65,71
10º Daniel Etter (Sui) / Peu a Peu / 66,78

MERCEDES GERMAN MASTER (21.11.08)

Prova: 6 – Tabela A ao cronómetro com bar. (1,55m)

1º Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (Ger) / Shutterfly / 0 / 0 – 40,07
2º Kate Levy (EUA) / Vent du Nord / 0 / 0 – 40,96
3º Rolf-Goran Bengtsson (Sue) / Casall La Silla / 0 / 0 – 41,85
4º Luciana Diniz (Por) / Suzie Quattro / 0 / 0 – 41,92
5º Marco Kutscher (Ger) / Cash / 0 / 4 – 40,26
6º Jessica Kürten (Irl) / Castle Forbes Cosma / 0 / 4 – 41,36
7º Janne-Friederike Meyer (Ger) Cellagon Lambasco / 0 / 4 – 42,29
8º Eugenie Angot (Fra) / Ilostra Dark / 0 / 14 – 57,73
9º Edwina Alexander (Aus) / Late Night / 4 – 64,12
10º Tina Lund (Den) / Zamiro / 4 – 64,98