RIYADH, Saudi Arabia--Sweden's Henrik von Eckkermann on the incomparable King Edward jumped five clean rounds over five very tough courses to beat a field of top international riders and win the !.5 million Euro World Cup Finals for the second consecutive time.

Henrik von Eckerman on King Edward, World Cup Champion (Photo by FEI)
Kent Farrington on Greya finished fourth after starting with a fast,clean round on Toulayna in the first class, and then having just two rails down in the next four rounds to finish on 10 faults behind von Eckermann, 0 faults, Julien Epaillard of France on Dubai du Cedre, 4 faults and Sweden's Peder Fredricson on Catch Me Not S, 6 faults.

Toulayna and Greya are both only 10 years old and were competing st this championship level for the first time.

Farrington has been very careful in bringing Greya up through the ranks, ensuring the mare has the confidence and fire to be successful at the highest levels of the sport.

"Both the 10-year-olds jumped extremely well," said chef d'equipe Robert Ridland. "They are young, but they both came through. It was a good move for Kent to bring Toulayna for the speed class.

"From start to finish, this was the highest level of competition," said Ridland. "Fourth place for Kent was not too shabby."

 

VON ECKERMANN went into the final day, Saturday, April 20, into the lead, but then he had a fall in the schooling area.

 Kent Farrington on Greya (Photo by Helen Crude) A fall in the warm-up before going into the first round of the finale would have rattled any rider’s confidence, even one seated on the mighty horse that had carried him to Olympic and World Championship glory.

But the 42-year-old athlete held his nerve, reassured his brave chestnut gelding and climbed back into the saddle to clinch it with two more unforgettable performances.

Fredricson was lying second as the day began, but a single mistake with Catch Me Not S allowed Epaillard and Dubai du Cedre to overtake him.

Two superb final day courses from Frank Rothenberger ensured the steps on the podium would only go to the very best of the best.

Farrington was one of just seven of the 27 starters that jumped clear over the first course, with the time-allowed proving difficult for many to get and the triple combination at fence four particularly influential.

Fredricson’s rail at the oxer after that combination dropped him into a tie for third with Farrington, with Germany’s Hans-Dieter Dreher on Elysium, Britain’s Ben Maher on Dallas Vegas Batilly and Belgium’s Gregory Wathelet on Ace of Hearts in fifth, sixth and seventh, which is where that group eventually finished..

Epaillard’s clear moved him up to second behind von Eckermann.

Farrington had the out of the double combination down in the second and final round, and Fredricson's clean round gave him third, while Epaillard and von Eckermann both were clean again to stay second and first respectively.

"It’s something I could never have dreamed of when I was younger that I would be here two times winning,"said von Eckerman.

He explained how he managed to pull off yet another title victory after the upset of his fall when King Edward stopped at a fence in the warm-up.

“It doesn’t help to get nervous or stressed, because the horse feels everything and King Edward is anyway a very, very sensitive horse so for him when that happened I just said don’t worry, let’s stay calm and don’t let him feel that everything is a little not like it should be,” he said.“It went well and we’ve been together so long and know each other so well that I had the biggest confidence in him, and that helped to have that feeling that, even with this mistake, what happened happened and that it was still zero on the scoreboard and that’s what counts! So I just focused on that."

For the remaining Americans, Devin Ryan on Eddie Blue finishing on 30 faults.

Ryan had one down and a time fault in the first round on Saturday, qualifying him for the second round, which only brought back the top 20 combinations.

In the second round, Ryan had one down for four faults, which placed him 10h in the class overall and moved him up in the standings to finish 17th in the final standings.

Sophia Siegel on A-Girl , retired during the first round on Saturday, and Skylar Wireman on the 10-year-old Tornado, who had qualified 19th for the final day, decided not to go as Tornado had had trouble with the big fences and difficult course in the third round.

"Tornado's a young horse, so it was the prudent thing to do," said Ridland.