What you need to know about the Longines FEI World Cup Finals in Las Vegas…

Rich Fellers (USA) riding
Rich Fellers (USA) riding “Flexible”
Pic Kit Houghton

What you need to know about the Longines FEI World Cup Jumping Finals:

  • A total of 45 Jumping horses were presented at the first veterinary inspection at the Thomas & Mack Arena in Las Vegas today and were passed fit to compete.
  • 4 riders presented two horses each – Kevin Staut (FRA), Katie Laurie (NZL), Kirsten Coe (USA) and Vinton Karrasch (USA).
  • Following the withdrawal of Saudi Arabia’s Abdullah Alsharbatly, the starting field for the Final is reduced to 41 riders.
  • The draw for order-of-go in Thursday’s first competition will take place tomorrow (Wednesday) evening.
  • Course designer is America’s Anthony d’Ambrosio.
  • In the 37-year history of the FEI World Cup™ Jumping Finals, a total of 496 riders from 53 nations have competed.
  • The USA holds the record for the greatest number of riders attending the Finals, with a total of 113. The country with the next highest number is Germany with a total of 48.
  • Austria’s Hugo Simon was the first winner of the FEI World Cup™ Jumping title at the inaugural Final in Gothenburg, Sweden in 1979. Riding Gladstone, he came out on top in a two-way jump-off against America’s Katie Monahan and The Jones Boy.
  • Great Britain’s Michael Whitaker holds the record for the greatest number of attendances at the Final. He competed on 23 occasions but never won the title.
  • Defending champion is Germany’s Daniel Deusser (Cornet D’Amour).
  • Germany’s Marcus Ehning (Singular LS La Silla) is bidding to become the first-ever rider to win the FEI World Cup™ Jumping title for the fourth time.
  • There are three competitions to decide the Longines FEI World Cup 2014/2015 champion:
  1. Competition 1 is a Speed class, with seconds added for knockdowns.
  2. Competition 2 is one round against the clock, and one jump-off which is also against the clock. Results are then converted into points which are carried into the third and last competition.
  3. Competition 3 is two rounds of jumping over a Grand Prix course of fences between 1.50m and 1.60m in height. The top 30 horse-and-rider combinations are eligible to compete but only 20 go through to the second round. The leading rider after the first two competitions goes last, and starts on a zero score.
  • Total prize money for the Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping 2014/2015 Final is €1.3 million.
  • Ground Jury: Kim Morris (CAN) President, David Distler (USA), Neil O’Connor (USA), Jack Robson (USA), Sven Holmberg (SWE). Technical Delegate Leopoldo Palacios (VEN).

Source: FEI Communications