Gothenburg, Sweden – March 26, 2019 – Reigning Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final champion, Beezie Madden, looks to Sweden to secure a repeat victory with her winning mount, Breitling LS, at the Scandinavium Arena in Gothenburg (SWE) next week.
Madden and Abigail Wexner’s 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion (Quintero–Armonia, Acord II) led the 2018 Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final from start to finish, winning each of the three days of competition to capture the coveted overall title on the final day at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris, France. Madden’s victory claimed back-to-back Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final titles for the United States after McLain Ward rode HH Azur to the only five consecutive clear rounds throughout the 2017 Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final in Omaha, Nebraska.
Also representing the United States in this year’s final is Devin Ryan, who stood atop the podium alongside Madden in 2018 with a second place finish aboard Eddie Blue. This year Ryan will welcome new mount Cooper to the prestigious individual championship event. Young athletes Eve Jobs and Kelli Cruciotti will make their World Cup final debut after riding to the second and fourth spots of the North American Western Sub-League, respectively. Jobs will choose to ride either Limbridge or Venue D’Fees Des Hazalles while Cruciotti will be aboard Hadja Van Orshof. Georgina Bloomberg, who qualified for her first for the first time in 14 years, will round out the American riders with Purple Road LLC’s Chameur 137.
A total of 34 combinations from 18 countries are now confirmed for this 34th annual contest, with representatives from Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Poland, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, USA and the United Arab Emirates.
Among the diverse list of entries are World No. 1 Steve Guerdat of Switzerland and World No. 3 Daniel Deusser of Germany. Guerdat who claimed bronze at the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games™ (WEG) in Tryon, North Carolina, will be joined by silver medalist Martin Fuchs (SUI) and his WEG mount, Clooney 51. The host country of Sweden will see three athletes contest the final, including Peder Fredricson and Henrik Von Eckermann who sit in the sixth and twelfth spots of the world rankings respectively, as well as 26-year-old athlete Irma Karlsson.
The Gothenburg Horse Show will play host to the 2019 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final where athletes fought for qualifying points across 16 leagues throughout the fall and winter of 2018/2019. The action will commence on Wednesday, April 3, and run through Sunday, April 7, which will feature the third and final round of jumping competition and a new champion will be crowned.
View the original article on Phelps Sports.