Brilliant 24 Hours for NZ Equestrian

Kiwi showjumper Katie McVean is spear-heading a brilliant 24 hours for New Zealand equestrian with world-class results across the disciplines.

McVean (Mystery Creek) and Dunstan Delphi are still well in the hunt to make the final of the World Cup (Monday NZ time) after a near faultless round in Leipzig, Germany this morning.

She and Delphi gently nudged a couple of fences, and while they finished with everything still in its cups, they picked up a single time fault after coming home .72 of a second outside the time allowed. Their 8^th place efforts today have moved them to fourth place overall.

Even the commentators were captivated with both McVean and Delphi, who the McVeans bred at their Waikato property. The bay mare is out of dad Jeff McVean's own World Cup mare Flower Power.

McVean was bubbling when she spoke to her mother Vicki in New Zealand after the round..

“Delphi is just amazing,” said McVean. “She was so fast yesterday (in her speed round) that I needed to slow her down a bit and get her jumping without too much speed. She was only a fraction over the time so I'm really pleased with her.”

Just seven of the 40 starters went through to the jump-off, with the day belonging to Eric Lamaze (Can) and the 15-year-old Hickstead after a nail-biting shortened round.

The pocket rocket dynamo combination, were simply untouchable on their way to victory in the second class of the World Cup final. In a brilliantly judged jump-off the superstar combo flew round in 40.68 seconds, leaving everything in place.

The next round in the World Cup is tomorrow.

McVean's efforts have propelled her to New Zealand's most successful World Cup result, right up there with Daniel Meech's 12^th placing at the Athens Olympic Games and on the back of her notching New Zealand's best ever World Equestrian Games result with her 38^th individual placing in 2010. Click here to listen to an interview with Kate.

In Kentucky, both Mark Todd on NZB Grass Valley and Joe Myer on Snip posted solid 51.8 point dressage scores to place them well within touch of the leaders of the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event. The cross country goes tomorrow.

Across the Tasman, Penny Castle (Manawatu) and Gymstar One (owned by Julie Brougham) rode a stunning test to finish third in the Sydney CDI special, with Vanessa Way (Taranaki) an KH Arvan ninth.

Equestrian Sports New Zealand high performance director Sarah Harris had plenty of praise for the 66.1% ride that saw her just behind winner Rachel Sanna on JB Alabaster who headed the field on 69.86.

“Castle showed she is very capable of a top 30 finish at the London Olympic Games in 2012 if she continues to enhance her performance at this rate.”

Both have qualified to compete against the top 12 in the final competition, the Grand Prix Freestyle Kur.

Results

Showjumping, 1.55m World Cup second round, Leipzig, Germany: Eric Lamaze (Can) Hickstead 1, Christian Ahlmann (Ger) Taloubet Z 2, Gerco Schroder (Ned) Eurocommerce New Orleans 3, Sergio Alvarez Moya (ESP) Action-Breaker 4, McLain Ward (USA) Antares F 5, Marco Kutscher (Ger) Cash 6, Pablo Barrios (Ven) G&C Quick Star 7, Katie McVean (NZ) Dunstan Delphi 8.

Standings after second qualification round: Christian Ahlmann (Ger) Taloubet Z 83 points 1, Marco Kutscher (Ger) Cash 82 2, Gerco Schroder (Ned) Eurocommerce New Orleans 81 3, Katie McVean (NZ) Dunstan Delphi 74 4, Eric Lamaze (Can) Hickstead 71 5, Malin Baryard-Johnsson (Swe) H&M Tornesch 67 6.

Dressage, Sydney CDI Grand Prix Special: Rachel Sanna, JB Alabaster, 69.860 1; Brett Parbery, Victory Salute, 68.960 2; Penny Castle (NZ), Gymstar One (owned by Julie Brougham), 66.1 3; Heath Ryan, Regardez Moi, 65.420 4; Chantal Wigan, Ferero, 65.3 5; Mary Hanna, Sancette, 65.080 6, Rozzie Ryan, Jive Magic, 64.280 7, Blas Lago, Northern Hector, 63.32 8; Vanessa Way (NZ), KH Arvan, 63.2 9; Claire Seidl, Rolex, 61.98 10.

Full results:

Showjumping -

http://results.scgvisual.com/2011/leipzig/worldcup.html

Dressage -

http://www.sydneycdi.com/default.asp?MenuID=Draws~_Results/20015/25855

Eventing -

http://www.rk3de.org/results.php