Germany’s Christian Ahlmann and the stallion Taloubet Z made it two-in-a-row when storming to victory in the second leg of the 2010/2011 Rolex FEI World Cup™ Jumping series at Helsinki, Finland this afternoon.  “I’m very lucky to have such a quick horse” said the 35 year old rider who, having already taken the main honours in the opening leg at Oslo, Norway a week ago, has now accumulated 40 points and is well on the road to the Rolex FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final on his home turf in Leipzig, Germany next April.

From a starting field of 39 there were 11 into the jump-off today, and Ahlmann set the pace at the halfway stage and simply could not be caught.  Further reinforcing the strength of the German challenge, it was fellow-countryman Philipp Weishaupt who slotted into runner-up spot with Catoki while Holland’s Leon Thijssen and Tyson finished third.  The Dutch duo look set to make a big impression on this indoor jumping season as the 10 year old stallion, who finished fifth a week ago, was again one of the real eye-catchers of the competition.

CLOSE CONFINES
The 13-fence first-round track set by Finnish course designer Aki Ylanne was made all the more challenging by the close confines of Helsinki’s Hartwall Arena, and the bogey fence proved to be the middle element of the penultimate triple combination.  However there were plenty of questions earlier in the track too, and it was the vertical at fence six that put paid to the chances of Belgium’s Niels Bruynseels when his grey mare Nasa, who had been jumping superbly until then, suddenly ducked out to the left on the approach and unshipped her rider in the process.  Three others retired, including Great Britain’s William Funnell whose horse, Billy Congo, ended up on his belly in a pile of poles after a change of heart on take-off at the second element of the treble. They left the arena looking a little puzzled, but apparently none-the-worse for their little drama.

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