Gothenburg, Sweden – The 2016 Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final got underway at the Gothenburg Horse Show as a field of 35 athlete-and-horse combinations from 18 nations contested the speed leg of this three-round competition. Using the faults-converted format, the round tested the speed and agility of the combinations over Santiago Varela Ullastres’ 13-obstacle track. The U.S. contingent of eight combinations had some unlucky moments that prevented higher positions on the leaderboard, but put forth a strong day-one effort.

Leading for the U.S after round one is Callan Solem (Glenmoore, Pa.) with Horseshoe Trail Farm, LLC’s VDL Wizard, who finished 10th. The pair produced the only fault-free round of the evening for the Americans in a handy effort that stopped the timers in 67.99.

Solem could not say enough about her horse and his effort, “I am so lucky to ride this horse. I have ridden a lot of horses for a long time and he is so special. He really did his best and tried his hardest. I would have had to have done something pretty serious to [cause him] to knock something down tonight.”

Also landing in the top 20 were Audrey Coulter (San Francisco, Calif.) with Copernicus Stables, LLC’s Alex in 14th and Peter Lutz (Goldens Bridge, N.Y.) with Katherine Gallagher and M. Michael Meller’s Robin de Ponthual tied for 18th. Both pairs looked to turn in clear rounds until the last fence, the Longines oxer, where both had rails down to add an additional four seconds to their time.

Fan-favorites Rich Fellers (Sherwood, Ore.) and Harry and Mollie Chapman’s Flexible had two rails down on course, including at the last fence, which proved tricky for multiple combinations, to finish in 24th.

Rounding out the leaderboard for the U.S., Katie Dinan (Wellington, Fla.) with Grant Road Partners LLC’s Nougat du Vallet finished 26th, Hardin Towell (Camden, S.C.) with Jennifer Gates, LLC’s Lucifer V finished 27th, Quentin Judge (Wellington, Fla.) with Double H Farm’s HH Copin Van De Broy finished 30th, and Charlie Jacobs (Boston, Mass.) with CMJ Sporthorse LLC’s Flaming Star finished 32nd.

The French dominated the evening, finishing one-two on the leaderboard. Penelope Leprevost and Vagabond de la Pomme had the luxury of going late in the order and turned in an unbeatable round in a blazing time of 63.78 to win the class. Compatriot Simon Delestre and Qlassic Bois Margot finished second in 66.04. Rounding out the top three was the 2014 Final Champion, Daniel Deusser of Germany, aboard Cornet d’Amour.

Competition continues Saturday at 6:00 p.m. local time with the second round and concludes on Monday with the champion being crowned following the conclusion of the final round.

Complete first round results

Overall rankings and point after round one 

Watch the Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final live on FEITV.org.