Las Vegas, NV - The show jumpers returned to the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas on Friday evening for the second round of the Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping Final, and it was a blistering jump-off performance by American expatriate Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum aboard Shutterfly that left the crowd cheering. In 29.38 seconds, the pair scorched the six-obstacle round ahead of eight others to end the night, leaving all of the efforts in tact.

The rider sat in eighth place after Friday night’s round, which was a personal disappointment she admitted. As for the Friday night round, she acknowledged the hard turns presented and challenges built-in to the 17 efforts presented them.

“I was extremely lucky, as I well know,” said Michaels-Beerbaum. “And luck is so a part of this game.” In the jump-off, she said that she did not see the other seven riders attempt it, but admitted that it did go well for her. In the longest stride of the jump-off, Shutterfly, the horse upon which she won the 2005 World Cup contest in this same arena in Las Vegas, showed “great class.” The winning point of her lightning-fast round came when she turned back to the next-to-last jump. “I had a very, very forward stride and extremely long distance where Shutterfly showed his class and his trust for me leaving it at that distance.” She also said that the night’s first course was not an optimum for her horse, as its tight turns were a challenge for her forward jumping mount.

In tonight’s class, those riders with clear rounds (under the allotted time) were brought back for a jump-off. Two Americans made the cut. Margie Engle and Hidden Creek’s Quervo Gold put in a 32.70 time after going clean and clear in the initial round. Teammate Schuyler Riley and the night’s oldest horse, 17-year-old Ilian, also went clean and clear earlier in the evening and put down a time of 33.24 in their jump-off round. Both riders incurred eight faults in the jump-off. Thirty-seven horse-and-rider combinations re-entered the ring with two being eliminated – Poland’s Lukasz Jonczyk and Ritus who crashed through a fence and left the rider in the dust, and American rider Rich Fellers.

Fellers, aboard Gyro, went off course after dropping the second and third fences in the triple combination only to lose their way and go off-course. In stead of heading to the oxer at Fence 9, the pair steered to the Rolex planks at Fence 12.

New York’s McLain Ward, aboard his Sapphire, were the leaders coming into the round, but downed a rail to take on four faults in a time of 73.99 on the 79 second allowed course. On Friday night, the pair put in a lightning round, one filled with several tight inside turns they chose to conquer. After tonight, Ward sat in two-way tie for fifth place going into Sunday’s final two rounds.

Taking the second spot for the Americans in Las Vegas is Schuyler Riley and Ilian, boosted by their jump-off performance. The pair sits at a three-way tie for ninth place. In their first round of the night, the pair went clean and clear in a time of 76.13 seconds. Teammate and fellow jump-off rider, Engle, is a spot back at 12th place. The pair’s first round time was 74.49 seconds.

Two other American riders sit in the top 20 – newlywed Molly Ashe Cawley (aboard Kroon Gravin) and Lauren Hough (aboard Casadora) sit at 13th and 15th places respectively. Ashe Cawley downed one rail in the first round to take on four faults, whereas Hough took on eight faults.

The four remaining pairs in the U.S. contingent were seated overall as follows: Christine McCrea and Promised Land are in a two-way tie for 22nd (eight faults, 73.56 seconds); Kate Levy aboard Vent du Nord and teammate Mandy Porter aboard Summer (12 faults, 74.18 seconds) are tied in 24th place; Richard Spooner and Cristallo (four faults, 72.45 seconds) are in a tie for 27th place; and Jill Humphrey aboard Kaskaya