Las Vegas, NV – Amidst the fabulous Las Vegas spectacle of fireworks, a laser show, jumbo-tron videos and even an opening musical act, it was shaping up to be a German jump-fest on April 21 until Belgium’s Ludo Philipaerts, on the grey stallion Parco, and Kimberly Frey of the U.S, on her consistent Dutch mare Marlou, showed up to throw down a challenge late in the evening.

The first to go during the evening of April 21, Germany’s Markus Beerbaum on Constantin 24 set the standard with what seemed at the time a blistering 62.70. He held that lead until fellow countryman Marcus Ehning, the 27th rider, took over with a time of 62.62, and was then immediately eclipsed by the next rider Philipaerts with a crisp 61.57.

“I think all the combinations were difficult, all the horses were very good today and everything was very close to each other. I was very happy today with my horse,” said Philipaerts.

“I didn’t really expect to be actually sitting here. That I made the top three is definitely a surprise since I got in at the last moment, but I thought my horse was in really good form yesterday in the warm-up. I like going early, and didn’t put too much pressure on myself,” said Beerbaum, who found out he had qualified for the World Cup at the last minute, just two days after he had shipped his horse back to Europe from competition in Wellington, FL. He had just two weeks in Germany to prepare for the trip to Las Vegas.

The course inside the Thomas & Mack Arena was very tight and presented challenging short turns and distances however, Frey wasn’t at all distracted by the size of the arena or the course because Marlou hasn’t shown outdoors all season. “She hasn’t set foot on grass and jumped a course outside, so I was pretty confident she was thinking quickly,” said Frey. “I think we Americans make a mistake, we’re not showing indoors like they are in Europe and we’re a little bit surprised by how fast everything comes up again.” Frey also said she has total confidence in Marlou, “It’s my first World Cup Final, so yes I’m a little bit nervous, but I believe 100% in my horse so I’m not surprised.”

All riders agreed that fence three was the key to the course. Ehning explained, “I think the most problems were from numbers three, four, five. Really in the beginning were some long distances and few horses getting to them…if you had a good start then the rest of the course was okay. It was a really fair course with an option to go faster.” Fence three was an oxer with a long three-stride to a wall, followed by a challenging bend to fence five. Frey added that the Budweiser triple combination at the end of the course was also difficult after going fast the entire course.

This is the first World Cup for course designer Guilherme Jorge of Brazil who said the size of the Thomas & Mack Arena presented some design challenges. “I think it’s very good to see the horses jumping this well,” he observed. “I didn’t expect this many clear rounds, but I’m happy with the course today, and I think we have definitely the best ones on top, the ones who could handle it. I think we’ll have a good competition tomorrow.”

Among the other competitors from the U.S., Schuyler Riley on Ilain finished 12th with a clear round and a time of 66.06, Candice King finished 20th on Coco Cabana with 69.05 and Nicole Simpson stands at 22nd with El Campeon’s So Long.

Complete results can be found at www.worldcuplasvegas.com. Competition resumes tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. (PST) with the Budweiser World Cup Final II and then with the third and “Final Final” on Sunday at noon.