Lexington, KY – For the American show jumping community, the 2010 Rolex/FEI World Cup Final in Geneva, Switzerland will not be remembered for what happened on the field of play, but for a controversial decision by the Ground Jury involving the disqualification of Sapphire (ridden by McLain Ward) after the second leg.

On top of the world after the first two legs, and with a variety of riders winning the majority of the classes throughout the horse show, the US looked poised to end a World Cup drought which had spanned two decades. Mario Deslauriers, lay second after the first two legs and inherited the lead after the disqualification of Sapphire and very much held his own with Urico – jumping flawless throughout the first two legs of the competition. But when it came down to the title, it wasn’t meant to be for Deslauriers, who had used his experience to coax three clear rounds out of Jane Clark’s nine-year-old prodigy. But the second round of Sunday’s finale proved to be one too many, and three down (plus a time fault) dropped the 1984 champion from the top spot to sixth. A wonderful horse for the future for the United States, Urico held his own against the best and most experienced in the world.

“It was all going so well overall until Friday night,” said
Delauriers. “We are all disappointed about what happened to McLain. It is unfair. For my last round here I was very disappointed. You don’t get many chances to win a World Cup Final. But we will get over this and go forward. My horse jumped fantastic, I have the best horse. He was fantastic, he tried his best, after the triple I thought I had a clear round, but then we both panicked a little bit at that vertical, then we regrouped and had two cheap fences. It just goes that way sometimes, I just wish it hadn’t gone that way today.”

But his three rails meant that Marcus Ehning won his third title for Germany. Riding Plot Blue, Ehning finished on a total of six faults, besting fellow German Ludger Beerbaum and Swiss rider Pius Schwizer who finished on seven.

American Richard Spooner also found his way into the top 10 by winning the Final round on Cristallo. Spooner and Cristallo put in a consistent performance and tied for seventh in the overall World Cup standings and he finished fourth in the Grand Prix on Saturday riding Ace.

But the story for the US, sadly, wasn’t about what happened in the ring, it was about the controversial disqualification of McLain Ward’s superstar, Sapphire.

After the second leg of the Rolex/FEI World Cup Final it seemed that the American rider and his beloved Sapphire would be invincible – as they led the field after two immaculate performances. But due to a decision by the Ground Jury, Sapphire was disqualified after the second World Cup class and found not fit to compete due to an alleged positive test for hypersensitivity, despite having been determined fit to compete prior to entering the ring by the FEI veterinarians.

The USEF lodged a formal protest against the disqualification which was heard mid-afternoon Central European time by the FEI Tribunal. The protest was not allowed based on the fact that FEI Tribunal Chair Ken Lalo (ISR) denied the request for emergency relief on the grounds that the FEI Tribunal did not have jurisdiction to overturn the Ground Jury’s decision and Sapphire was not reinstated to compete.

Please read the USEF Statement regarding the disqualification of Sapphire which includes a statement from US Show Jumping team veterinarian Dr. Tim Ober. Please also check back to www.usef.org for statements and updates regarding Sapphire’s disqualification from the 2010 Rolex/FEI World Cup Final.

ENDS

Please contact Joanie Morris at [email protected] with further questions.