worldofshowjumping.com

 Three very happy winners in Wiesbaden yesterday; nr. 1 Laura Kraut, nr. 2 Edwina Tops-Alexander and nr. 3 Hans-Dieter Dreher. All photos by Jenny Abrahamsson.

Laura Kraut is in the lead after her great win in Wiesbaden. Photo by Jenny Abrahamsson.After the third leg of the Longines Global Champions Tour, Laura Kraut has taken over the leading position on the overall ranking. With 77 points Laura is two points ahead of Luciana Diniz in second place with 75 points. Alvaro de Miranda is next at 66 points while the winner from Hamburg, Christian Ahlmann is currently rank four together with Hansi Dreher on 65 points.

The winning combination - Margie Engle and Royce. Scope and stride proved to be the key to the win for Margie Engle and Royce during the $75,000 Mary Rena Murphy Grand Prix, presented by Audi of Lexington, during the Kentucky Spring Classic. The pair out jumped 12 other horse and rider combinations during the tiebreaker to claim the winning prize with a double clear effort. Charlie Jayne captured the second place award with Chill R Z, while Venezuela's Pablo Barrios galloped into third aboard Zara Leandra.

"Cedric won his 4th GCT today and I'm so proud of him." Photo by Jenny Abrahamsson.Laura Kraut on the question whether this was the perfect course for Cedric; “You never know with him, sometimes he is afraid of break-away jumps so I was really happy when he jumped the first round. It was a good second course to give confidence. I'm just so pleased. And I was surprised that i beat Edwina and Hansi, because I just didn't feel that I was that efficient in the jump-off. It is different with grass and sand and we can't go as fast on grass.”

The top three in Wiesbaden; Laura, Edwina and Hansi. Photo by Jenny Abrahamsson.The Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix in Wiesbaden went to Laura Kraut and Cedric (Chambertin x Carolus I). The pair produced one of four triple clear rounds, shaving off 0.23 seconds on runner-up Edwina Tops-Alexander’s time – the Australian riding her faithful Cevo Itot du Chateau (Le Tot de Semilly x Galoubet A). Third was home rider Hans-Dieter Dreher on Magnus Romeo (Royal Feu x Hans Anders Z).

Patrice Delaveau and Ornella Mail - here at the Falsterbo Derby two years ago. Photo by Jenny Abrahamsson.The Derby in La Baule Saturday saw a home win from Patrice Delaveau and Ornella Mail HDC (Lando x Alligator Fontaine). Patrice was on of two riders who managed to clear the course consisting of 21 fences. The course had several water trays, natural fences and two combinations - a double at 5a and b and a triple combination as fence 12.

Also second place went to France with Michel Hecart and Nokia de Bekka (Quick Star x Apache d'Adriers) who finished on a clean sheet, but 1.90 seconds slower than Patrice and Ornella. Third place went to a derby expert, Shane Breen on Ominerale Courcelle (Kannan x Caprice d'Elle). Shane produced the fastest time of the day, but with four faults he could not threaten the home win. Steve Guerdat and Sidney VIII secured fourth place, also on four faults, before the following riders had collected 12 faults or more around the demanding Derby course.

Daniel and Mouse won again! Photo by Jenny Abrahamsson.Daniel Deusser continued his winning ways in Wiesbaden today aboard Stephex Stables' Mouse (Limbus x Grundyman). After showing great form in Hamburg last weekend, the pair continued their super form to take home the 1.45 speed class at the CSI5* event today. With the time of 58.73 seconds this super fast combination were way faster than the rest of their competitors – leaving Maikel van der Vleuten and VDL Groep Eureka (Chin Chin x Quidam de Revel) to second at 61.82 seconds and Emanuele Gaudiano and Chicago (Chambertin x Quinar) to third in 62 seconds.

After the first leg of the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup Europe Division 1 in La Baule, Switzerland has taken the lead of the series with 90 points. France, Ireland and Great Britain follows as joint rank two in the series with 75.67 points. Under the new rules of the Furusiyya series, just four of the teams starting in yesterday’s competition – France, Ireland, Great Britain and Switzerland – could earn points towards the final in September. In yesterday's Nations Cup Switzerland finished 2nd and France, Ireland, Great Britain joint 3rd.

Top Gun 79 with Holger Wenz in the saddle. Photo by Jenny Abrahamsson.Christina Liebherr has got a new ride in the 9 year old Top Gun 79 (Limotas x Corofino). Top Gun 79 has up until now been competed by German rider Holger Wenz, who has showed the Holsteiner gelding up to four star level.

Source: horseweb.de

Christine McCrea and Zerly. Photo by © The Book LLC.North Salem, NY – May 17, 2013 – For the second week in a row, Christine McCrea of East Windsor, CT, won the Friday grand prix event at the Old Salem Spring Horse Show. She and Zerly were fastest to win the $25,000 Grand Prix of North Salem presented by The Hakim Family over World Cup champion Beezie Madden and Coral Reef Via Volo and last week's Sunday grand prix winners, Todd Minikus and Uraguay.

Wisconsin 111 with Sergio Alvarez Moya. Photo by Jenny Abrahamsson.Alexander Onischenko has secured yet another top horse for Ukraine. This time it’s Sergio Alvarez Moya’s Wisconsin 111 that has been bought up by the Ukrainian. Wisconsin – an 14 year old gelding by Darco x Coriolan – has had some great results under Moya, winning big classes in Bordeaux, Gijon, Aachen and Hamburg to mention some.

The winning Dutch team in La Baule. Photo by © Dirk Caremans/FEI.It was the Dutch team that won the opening leg of the Europe Division 1 of the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup in La Baule on Friday. Switzerland ended second while Ireland, Great Britain and France shared third place. Dutch Chef d'Equipe Rob Ehrens’ crew consisted of Albert Voorn on Tobalio, Hendrik Jan Schuttert on Cerona HS, Frank Schuttert on Winchester and Leon Thijssen on Tyson. After the first round Holland was in fifth position with Spain – both teams carrying seven faults. Germany and Belgium were in joint with six penalties, the French were in second with five faults and the Swiss in the lead with a single time penalty.

Kent Farrington and Venus. Photo by Phelps Media Group, Inc. International.Although thunderstorms disrupted competition throughout the day at the Kentucky Horse Park, the clouds parted as the $25,000 Hagyard Lexington Classic got underway during the Kentucky Spring Classic. Sixteen horse and rider combinations advanced to the tiebreaker, creating a speed duel for the winning prize. Kent Farrington proved to have all the answers with Venus, blazing an uncatchable clear track that was almost two seconds faster than second place finisher Andrew Bourns of Ireland. Reed Kessler and Mika were the pathfinders to take home the third place honors.

Rob Ehrens' team will be first to go in La Baule. The starting order for tomorrow’s Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup in La Baule is as follows;

1.    The Netherlands
2.    Spain
3.    Ireland
4.    Great Britain
5.    Belgium
6.    Germany
7.    Switzerland
8.    France