Text by World of Showjumping 

Sweden’s very own Peder Fredricson brought the heat up in Scandinavium on Friday, when taking home the win in round two of the Longines FEI World Cup Final. Riding the Swedish-bred Catch Me Not S (Cardento x Ramiro’s Son), the crowd-favourite and world no. three put himself in a comfortable position ahead of Sunday’s last rounds – now sitting second on the overall standings. 

Today’s second round of the Longines FEI World Cup Final was a Table A with a jump-off, set at 1.60m. Santiago Varela’s (ESP) track was a demanding one, with fourteen fences that included a double of planks, a triple combination as well as an airy wall. All three elements played their parts today when shaking up the top ten. 

First to set a clear round was Max Kühner (AUT) and Chardonnay 79 (Clarimo x Corrado), as 15th to go into the ring. Straight after, living legend Ludger Beerbaum (GER) secured a jump-off when going clear on Cool Feeling (Cornado NRW x Lancer II). Much to the disappointment of the home crowds, Henrik von Eckermann (SWE) had a pole down on the oxer coming out of the triple combination – but the jump-off was made to three one rider later when Olivier Robert (FRA) joined in after a fantastic round on the well-jumping Tempo de Paban (Jarnac x Quatar de Plape). 

When four riders in a row went clear – Jaroslaw Skrzyczyński (POL) on Chacclana (Chacco-Blue x Capilano), Peder Fredricson on Catch Me Not S, Beezie Madden (USA) on Breitling LS (Quintero x Acord II) as well as Niels Bruynseels (BEL) on Delux van T&L (Toulon x Landetto) – it looked like the jump-off was bound to become a very fast affair. The final clear would come from Eduardo Alvarez Aznar (ESP) and Rokfeller de Pleville Bois Margot (L’Arc de Triomphe x Apache d’Adriers), sitting 6th overall ahead of today’s second round. 

None in the top five managed to keep up yesterday’s performances. Martin Fuchs (SUI) had one pole down on the oxer at fence no. seven, Francois Mathy Jr. (BEL) the front pole on the oxer at no. 13 while Olivier Philippaerts (BEL) took the wall down. For Pieter Devos (BEL) – second yesterday – the World Cup-dream ended in the triple combination when Apart (Larino x Burggraaf) jumped through the first triple-bar twice to be eliminated. Overnight leader Steve Guerdat (SUI) could also not keep a clean sheet, but added a score of four to his record when Alamo (Ukato x Equador) hit the front pole on the oxer at fence no. nine. 

As the jump-off got underway, a shake-up in the top was a fact. A clear round from first-to-go Max Kühner put pressure on the rest to come, and while neither Beerbaum nor Robert could follow up with a second clear Skrzyczyński did a good job and slotted into runner-up position. Next to go, Fredricson delivered. The Swedish rider tackled the twisting and turning jump-off track clear on Catch Me Not S to take the lead after leaving a stride out to the penultimate vertical – finishing on the time of 37.94 seconds and making the home crowds go crazy. Madden rode an extraordinary round, getting an incredible angle to the third last vertical but came a bit too close to the last oxer and took it down – heartbreaking when the clock showed 34.75 seconds. The last oxer also came in Bruynseels way, but everything went right for Alvarez Aznar who rode a great round only 0.03 seconds shy of Fredricson’s time to slot into second – and taking the overall lead ahead of Sunday’s decisive rounds.

On a zero-penalty score after two rounds, Alvarez Aznar is followed by Fredricsson on one penalty, Guerdat on two, Madden, Bruynseels, Fuchs and Philippaerts on three – which means it is extremely close within the top seven as less than a rail separates these riders when they go into Sunday’s nail-biting last rounds. 

“I was not expecting this,” said Alvarez Aznar about going into Sunday's rounds as the leader. “But I was expecting a good result because the horse has been jumping really well throughout the whole season. Today, he jumped fantastic. I had to do a bit my own plan in the jump-off, it was safer to be in the top ahead of Sunday. What can I say, I am leading rider and I cannot be more happy!”

“We trust each other, he has a lot of experience now,” Alvarez Aznar continued about the 14-year-old Rokfeller de Pleville Bois Margot. “I have known him now for four-five years, we have done a lot of championships together – and it seems like now at the age of 14 is when he gets his best time.”

“Of course, I would like to be on the podium in a big championship like this one, and now I am in the right position for Sunday. I only need to stay focused and do what I did today,” said the Spanish rider who finished 6th in last year’s final in Paris. 

As the winning rider of today’s round, Peder Fredricson explained about his jump-off: “My wife Lisen walked the course, and said it was possible to do five strides if I got a good shot on the third-last so I tried to do that (to the penultimate fence). I think that is where we earned some time in the jump-off.”

A partnership that has lasted less than a year, today proved to be a winning one as Fredricson detailed about Catch Me Not S. “He was jumping at 1.50m level nationally with very good results with another rider, Ebba Berglöf. I got the horse less than a year ago, so he developed really quickly in the international sport. Actually, I am really, really proud of him today – that he could go in here with this atmosphere and keep his concentration in these two rounds.”