HENRIK von Eckermann’s achievements with the diminutive chesnut gelding King Edward in the past two years have been nothing short of extraordinary. The dressage-bred gelding won team gold at the Tokyo Olympic Games, double gold at the 2022 World Equestrian Games and now, last Saturday night in Omaha, helped von Eckermann become the first Swede in history to win the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup title.

As happens at championships, it was an up and down week for many competitors and the title was not secured until the very end in a gripping two-round decider when the dominant pair pinned The Netherlands’ Harrie Smolders and Monaco NOP into runner-up spot while the USA’s Hunter Holloway and Pepita Con Spita pipped Brazil’s Yuri Mansur and Vitiki for third place by the narrowest of margins.

“I can’t put it in words because it was a bit up and down!” von Eckermann said of his journey to the title this week. “On Friday having the one down I was really disappointed but at the same time I thought well he didn’t have to jump the jump-off and with being just one point behind (the leaders) maybe it’s not so bad.

“He (King Edward) felt really fresh when he came out today, we had the rail in the first round but otherwise he felt fantastic, and so for the last round I had to just trust him, he’s in super shape, we jumped three jumps in the warm-up, in we go and he was unbelievable!”

Into the lead

Von Eckermann and King Edward won a thrilling opening speed class on the first day of the finals. Taking full advantage of getting the best of the draw when last of the 40 starters from 19 nations to tackle the 13-fence track set by Portuguese course designer Bernardo Costa Cabral, the dynamic duo pinned longtime leaders Britain’s Scott Brash and Hello Jefferson into runner-up spot and Germany’s Daniel Deusser and Scuderia 1918 Tobago Z into third.

There were changes at the top of the leaderboard after Thursday’s jump-off competition when Germany’s Richard Vogel steered the brilliant stallion United Touch S to win the second leg. That moved Vogel up to fourth place in the standings, but it was Denmark’s Andreas Schou (Darc de Lux) and Switzerland’s Pius Schwizer (Vancouver de Lanlore) who shared the lead going into Saturday’s deciding competition.

Henrik von Eckermann (King Edward) only slipped to third with a single fence down. However Scott Brash plummeted from second to equal-ninth when leaving three on the floor while Daniel Deusser retired which meant his competition was over.

Points from both the speed leg and Thursday’s jump-off were then converted into penalties and there was less than a fence between the top six as the final competition began. Schou and Schwizer were out in front on a zero score and von Eckermann was behind them with just one penalty point.

Finale

The first round of Saturday night’s finale saw a big shake-up on the leaderboard, with Bernardo Costa Cabral really testing the rider’s judgement with his 12-fence test that came to a conclusion with a difficult triple combination followed by a big open oxer.

Only three of the 30 starters managed to stay clear first time out and Ireland’s Denis Lynch rocketed up from 19th to 12th going into round two when producing the first fault-free effort with the brave Brooklyn Heights. Switzerland’s Martin Fuchs was clear with Leone Jei to improve from 15th to eighth while The Netherlands’ Harrie Smolders and Monaco NOP, lying overnight seventh, were clear to pile the pressure on the remaining six.

When Holloway (Pepita Con Spita) had two down and Vogel (United Touch S) collected 12 faults then just the top three were left to go. Von Eckermann made it all the way to the bogey penultimate combination where King Edward kicked out the middle element.

But for joint-leader, Andreas Schou, it was a much tougher round when Darc de Lux finished with 12 costly faults. So when Switzerland’s Pius Schwizer and Vancouver de Lanlore lowered only the first element of the final combination they moved their score on to just four faults to take the lead.

The top 20 went into the second round in reverse order of merit over a brand new course, and Irishman Lynch left all the poles in place once again to post the only double-clear of the night which would see him finish seventh.

Harrie Smolders, Henrik von Eckermann and Hunter Holloway on the podium at the 2023 FEI Jumping World Cup Final in Omaha \ Tomas Holcbecher

Schou produced the next faultless round and both Mansur and Holloway also returned without penalty, but the Brazilian would pay a big price when just over a second slower than the American. Smolders hit the oxer at fence nine this time out and opened the door even wider for the final two.

Von Eckermann returned a superb clear to pile all the pressure on Schwizer who now had no room for error. But the 60-year-old Swiss star knocked both the second element of the double at fence eight and the following oxer at nine to drop down to sixth place.

Von Eckermann was the clear winner on a final scoreline of five, Smolders was second with nine and Holloway would finish third on an 11-fault score.

Von Eckermann, who finished third at the Finals in both 2017 and 2018 with Toveks Mary Lou, was asked how he maintained his focus even though it wasn’t all plain sailing this week.

“It’s just my mentality, I don’t look backwards, and when the chance is still there we try to go and get it. Everyone knows the horse and how amazing it is, and this week I came here and I really wanted to win it but even with a horse like this it’s very easy for it to go the other way around.

“But I’m so happy for the horse that he wins this because he really deserves to have a win in the World Cup Final,” said the 41-year-old champion.

“He is going to be sold” - Lynch finishes seventh

FOR Ireland’s Denis Lynch, a seventh-place finish in the end was only three points off a podium placing and, riding Molly Ohrstrom’s 14-year-old Brooklyn Heights, he won the final day’s competition with the only double clear round.

They were drawn first to go on day one and a slower round left them down in 18th on the placings with a mountain to climb; before four faults saw him slip to 19th after Thursday’s round. In Saturday’s final, only three of the 30 starters managed to stay clear first time out and Lynch rocketed up to 12th going into round two when producing the first fault-free effort.

Second time out, he produced another clear, the only double clear of the night to win the class, earning €69,000, and placed seventh overall on 14 points. To put their performance into perspective, the winner, von Eckermann, knocked two fences throughout the course of the competition, but his fast time on day one saw him well up the placings from early on.

Speaking afterwards, Lynch said: “I’ve spent the last 15 days at home driving my wife up the wall, just really focusing on this. It is a pity we had the four faults the other days but I felt today we could have a good double clear, it’s been great. I’d like to thank my horse, he was brilliant today, and Molly for supporting me with this horse and holding on to him.

“The sad part is he is going to be sold after this event, which we knew prior to coming, which is a big pity but that’s horses, that’s the sport. Thanks to my staff and especially my family for putting up with me, I’m delighted.