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Qabil cruises to Merdeka Masters World Cup win
Sunday, August 3rd, 2008
by Peter Ibrahim Abisheganaden. Photos by Natasha Mustapha and Ong Wan Ming.
Six riders with eight horses were entered for the climax, the fifth and final SEA League World Cup class that was held as the Merdeka Masters World Cup at 3Q Equestrian today. The 2008 South East Asian League World Cup crown was as good as decided even though the FEI had clarified that it would be the best three of the five World Cup points scored by riders that counted, and not four of five as originally thought.
Thailand-based Swede Helena Gabrielsson had sewn up the series with two wins and a 2nd place. She had an unassailable lead of 28 points to Qabil Ambak’s 20 points. She was therefore under no pressure even though drawn first to go.
FEI Official Course Designer Werner again gave them a 1.45 m course and again it had only one combination, a treble of 2 strides to each element. The 11 fence – 13 effort course was straight forward enough with only one short line at the last, from triple bar to vertical. Nevertheless it was again only Helena and Qabil who would get through to the jump-off.
Helena’s round on King Power Aladdin was well set-up and perhaps a smoother ride than we’ve seen from her than when she is under extreme pressure. Helena looked like she was more relaxed and certainly enjoying herself. Knowing she couldn’t be stopped from winning the SEA World Cup League for the 4th time might have made the change in her riding.
Qabil Ambak knew the game was over even before today’s class, so when Parvina injured her leg in a stable accident, he wisely decided to scratch the mare. Instead he declared Amadeus Van Boswinning. The stallion had an excellent first round, showing some scope over the treble. He tapped the triple bar but it stayed up for the 2nd clear round of the day. Qabil also rode was Andika Jamaluddin’s World Cup ride Chivas Z. They had just the middle part of the treble down for 4 faults.
Before Qabil went out on Amadeus, Quzier Ambak and Jennifer Chang (HKG) both had 4 fault rounds. Quzier almost got a clear round with Calano but the penultimate fence, the triple bar came down. Jennifer was even more unlucky as Luxor 91 knocked down the very first fence before clearing the rest of the course.
Hong Kong’s Jacqueline Lai and Gamo had two fences down in an eventful round. They missed judged the 5 strider from wall to the 4th fence, hammering it out. They tried to hurdle the Liverpool on a long stride, but had it down. Corners were cut literally and figuratively. Somehow they survived the rest of the course. Nevertheless the result of 8 penalties will still look good for this first season World Cupper.
Syed Zain won’t be too pleased as his round on Linus 200 deteriorated. They finished with a stop, four rails and time faults for a total of 25 penalties.
Meanwhile Helena gave Nixon de la Tourette a school over the course with just a fence down.
The Jump-Off was a rather tame affair. There were only the two clear from the first round – Helena and Qabil. Still, Helena (pic right) attempted a fairly quick time. With the 3rd fence and the middle part of the double down she handed the advantage to Qabil and Amadeus. They nearly spurned it. With 2 fences in hand they could afford a safe, slow round, which is what Qabil attempted. The penultimate fence came down as the big horse tired, and the very last rocked in the cups before staying in to give them the win.
Qabil was a relieved man after “I was looking at the rail as I went through the finish line because I knew I hit it quite hard and it was rocking. I was hoping the pole would fall after I went through the finish. Luckily it stayed in the cups.”
It was a nice way to end what was an unlucky season for Qabil. First an eye infection then today’s swollen leg injury saw him compete his SEA Games Champion mare Parvina only twice.
For Helena Gabrielsson it was a record-equalling 4th time she has won the South East Asian World Cup League since its inception in 1997. The record she equaled was Qabil’s. Helena finished with 28 points, ahead of Qabil on 26 points. Hong Kong’s Jennifer Chang finished 3rd in the league with 21 points, while veteran Quzier Ambak took fourth place with 16 points. Congratulations to all for making it another wonderful World Cup season.
by Peter Ibrahim Abisheganaden. Photos by Natasha Mustapha and Ong Wan Ming.
The Jump-Off was a rather tame affair. There were only the two clear from the first round – Helena and Qabil. Still, Helena