WASHINGTON, Oct. 28 -- Beat Mandli of Switzerland edged past world number two McLain Ward of the United States to win the FEI World Cup jumping title on Saturday.
Mandli and his Dsarie were one of 11 teams to go clear through the first round of Alan Wade's course at the Capital One Arena and put up with a clear jump off in 32.07 seconds to finish first ahead of Ward's second place time of 32.30 seconds.
"I feel great," Mandli said. "Everything worked out better than I was thinking at the start of the week. I'm just super happy for the horse and for the whole team. It was great night for me."
Mandli has ridden on the 9-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare for the past year and the victory in Washington was their biggest win to date. Mandli admitted that part of their success was due to a lucky congruence between the course design and Dsarie's strength.
"For me the course was perfect. I knew that she could do the five to last fence. I know she's a very good turner on the rollback. It just suited my horse very well. Every jump is a risk when you try to go fast. One or two I tried to go fast, she gave me such a good feeling," said Mandli, who conquered a field of 26 star riders here in Washington.
Next up for Mandli and Dsarie is the National Horse Show, and from there his sights are set on the 2018 World Equestrian Games.
Ward has just retired veteran partner Carlos on Friday, and is hopeful that his new partner Callas will step up for more success.
"I feel like the last couple of months have been getting more consistent which is a key for a horse like that because they have to be predictable," Ward said. "It was nice to have a good finish in Washington. We have some exciting young courses coming along and I hope I can try to rebuild the string."
Ward's compatriot Catherine Tyree and her Enjoy Louis rounded out the podium, finishing third on two clear rounds and a jump off time of 33.83 seconds. The 13-year-old Belgian Warmblood has been with Tyree for four years and seen her through several World Cup qualifying classes, but this is their best finish to date.
"Now that I've been a bit more comfortable, I've really tried to push myself as much as possible in these jump-offs," she said. "Coming behind Beat and McLain, I know they're phenomenal riders that I look up to, and I heard that they had great jump-off rounds. I'm a bit more of a slower mover, so I really just tried to be as neat as possible. I could have been a little bit more efficient in a few places, but Louis always steps up."