LONDON, April 14 (Xinhua) -- America's Beezie Madden and Breitling LS took their second win of the week to go into Sunday's title-decider with a one-fence advantage at the Longines FEI World Cup Jumping Final 2018 in Paris.
Last to go in a thrilling nine-horse jump-off, the 54-year-old cruised home Friday to overtake the Netherlands' Harrie Smolders and his stallion Emerald, while Henrik von Eckermann clinched third with the mare Toveks Mary Lou, which promoted the Swede to second in the overall rankings ahead of Sunday's two-round finale.
Madden, the series champion in 2013, was thrilled with Breitling, "He has a super temperament - actually he's so nice that a lot of people don't seem to realise he's a stallion. He's careful and clever, and every time I call on him he does everything I want - I couldn't ask for any more."
Her compatriot, Devin Ryan, held onto the third spot he established with Eddie Blue in Thursday's speed competition despite being one of six to collect a single time penalty over today's 14-fence first-round track.
Asked if she was feeling confident with a one-fence lead going into Sunday's title-decider, Madden said, "It's nice to have a rail in hand, but we are really only halfway through the competition. We have two more rounds and maybe a jump-off on Sunday...it can all change a lot yet."
Smolders admitted he might have made an error of judgement in competing with his other ride, Zinius, in Thursday's opening speed leg.
"It's always easy to say that afterwards, but Zinius had a very good indoor season and he's naturally fast in speed classes so I made that decision but it didn't work out. I don't like to lose, but I don't mind being beaten by Beezie who won in style - and this was a great class tonight," he said.
Von Eckermann, who will be Madden's closest rival on Sunday, said, "I didn't ride so great to the double of verticals (in the jump-off), I was a bit over-careful but my horse jumped both rounds fantastic."
