Kürten shoots for top slot

SHOWJUMPING/World Cup finals: Jessica Kürten goes into the World Cup finals, which kick off in Kuala Lumpur today, in pretty confident mood, despite the fact that her horsepower has been halved with the decision to leave the $750,000 Dubai Grand Prix winner Quibell at home in Germany.

The 12-year-old mare has shown her dislike of air miles in the past, panicking and lying down in the cramped confines of the plane on the way to Calgary and en route to last year's World Cup finals in Las Vegas.

Owner Lady Georgina Forbes wasn't keen to risk an injury to the mare on the 12-hour flight to Malaysia, so it was agreed that Quibell should be withdrawn and Kurten will now be relying solely on another of Lady Forbes' talented string, Castle Forbes Libertina.

It's a big ask of the 10-year-old daughter of Libero, who is considerably less experienced than her stablemate Quibell. But Kürten is confident that the Zurich Masters and Gothenburg Grand Prix winner has the talent to take her to the top.

"I believe she's the best horse I've ever ridden, but she is inexperienced", Kürten told The Irish Times over dinner in the 421-metre high television tower restaurant that boasts stunning views of the Malaysian capital. "She's never gone that many big rounds before. I'll have to try not to overdo it on the first day and leave something in the tank for the rest of the week."

The World Cup finals run over three days, with today's one-round speed establishing the starting order for tomorrow's two-rounder from which the top 20 make the cut for Sunday's big final. Saturday is a rest day for the Cup horses, with a Grand Prix on offer to those already out of the running. Kürten is hoping she won't be included on Saturday's Grand Prix startlist.

Even with the reduction in horsepower, the world number two starts as one of the hot favourites to wrest the crown away from defending champion, Germany's Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum. Favouritism isn't something that usually sits comfortably on the shoulders of 36-year-old Kurten, but a run of extraordinary success in the first quarter of the 2006 season has given her a new air of confidence.

"Things have never been this good before," she said. "I feel good, I'm very relaxed and I've got nothing to lose. I'd like to think that we'll still be there on Sunday." Being there on Sunday, when the top 20 fight it out for the title, is the main goal for the 36 riders qualified from nine global leagues, of which the Western European league is undoubtedly the toughest.

Despite finishing seventh overall in that and holding the world number two ranking for the past three months, Kürten had always believed that the big wins only happened to other people, never to her.

Libertina could be the very horse to allow the Irish woman a shot at the title this weekend and ultimately the number one rankings slot. "She's super careful, she's got all the scope and she's an amazing fighter," Kürten says. "If you get those three qualities all together you've got a real horse. That little bit of fight puts her in a very special league." The time for fighting has come.