Austrian Rides Like a Genius : Equestrian: Fruhmann, Bockmann’s Genius win World Cup title at Del Mar.

By the time Thomas Fruhmann rode his mount, Bockmann’s Genius, into the arena for the final ride at Sunday’s Volvo World Cup, even the horse knew the title was in the bag.

Fruhmann became Austria’s second World Cup champion Sunday when he and Bockmann’s Genius went fault-free through two afternoon rounds in front of a sellout audience of 9,500 at the Del Mar Fairgrounds equestrian arena.

It was the first World Cup show-jumping title for Fruhmann and only his second major victory astride Bockmann’s Genius. He won $40,000 and a new Volvo.

Fruhmann has shared ownership and ridden the 9-year-old gray gelding for 1 1/2 years. A member of the Austrian national team, Fruhmann said Bockmann’s Genius will be his Olympic mount. That’s understandable--he didn’t knock down a rail all week and was assessed only a .25-second time fault on the second day of the three-day event.

Markus Fuchs, who had a clear ride in the first round, virtually assured Fruhmann’s victory after knocking over rails on the first and final jumps.

The final horse and rider team to jump, Fruhmann and Bockmann’s Genius would have had to knock down three rails to surrender the lead to Switzerland’s Lesley McNaught-Maendli (10.5 faults), whose horse, Moet & Chandon Pirol, knocked over one rail in the first round.

After a smooth first round, the winning team prompted gasps in the second as Bockmann’s Genius charged the line from jumps No. 1 through 3 and tickled the top rail on 2 and 3. It was surprising that 3 did not fall; it was the third-most difficult jump on the course.

Nevertheless, the winning team negotiated the rest of the 10-jump, 13-element course without difficulty, only the sixth to have a clear round.

“It was a little spooky (on the early series of jumps),” Fruhmann said. “Maybe a bit too careful, eh?”

Because he was the leader, Fruhmann began the finals with no faults. Twenty-three other finalists were assigned a certain number of faults depending upon where they fell in the standings. Second-place Fuchs of Switzerland had 3.0 faults and his brother, third-place Thomas, had 3.5, and so on. For every rail that was knocked down, 4.0 faults were added to the score. The lowest score won, and Fruhmann’s was perfect.

Fruhmann, 41, last competed in the World Cup in 1990 and finished tied for 14th, his best finish in nine tries. With the victory, he moved up in the computer rankings from 14th to 10th.

McNaught-Maendli began the day in fourth place, fell to seventh after the first round and finished second. She said she expected Fruhmann to be strong because she had seen Bockmann’s Genius jump so well in recent months.

“He’s maybe the best horse I’ve ever had,” Fruhmann said. “Before, the only thing I thought was that it was too early for him to make five big classes (rounds of competition).

“I’ve never ridden him fast. He won two classes two weeks ago and I saw that I can go a little faster here.”

Rancho Santa Fe’s Bernie Traurig, who finished fifth--the highest-placing American and his personal best--said he knew little about Fruhmann as a rider, but was well aware of his reputation.

“I’ve seen the guy eat wine glasses,” Traurig said. ‘He can make a cow jump.”

Maybe he can do it because of the tremendous hand strength. For kicks, Fruhmann rips telephone books in two.

“Fifteen, 20 years ago I was a bit wild,” he said modestly.

Traurig said there were two key factors that prevented him from having a greater impact on the event’s outcome. He ventured away from his basic instinct on attacking a fence during Thursday’s first round, and committed a fault he said he could have avoided; and he was assessed a time fault for exceeding the time limit in Friday’s second round by 4/100ths of a second, which prevented him from making the jump-off. Considering he and Maybe Forever didn’t incur another fault all week, the latter error was costly.

Notes

Austria’s Hugo Simon was the first World Cup winner, in 1979. . . . Winner Thomas Fruhmann was one of five riders who had back-to-back double-clear rounds. The others were Bernie Traurig (U.S., fifth), Eric Navet (France, ninth), Roger-Yves Bost (France, T-10th), Darlene Sandlin (U.S., 13th).

Great Britain’s Tina Cassan, who won a reprieve from the Appeals Committee after failing to leave the arena Thursday after apparent elimination, finished seventh. Germany’s Ludger Beerbaum, who had the same appeal as Cassan’s but would not have won had it not been for Cassan’s theatrics in the arena that rallied the crowd, finished sixth. A petition was circulated among some riders in hopes of overturning the Appeal Committee’s decision, but World Cup Director Max Ammann said he never received the petition.

The first World Cup rider from Hungary, Zoltan Rezgo, did not compete in the third round. He was eliminated after Poker’s three refusals on a jump Friday night. . . . From a team standpoint, the Swiss were the big winners, with three of the top four finishers. Americans made a move on the last day and had three of the top 12. France had three of the top 16, Germany three of the top 17 and four of 18.

The Del Mar event, the first held on the West Coast, drew rave reviews from riders. Said Traurig: “I’ve heard (from other riders) this has been the best World Cup ever. I think this World Cup has and will do more for the West Coast than we could do (in our riding) in the next 10 years. It’s probably just the beginning of real great things to happen here. The riders all commented on the enthusiasm of the crowd. This was a great boost for California. . . .”

Ammann said locations for the 1995-98 World Cups will be determined next year. He said he was hopeful an American site would make a bid. . . . Traurig was asked after the event if he would try to make the United States national team for this summer’s Olympic Games. He used the opportunity to criticize the U.S. Equestrian Team for its East Coast bias that hinders West Coast riders from even participating in the selection process. “The problem is that all the trials are on the East Coast and it’s very expensive and takes a lot of time,” he said. “I have a family and business, and it’s difficult to walk away from that for a 2 1/2-month ordeal. It’s a very difficult situation. I think it would be fairer if we had some trials on the West Coast. We have riders who have ridden in the Olympics before and deserve a chance and they’re not getting that chance.” But, he added, “I wouldn’t go if I didn’t feel the way I felt today.”