BELGIUM’s Pieter Devos and his 14-year-old Dutch-bred gelding, Apart, made it a back-to-back victory when scorching home to win the fifth leg of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Western European League in Stuttgart on Sunday, where Ireland’s Richard Howley finished in seventh place.

German course designer Christa Chung built a tough course and 11 progressed to the jump-off after round one. Howley and Chinook were the first clear of the class when third to go and led the way in the jump-off with a fast round in 45.56 seconds, but a fence on the floor left the door open.

Third into the arena, defending champion and world number one, Steve Guerdat, set the standard with Venard de Cerisy when clear in 45.87, which would eventually be good enough for second place. Last week’s Verona winner Scott Brash challenged with Hello Senator but was a little off the pace when crossing the line in 46.05 seconds for third.

Devos was seventh to go and shaved well over a full second off that with a brilliant run that stopped the clock in 45.35. “In my opinion this was the toughest leg of the series so far. They always build big here, it’s always technical and tough, but because of the big arena and the very good ground horses jump well,” Devos said afterwards.

“I’ve done three qualifiers with three different horses, I’m almost there [at the finals] and I’m very happy!” he added.

Howley took home €4,970 for seventh place. Steve Guerdat maintains his lead on the Western European League table, with Devos moving up to second and Brash to third going into the next leg in Madrid, Spain, in two weeks’ time.

Sternlicht wins again

Adrienne Sternlicht won her second FEI Longines World Cup North American League in as many weeks in Las Vegas on Saturday night with her new mount Bennys Legacy, the horse produced in Ireland by Jenny Rankin.

Just two combinations made it through to the jump-off, where Sternlicht produced the only clear round, aboard the 11-year-old, to win. “Tonight, I mainly learned that he was super indoors,” Sternlicht said of her still-new mount. “He’s a horse that goes exactly the way I like to ride: strong and aggressive. I like to help and support the horse, and he leans on me as a rider in that capacity.

“World Cup Finals are 100% on my radar,” Sternlicht said. “I am planning already. [My trainer, McLain Ward] is a big planner, and we had a meeting and planned out my schedule for the next five months. I plan on being here and look forward to coming back!”