Britain's Robert Smith galloped to victory at the final leg of the Western European League FEI World Cup Jumping series in Gothenburg today and lies dangerously close to a qualifying spot for next months Final in Las Vegas.

In a truly thrilling competition that included some fascinating twists and turns Smith used the devastating speed of his horse, Kalusha, to put the result beyond question when fourth-last to go in the 11-horse jump-off but Ireland's Jessica Kuerten was well pleased when slotting into second spot with Quibell because this booked her ticket to the USA in four weeks time.

Olaf Petersen's first-round track saw several of the favorites go out of contention including last weekend's winners Rodrigo Pessoa and Baloubet du Rouet from Brazil who caught the middle part of the combination to join eight others on a four-fault result but Britain's John Whitaker lost out on the timed round when just a single second outside the time-allowed with Exploit du Roulade.

First in against the clock was Sweden's Linda Heed with Lelodie who returned with just a single fence on the floor but the first real surprise of the competition was produced by Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and Shutterfly.

The German partnership looked like they were about to set a really difficult target for the remaining runners but Meredith lost her turn through the finish after the last fence and, instead of going left, turned right and had to circle before crossing the line. This resulted in the addition of four faults.

Sweden's Frederik Gustafsson then lowered one fence in a time of 42.54 seconds but Marco Kutscher set the first real target when clear in 40.99 seconds with Controe for Germany.

Ludo Philippaerts was also clear but almost a second slower with Chatman. Next in was Britain's Nick Skelton with Arko who scorched around in 40.08 seconds to set the quickest time to date but there was one fence down, however Jessica Kuerten knew a qualifying spot was within her grasp and she gave it everything she had.

"Quibell made her Grand Prix debut here two years ago and I was confident of her. We were under a lot of pressure and I put in an extra stride in front of the last fence because the crowd were making such a noise I thought she might lose her concentration. I had to go clear, I had to finish in the first four to qualify and when I was coming into the last I just kept thinking - keep left, keep left" she said.

The clock showed 40.25 seconds and that was now the new target but Smith and Kalusha soon changed that.

"I knew I could be fast in the jump-off - he's a very quick horse and to be honest it went my way a bit, I thought I could do it" he said. "The course needed a horse to be careful and my horse doesn't like hitting fences - he moves across the ground so well and he's careful, it all adds up to being quick and I can go flat out with him" he added.

With his foot to the floor he broke the beam in 39.07 seconds but Lars Nieberg and Lucie were challenging strongly until making exactly the same mistake as Meredith and Shutterfly after the last fence, penalised with four faults in the quick time of 43.69 seconds. When Marcus Ehning (Gitania) and America's Peter Wylde (Pinocchio) each collected four faults it was all over.

"It's touch and go whether I will make it to Las Vegas but I'd really like to get there" Robert said when it was confirmed that he now lies 23rd on the leaderboard. "That's borderline for qualification so I'll have to wait and see" he added.

"My first choice of horse for Vegas would be Mr Springfield but he won't be ready until the outdoor season starts so I'll have to take the two horses I have here this weekend. The crowd have been brilliant to me. This is my fourth win over the last few days and they gave me a fantastic reception" he said.

However the line-up for Las Vegas won't be decided until tonight's World Cup round in Tampa, Florida has concluded. Both Michael Whitaker and Philippe Rozier could pick up points there which could change the look of the leaderboard which is still headed by Nick Skelton ahead of Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum.

RESULTS: 1, Kalusha (Robert Smith) GBR 0/0 39.07; 2, Quibell (Jessica Kuerten) Irl 0/0 40.25; 3, Controe (Marco Kutscher) Ger 0/0 40.99; 4, Chatman (Ludo Philippaerts) Bel 0/0 41.75; 5, Arko (Nick Skelton) GBR 0/4 40.08; 6, Pinocchio (Peter Wylde) USA 0/4 40.25; 7, Lelodie (Linda Heed) Swe 0/4 42.19; 8, Pella VH Achtenhof (Frederik Gustafsson) Swe 0/4 42.54; 9, Lucie (Lars Nieberg) Ger 0/4 43.69; 10, Gitania (Marcus Ehning) Ger 0/4 45.40; 11, Shutterfly (Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum) Ger 0/4 46.86; 12, Exploit du Roulard (John Whitaker) GBR 1 flt; equal 13, Andante (Tina Lund) Den, H&M Butterfly Flip (Malin Baryard) Swe, Couleur Rubin (Ludger Beerbaum) Ger, Audi's Jikke (Eric Van der Vleuten) Ned, Special Ed (Jill Henselwood) Can, Spender S (M Gretzer) Swe, Baloubet du Rouet (Rodrigo Pessoa) Bra, Coster (Christian Ahlmann) Ger 4 faults; 21, VDL Groep des Etisses (Hubert Bourdy) Fra 6 faults; equal 22, Pero-Z Hillock (Linnea Ericsson) Den, Cagliostro 930 (Niklas Arvidsson) Swe, Nicolette (Robert Whitaker) GBR, ET Royal Volo (Tony Andre Hansen) Nor, Cellestial (Rolf Goran Bengtsson) Swe 8 faults; equal 27, La Toya (Markus Fuchs) Sui, Lancelot (Angelie Van Essen) Swe, Love Z (Geir Gulliksen) Nor 12 faultss ; 30, Miss Speed (Sebastian Numminen) Fin Elim; equal 31, Fort Neuville de Joter (Bernardo Alves) Bra, Equest Carnute (Thomas Velin) Den, Mynta (Helena Lundback) Swe, H&M magic Bengtsson (Peder Fredricsson) Swe, Dobel's Cento (Otto Becker) Ger, L'Accorde (Christian Anfinnsen Oien) Den, Sundance K (Franke Sloothaak) Ger.

FEI WORLD CUP JUMPING 2004/2005 LEADERBOARD AFTER ROUND 13 IN GOTHENBURG: 1, Nick Skelton - 83 2, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum - 76 3, Lars Nieberg - 74 4, Marco Kutscher - 65 5, Gerco Schroder, Ludo Philippaerts - 64 7, Rodrigo Pessoa, Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst - 57 9, Marcus Ehning - 57 10, Ludger Beerbaum - 52 11, Rolf-Goran Bengtsson, Philippe Leoni - 50 13, Wim Schroder - 48 14, Jessica Kuerten - 47 15, Eric Van der Vleuten, Thomas Velin - 46 17, Toni Hassmann, Richard Davenport - 44 19, Tina Lund - 43 20, Christope Barbeau, Michael Whitaker - 42 22, Hubert Bourdy - 39 23, Robert Smith, Christian Ahlmann, Steve Guerdat - 37.

For further information about the final qualifying leg of the FEI World Cup Jumping 2004/2005 series in Gothenburg contact: Show Secretary Wiveka Lundh - email w.lundh@horsesport.org or Press Officer Mayvor Thorin - email mayvor.thorin@gotevent.goteborg.se, Tel (mobile) ++46 705 828 420 or visit website at www.goteborghorseshow.com.

The FINAL takes place in Las Vegas, USA from 20-24 March 2005. Show President in Las Vegas is Pat Christenson, Show Director is Robert Ridland and Show Secretary is Stephanie Wheeler, email showpark@aol.com. Press Officer is Marty Baumann Tel: ++1 5086986810, or email marty.classic@verizon.net.