Vogel was 13th after the opening speed leg but a daring performance earned him a victory that puts the overall title within his reach at the CHI Health Center Omaha Arena.

After two rounds, Switzerland's Pius Schwizer and Denmark's Andreas Schou are joint leaders.

Schou was sixth after the first round with Darc De Lux, and a third-place finish elevated him to the top.

Schwizer was fourth on both days with Vancouver De Lanlore.

The leaders after the speed round, Sweden's Henrik von Eckermann and King Edward, had a rail down but were still the fastest four-faulters, finishing tenth, and are now in third overall.

They will go in Saturday's finale just a single fault behind the others.

Hunter Holloway of the United States on Pepita Con Spita is tied for fifth overall with Brazil’'s Yuri Mansur and Vitiki.

Saturday's final will be a two-round competition beginning at 7.15pm local time.

Day one of the Vaulting World Cup saw German competitors topping all three categories.

Kathrin Meyer finished top in the technical test individual female category with a score of 8.299 on San Classico S.

Second place went to Switzerland’s Danielle Bürgi, with Blanka Nemeth of Hungary third.

Jannik Heiland went top of the leaderboard in individual male competition on a score of 8.436.

In his first senior World Cup Finals, 16-year-old Sam Dos Santos of The Netherlands finished second, with Andrin Müller of Switzerland currently in third place.

Chiara Congia and Justin Van Gerven took top honours in pas de deux, earning 8.370 points aboard Max - a last-minute horse substitution from Highlight FRH.

Romana Hintner and Eva Nagiller of Austria finished second, while third-place went to Freja Linde and Maria Thinggaard Sorensen of Denmark.