Dutch reign while Brits slip to sixth in La Baule

https://youtube.com/watch?v=iA249t9wlvU%26

The leading showjumping nations in the world did battle in La Baule in France, in the first leg of the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup Jumping series.

Close

The series normally gets underway in Lummen, but the Belgian leg was cancelled due to adverse weather.

But while La Baule had suffered some downpours, with the ground described as ‘yielding’, the French leg was able to proceed – with an incredibly close competition ensuing.

At the end of the first round, the USA, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Switzerland all completed with zero faults. Team USA were particularly impressive in round one, with all four team members jumping clear. France sat in fifth place on just four penalties, while Germany were sixth (eight fault) ahead of Belgium and Brazil.

But things started to unravel for several of these teams as the competition progressed to round two.

Second round

Rob Ehren’s Dutch side were ridiculously consistent in the competition, with the quartet of Willem Greve, Jur Vrieling, Leopold van Asten and Wout-Jan van der Schans completing with just a single time fault to count over two rounds.

“We all won this today,” said Willem. “This was a real team victory – Wout-Jan had two super clears, Leopold also and Jur had a new horse doing his first Nations Cup. It makes you really proud because winning a Nations Cup is one of the nicest and most special things in our sport.”

Team USA finished second with four faults, with host nation of France finished a close third with just five.

British hopes

Unfortunately, Britain’s hopes of winning were dashed when Joe Clee’s Utamaro d‘Ecaussines collected four faults, while Ben Maher (Diva) knocked two fences down. Last to go, Michael Whitaker looked set to produce a flawless round until his horse Cassionato knocked down the final two fences, dropping Great Britain to sixth, behind Germany and Switzerland.

However, it wasn’t all bad news for the Brits, with Nick Skelton securing a double clear with his 13-year-old stallion Big Star. His London 2012 horse made a thrilling top-level comeback following time-off through injury, and his performance has surely boosted their chances of Rio selection.

“It has certainly been a competition of highs, lows and mixed emotions,” said Performance Team Manager Di Lampard. “A couple of horses were short of a show, for instance Utamaro had been planned for Lummen which was then rained off, but I’m actually really pleased with them all. It’s great to see Big Star back and jumping like he is.

“All in all I feel pretty optimistic for the season ahead. We are looking to peak in August with Rio in mind and this has been a great start to the season in terms of performance.”

Great Britain collected 55 points in La Baule, while the Netherlands took home 100 points, France finished with 80 points, Germany 65 points and Belgium 50 points.

The next leg of the series will be held in Rome at the end of this month.

Result:

1. Netherlands 1 fault: Aquila SFN (Wout-Jan van der Schans) 0/0, VDL Groep Zidane NOP (Leopold van Asten) 0/1, VDL Glasgow VH Merelsnest (Jur Vrieling) 8/0, Carambole NOP (Willem Greve) 0/1.

2. USA 4 faults: Ohlala (Lauren Hough) 0/12, Barron (Lucy Davis) 0/0, Royce (Margie Goldstein-Engle) 0/0, Babalou 41 (Todd Minikus) 0/4.

3. France 5 faults: Flora De Mariposa (Penelope Leprevost) 0/0, Hermes Ryan (Simon Delestre) 0/0, Reveur de Hurtebise HDC (Kevin Staut) 4/4, Sydney Une Prince (Roger Yves Bost) 4/1.

4. Switzerland 8 faults: Bonne Chance CW (Janika Sprunger) 0/4, Lord Pepsi (Paul Estermann) 12/0, Clooney 51 (Martin Fuchs) 0/8, Corbinian (Steve Guerdat) 0/4.

4. Germany 8 faults: Fibonacci 17 (Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum) 8/0, Epleaser van’t Heike (Christian Ahlmann) 0/5, First Class van Eeckelghem (Daniel Deusser) 0/0, Chiara 222 (Ludger Beerbaum) 12/0.

6. Great Britain 12 faults: Big Star (Nick Skelton) 0/0, Utamaro d’Ecaussines (Joe Clee) 0/4, Diva ll (Ben Maher) 4/8, Cassionato (Michael Whitaker) 0/8.

7. Belgium 18 faults: As Cold as Ice Z (Judy Ann Melchior) 5/8, Sea Coast Pebbles Z (Gudrun Pateet) 4/0, Caracas (Jos Verlooy) 0/1, Papillon Z (Jerome Guery) 8/9.

8. Brazil 22 faults: Premiere Carthoes BZ (Felipe Amaral) 5/5, Fape Fox Trot VD Padenborre (Fabio Leivas da Costa) 8/8, Landpeter Do Feroleto (Stephan de Freitas Barcha) 0/0, Rock ’n Roll Semilly (Marlon Modolo Zanotelli) 8/4.