Brits fight back to win in Rotterdam

Great Britain continued its spectacular winning run in the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup series, winning the Rotterdam leg yesterday (19 June).

Rise

The Brits were aiming to pick up some qualifying points in The Netherlands, and they fielded the strong quartet of Ben Maher (Diva), Joe Clee (Utamaro d’Ecaussines), Jessica Mendoza (Spirit T) and Michael Whitaker (Cassionato).

However, at the halfway stage the team lay in fourth place – with a dominant German team producing a clean sheet of zero, France having just one time penalty to carry forward into round two and The Netherlands finishing round one on just four faults.

Britain’s pathfinder Ben Maher had picked up eight faults in the first round, which provided the drop score, while Joe Clee jumped clear, Jessica Mendoza had just one fence down and Michael Whitaker ended up with just one time fault.

Change of fortune

But in the second round, the polished German team started to falter, with both Christian Ahlmann and Patrick Stuehlmeyer finishing on eight faults.

France then moved to the lead, but Britain were close on their heels. Things then started to go awry for the French team, when third rider Roger Yves Bost’s horse Pegase du Murier took aversion to a fence and went into reverse. He continued but was obviously unsettled, finishing on a score of 19.

With Britain’s Maher, Mendoza and Clee all jumping clear, it meant the final French rider, Jerome Hurel, had to jump clear for them to win. One down fence down would result in a jump-off, while any more down would give the British team victory.

Jerome’s horse then had one fence down and with an additional two time penalties, it gave the Brits their third division one win of the season. Michael Whitaker did not need to jump, but did so to give his stallion further experience, with the pair finishing on the discounted score of five.

Di knows best

The result reflects the current strength of World Class Jumping Performance Manager Di Lampard’s British side. “We have started the Furusiyya series fantastically, with three wins and a second placed finish – it couldn’t have gone better,” she said.

Di was a keen Nations Cup competitor during her own very successful career and is enjoying her team management role. “Nations Cup competitions were always my favourite, and now I get to ride eight rounds!”she added.

Joe Clee and Utamaro D’Ecaussines, who became mainstays of the British Nations Cup team last summer, were the standout performers of the Brits, producing one of only four double clears of the competition.

Jessica Mendoza, 19, was making only her second appearance at this level.Last year she and Spirit T won team gold and individual bronze at the FEI European Championships for Juniors, and the rider only transferred full-time to horses last summer following a successful career on ponies.

“My Dad trains me and made sure I have horses that go a bit like ponies so the move from one to the other wouldn’t be too difficult,” explained Jessica. “Spirit T has such a big heart, she’s careful, not as scopey as some horses but she really tries.”

Looking forward

The Brits are now in a strong position as they head towards their remaining two points-scoring legs – Hickstead and Dublin.

It must give Di Lampard some confidence, with the FEI European Championships looming in Aachen this August. The Brits must do well in order to qualify for the Rio Olympics, having failed to do so with a below par performance at last year’s World Equestrian Games.

But with the current form of the Brits, Di will have a tricky choice on her hands deciding which riders to take to Aachen.

Watch the FEI Nations Cup series on Horse & Country TV at the following times.

Result

1. Great Britain 5 faults: Diva ll (Ben Maher) 8/0, Utamaro D’Ecaussines (Joe Clee) 0/0, Spirit T (Jessica Mendoza) 4/0, Cassionato (Michael Whitaker) 1/5/

2. France 7 faults: Lacrimoso 3 HDC (Patrice Delaveau) 0/0, Armitages Boy (Aymeric de Ponnat) 4/0 , Pegase du Murier (Roger Yves Bost) 0/19, Quartz Rouge (Jerome Hurel) 1/6.

3. Sweden 10 faults: H&M All In (Peder Fredricson) 1/0, Casello (Douglas Lindelow) 4/8, Bonzai H (Helena Persson) 1/4, Cantinero (Henrik von Eckermann) 4/0.

4. Germany 12 faults: Codex One (Christian Ahlmann) 0/8, Lacan 2 (Patrick Stuhlmeyer) 0/8, Chiara (Ludger Beerbaum) 0/4, Cornet d’Amour (Daniel Deusser) 0/0.

5. Netherlands 13 faults: SFN Zenith NOP (Jeroen Dubbeldam) 4/8, VDL Groep Verdi TN NOP (Maikel van der Vleuten) 0/5, VDL Groep Zidane (Leopold van Asten) 4/4, Glock’s Cognac Champblanc (Gerco Schroder) 0/0.

6. Switzerland 24 faults: Windsor XV (Niklaus Rutschi) 9/8, Giovanni van Het Scheefkasteel (Pius Schwizer) 5/1, Concetto Son (Steve Guerdat) 4/5, Castlefield Eclipse (Paul Estermann) 4/5.

7. Belgium 28 faults: Citizenguard Taalex (Constand van Paesschen) 21/9, Sea Coast Pebles Z (Gudrun Pateet) 5/0 , Wesselina (Gilles Dunon) 12/£lim, Ensor de Litrange LXll (Jos Lansink) 1/1.

7. Brazil 28 faults: Cornetto K (Yuri Mansur Guerios) 10/Elim, Premiere Carthoes BZ (Felipe Amaral) 4/0, Casper (Karina Johannpeter) 6/17, Quabri de l’Isle (Pedro Veniss) 1/0.