Great Britain’s Team Cavalor finish close 2nd in FEI Furusiyya Nations Cup Final at Barcelona
Saturday 24 September 2016
The ‘sudden death’ style format of the FEI Furusiyya Nations Cup Final at Barcelona most certainly made the competition an exciting one that kept people on the edge of their seats from the first day of competition right through to the final round this evening.
Thursday had seen the first round of the Nations Cup Final contested with just eight. of the eighteen teams that started, qualifying for the Final which took place under floodlights this evening in the historic and impressive arena at Barcelona.
Opening for the Brits was Rio 2016 Individual Gold medallists Nick Skelton and Big Star, owned by Beverley Widdowson. Tackling the course effortlessly to return home on a zero penalty score, within the time allowed, they gave GB a great head start in the competition for the others to follow. Next up was Michael Whitaker, who was making his incredibly impressive 200th British team appearance this evening. Riding his own Viking V, it was yet another superb round that was produced which saw them return home clear with no penalties allocated.
At the halfway stage, Great Britain were the clear leaders by being the only nation to have produced two clear rounds across their first two riders. Jess Mendoza, with her mother Sarah’s bay mare Spirit T, were next to go. However things didn’t go quite to plan for them when three fences lowered to see them finish on 12 penalties and become the eventual drop score for the team.
At the end of the third round, it was Germany that had managed to climb up the leaderboard to become the main threat for Great Britain. Both Christian Ahlmann and Janne Frederike Meyer had jumped clear for Germany whilst Marcus Ehning and Pret A Tout had finished on just the 4 penalties. With this in mind, tension really started mounting around the arena, when spectators realised that there could well be a jump-off for first place should each of the teams anchor riders jump clear.
For the Brits, it was former World No.1 rider Scott Brash with Lady Kirkham and Lady Harris’s bay mare Ursula XII who was the fourth and final rider. Scott who always seems to ride better than ever when under pressure, looked incredible when he broke the finish line clear, within the time allowed having produced an absolutely stunning round. It was now a case of waiting to see how Ludger Beerbaum fared as to whether it was going to be an outright GB win or whether it would come down to a jump-off in respect of deciding which of the two nations was going to take home the title.
As Ludger Beerbaum, in his final appearance before retiring from team competition, entered the arena you could have heard a pin drop such was the silence from the packed grandstands. Jumping clear and breaking the clock with seconds to spare the crowd erupted into cheers when they knew that they were going to be treated to a single round jump off for first place.
It was Nick and Big Star that were selected to represent the British team whilst Marcus Ehning and Pret A Tout were chosen for Germany. Drawn first to go, you could see Nick going through the course in his mind as he entered the arena on Big Star. Never an enviable position to be drawn in, Nick decided to go for a clear on a reasonably forward pace to try and force a mistake from Marcus who was to follow him. Stopping the clock in a time of 41.57 seconds with all fences untouched most would have thought Nick had done enough to secure the win. However, the gauntlet Nick had laid down was most certainly picked up by Marcus who pushed forward, taking as many risks as he dared, to break the finish line just under 2 seconds faster in a time of 39.80 seconds and clear to secure a German victory.
Talking afterwards, Di Lampard commented “I honestly believe we were beaten by the draw. The way our horses and riders have performed has been brilliant and they have really done us proud”. Discussing the format of the competition Di added “The ‘sudden death’ format of the Final has been a great one, it has made it incredibly exciting to watch and extremely sharp. It’s a good format, a tough format, and one that you only get a single shot at”.
Regarding her thoughts on coming 2nd, Di furthered “I have to congratulate the German team who did fantastically well. But I really would like to acknowledge the brilliance of our team here. Nick, Scott and Michael have all been unbelievable this evening”.
For further information on the show please visit www.csiobarcelona.com and for full results visit http://bit.ly/2cvfSd6
1svujitxhxur8.jpg "Great Britain command victory in the Pony Nations Cup of Compiegne")
.jpg "Thrilling Weekend Kickstarts the STX-UK Pony British Novice Championship Second Round")