GB Team NAF round up from the CSIO5* Nations Cup Final in Barcelona

This year the CSIO Barcelona, one of the oldest horse shows in the world with a history dating all the way back to 1897, celebrated its 125th anniversary with the staging of the FEI Jumping Longines Nations Cup Final for the ninth consecutive time at the hugely popular Real Club de Polo. 

Chef d’Equipe Di Lampard said: “The Brits always look forward to coming to Barcelona for the Nations Cup final and we have a group of riders who are very excited to be here.” 

Great Britain, jumping under the title sponsor banner of Team NAF, were drawn ninth to jump in the first round. 

Pathfinder Ellen Whitaker from South Yorkshire and Equine America Spacecake, owned by Tilly Shaw were first to jump. A regular combination on the Nations Cup teams this year, the pair were unlucky to roll a pole in the last part of the combination, finishing on four faults 

Second into the arena were Joe Stockdale from Northamptonshire and Equine America Cacharel, owned by?Joy Cocklin and Laura Stockdale. On the back of a bronze medal placing at the FEI Jumping World Championships in Herning 2022, the combination jumped a foot perfect clear to keep Great Britain in contention for the final.  

Jodie Hall McAteer from Hertfordshire and Salt’n Peppa, owned by Mandy Hall were third to jump. Lowered poles at the second part of the double and last part of the combination meant they finished on eight faults.

The youngest rider on the start list at just 20 years’ old, and Great Britain’s anchor rider Lily Attwood from Buckinghamshire and Cor-Leon van Vlierbeek Z, owned by Emmy Freeman-Attwood, had three poles down and two-time faults, finishing on 14 faults.

After the first round, Great Britain finished in 8th place, securing their place in the final having just edged out Brazil by 0.4 seconds. They would be joined in the final by Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Ireland, and France.

On Sunday, the eight best nations from Thursday’s opening round faced a tough and testing 14-fence track set by Spanish course designer Santiago Varela. With the lowest placing from the first round, Great Britain were drawn first to jump, but with scores wiped clean for the final it was all to play for. 

Ellen Whitaker and Equine America Spacecake made light work of the course, and were unlucky to have the penultimate fence down, finishing on four faults.

Lily Attwood and Cor-Leon van Vlierbeek Z, improved on their first-round score just having the first part of the double down as well as a foot in the water, finishing eight 8 faults. 

Jodie Hall McAteer and Salt’n Peppa equalled their first-round score having had the first and last part of the combination down and finishing on eight faults.

Joe Stockdale and Equine America Cacharel looked set to produce another clear round for the team but were unlucky to see the back bar falling on the final fence, finishing on four faults.

Great Britain eventually finished the competition in fifth place with a total of 16 faults. Belgium were victorious and secured their qualification to the 2024 Paris Olympics as the only team to finish on zero faults. France and Switzerland finished second and third respectively as both teams ended the competition with four faults, with France just finishing 2.68 seconds faster.  

Full results can be found here 

Rewatch the Nations Cup and Grand Prix competitions on ClipMyHorse and see how it all unfolded in photos at www.instagram.com/fei_jumping_ and www.instagram.com/csiobarcelona/.  

Team Support
British Showjumping would like to thank NAF, title sponsors of the Senior Nations Cup Teams along with the Pony, Children, Junior, Young Rider and Veteran teams. 

NAF’s premium range of Five Star brands include Superflex, Superflex Senior, PROFEET, Optimum, Magic, Oestress and Respirator Boost with quality at the heart of everything they do. They are a UFAS (Universal Feed Assurance Scheme), GMP+ (International Feed Assurance Scheme) and BETA NOPS (Naturally Occurring Prohibited Substances) accredited company and this enables them to guarantee full traceability on all the natural ingredients they utilise in their formulations, which are also selected in compliance with the FEI guidelines for Clean Sport.

For further information, visit www.naf-equine.eu/uk/index.jsp.  

Britain's showjumping teams are supported by the British Equestrian Federation’s World Class Programme, funded by UK Sport through the National Lottery. The Programme focuses on identifying talent, developing potential and maximising medal-winning performances on the world stage. The teams are further supported by LeMieux, who supply the teams with saddlepads and rugs. 

Image: Joe Stockdale and Equine America Cacharel via Facebook.