Great Britain take third in Longines Division One Nations Cup in Falsterbo.
Sunday 17 July 2022
Great Britain finished their third and penultimate leg of the Longines Europe Division 1 League for 2022 on Friday afternoon in Falsterbo. The team, riding under the Team NAF banner, headed into the second round in joint first with Norway but it was Belgium who took the victory after their much improved second round.
Pathfinder Jessica Mendoza gave the team the best possible start with a clear in the first round aboard with her own 10-year-old chestnut gelding, Play. It was just eight faults to add to the board in the second round as they lowered the first part of the combination, with the last fence also falling.
Next up for Great Britain was Joe Stockdale and the 11-year-old bay mare Equine America Cacharel owned by Joy Cocklin and Laura Stockdale. The pairing jumped clear in the first round and were unlucky to roll the back bar of fence 10 in the second round, finishing on 4 faults.
Jodie Hall McAteer delivered two fantastic performances, jumping a foot-perfect clear in both rounds with the 13-year-old chestnut gelding Salt’n Peppa, owned by Mandy Hall.
Anchor rider Ellen Whittaker just had the first part of the double down in the first round with Tilly Shaw’s 10-year-old black mare Equine America Spacecake, ending the round on 4 faults. The pressure was on as Ellen entered the arena in the second round. A clear would keep Great Britain in contention for a win as they level-pegged with Belgium and a jump off would be on the cards. Ellen crossed the finished line having jumped clear but, to her utter disbelief, saw four time faults going up on the board after she completed her otherwise copybook round. On a final scoreline of eight faults, Britain finished in third place.
Victory went to Belgium who completed on 4 faults. The Netherlands took second place with a total of 5 faults and Great Britain were third with 8 faults.
Full results can be found here.
Image: Digishots: Leanjo de Koster - https://www.leanjo.com/archive
