GB FINISH 2ND IN ODENSE NATIONS CUP AFTER A HARD FOUGHT BATTLE WITH BELGIUM

Friday 15 May 2015

Congratulations to Harriet Nuttall and the other members of Team GBR for Silver at The Odense Nations Cup.

This afternoon saw a full on battle with Belgium for the Odense Nations Cup title but it was an eventual 2nd place position for Great Britain having been beaten by just one time penalty.

Having won the Nations Cup last year, there was no way that GB were going to give up on it easily and the head to head battle from the halfway mark when both nations were in joint 1st position carried on right through to the bitter end.

All four riders competing under the guidance of Chef d’Equipe Tony Newbery put in some brilliant performances with two members making their inaugural appearance on a senior team.   The competition was a nail biting one from start to finish with all to play for from the outset where only eight of the thirteen teams would be invited to come through to the second round.   At the halfway stage, Great Britain and Belgium were sharing first place and therefore, as the teams jump in reverse order, were the last of the eight teams to come forward each time.

The second round certainly saw fortunes change as all eight nations slugged it out for their final positions in the line-up.  It was Belgium who finally came through on their 8 penalty finish to take the title, a result however which wasn’t clarified until the very last competitor had finished making it an incredibly nail-biting finish.

GB Performances 
It was Harriet Nuttall from Yeovil, Somerset with her father Rupert’s 11 year-old chestnut gelding A Touch Imperious who was first to go for the team.  Jumping a brilliant clear in the first round, she punched the air in delight when she rode through the finish on a zero penalty score to match her first round clear of exactly a year ago when she made her debut on a senior team.   The second round saw them pick up 4 penalties when they touched an oxer just over midway on the course.

Making her first appearance on a senior team was Chloe Winchester, from Eye in Suffolk with her mother Gillian’s 12 year old bay mare Avoca Valkyrie.   An extremely solid first round saw them jump all fences cleanly however finishing just outside the time allowed saw a time penalty being accrued.  Their second round saw a change in fortunes unfortunately when two fences fell plus a time penalty left them with a second round score of 9 penalties.

Next to go Emma O’Dwyer from Churchdown, Gloucester with her 9 year-old bay gelding HHS Figero made the course look easy in the first round, taking the twelve obstacles that required fifteen jumping efforts in their stride to return home on a first round zero penalty score.  Their second round was as equally brilliant which saw them produce one of the only three double clears of the competition.

Julie Andrews, from Preston, Lancashire with Eva Bjorkman’s 10 year-old bay gelding Ayrton IV, who were also making their first appearance on a senior team, took the role of anchor.  It was a 9 penalty first round score for them when they lowered a vertical just after the water and the first part the double just outside the time allowed.   Their second round saw them produce an extremely good performance and it was an unlucky 4 penalties that were collected when they rolled a pole at the first part of the combination.

Results
1.  Belgium  - 8 penalties
2.  Great Britain – 9 penalties
     Harriet Nuttall / A Touch Imperious – 0/4
     Avoca Valkyrie / Chloe Winchester – 1/9
     Emma O’Dwyer / HHS Figero – 0/0
     Julie Andrews / Ayrton IV – 04
3.  Italy – 12 penalties
4.  Ireland – 15 penalties
5.  Norway – 24 penalties
6.  Ukraine – 25 penalties
7.  Sweden – 26 penalties
8.  Germany – 49 penalties
 

For further information on the show and for full results please visit www.csio-odense.dk .  Full information in respect of the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup series can be found by visiting www.fei.org.

FEI TV will be showing live footage from the event. To access this please visit www.feitv.org.

The British Showjumping Teams are supported by the UK Sport National Lottery funded World Class Programme.

The World Class Development Programme underpins World Class Performance and, together with the Equine Pathway, they comprise the Equestrian World Class Programme, incorporating the three Olympic sports of dressage, eventing, showjumping and the Paralympic sport of para-equestrian dressage.  The Programme has been funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, through Exchequer and National Lottery funds, via UK Sport since 

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