George Morris, the United States chef d’equipe, had one goal at the start of this year’s Samsung Super League Nations Cup series–to maintain the
team’s place in the prestigious series. Much to his delight, they not only kept their place in the Super League, they won it by claiming second in the series final at the Barcelona CSIO (Spain) on Sept. 15-18.

“I am so glad we won. My first aim had been to stay in the Super League. Before Aachen [Germany, in August], I would not have believed that we would have a chance to win it,” said Morris. “All the U.S. riders make such a big effort and contribution to leave their families, their business, their clients, their horses, to compete in this series in Europe.”

The U.S. team of McLain Ward, Laura Kraut, Lauren Hough and Jeffery Welles dedicated its victory to Morris.

Said Kraut, “I have been riding in seven of the eight Super League Nations Cups–I guess in more than any other rider. We are happy to have made George really proud for us. We did win for him to justify the great job he has done for us.”

The United States began the Super League season with a win–Beezie Madden, Georgina Bloomberg, Schuyler Riley and Kraut conquered in La Baule (France) in May. Then, Madden, Anne Kursinski, Riley and Kraut followed that up with second place at Rome (Italy) on May 27. The same team took fourth at St. Gallen (Switzerland) on June 3. Aaron Vale, Callan Solem, Christine Tribble and Todd Minikus took over in Rotterdam (the Netherlands) on June 17 and finished eighth.

But then the rebound began. At Hickstead (Eng-land) on July 29, the team of Kraut, Kimberly Prince, Ward and Madden captured second place in a gritty perfor-mance. Ward fell from Sapphire in the first round, eliminating them and breaking Ward’s collarbone. But the remaining three team members pulled through with performances that kept them in second–a result that pulled them to second in the series standings at that time.

And the enthusiasm continued in Dublin (Ireland) on Aug. 5, where Welles stepped in to help Prince, Kraut and Madden tie for third. And then the team of Welles, Kraut, Ward and Madden pulled off a fantastic win at the prestigious Aachen (Germany) CHIO in August. That put the United States in first heading
to the final in Barcelona, where points counted double.

Fighting To Stay In

By that time, Morris knew that the United States had safely secured a berth for next year’s Super League series. But they’d also developed a taste for winning. Welles and Armani led off the American effort with a clear first round, and Ward, on Oasis, Kraut on Anthem, and Hough on Casadora, all put 4 faults on the board. Before Round 2, the United States stood tied for third with Ireland with 8 faults, while Switzerland and the Netherlands shared the lead, with four faults each.

Perennial show jumping powerhouse Germany–after finishing a disappointing seventh on their home turf at Aachen–didn’t send their strongest team to Barcelona. Most of their best riders chose instead to compete at the Riders Tour competitions at CSI Donaueschingen (Germany). The German team coach Kurt Gravemeier arrived at Barcelona without high hopes.

“You should never give up hope and confidence, but it is quite unlikely that we are going to win the Nations Cup or the Super League,” he said.

And the Germans–Alois Pollman-Schweckhorst, Pia-Luise Aufrecht, Eva-Maria Bitter and Heinrich-Hermann Engemann–finished Round 1 in Barcelona tied for sixth. They rallied in Round 2 to rise to a tie for fourth with Ireland, but it wasn’t enough to overtake the U.S. in the final series standings.

For Ireland, fourth place was much more important than for Germany, since this result kept them in the Super League. Standing in eighth before the final leg at Barcelona, they were vulnerable to drop from the Super League. The lowest-placed team in the series drops down to the regular Nations Cup series, while the winning nation of the regular series gets promoted to next year’s Super League ranks.

Belgium, finishing eighth in Barcelona, will be dropped from the Super League. The regular Nations Cup final takes place in November in Buenos Aires (Argentina), where the series winner ascends to the Super League. It is likely that it will be the 2004 Olympic silver medalists Sweden, who had lost their spot in the Super League last season, being replaced by Switzerland.

A Huge Win

“This is a very emotional moment for us, a huge success,” said Ward of the U.S triumph. The win also came just 13 days after the declaration that the United States would now be awarded the Olympic gold team medal, since the Court for Arbitration in Sport upheld the FEI’s decision to disqualify German Ludger Beerbaum.

Welles and Armani, in their first big European tour together, turned in a remarkable double-clear in Barcelona to lead the U.S. team to the win. “Armani did so well and was so consistent,” Welles said.

Hough admitted that she felt quite a bit of pressure in her first Super League appearance this year. “I am now profiting from the great results the others have achieved throughout the season. This was quite an obligation for me. But I am very happy to be here today,” she said after turning in two four-fault rounds.

With the U.S. team’s first Super League triumph under their belts, Morris turned his eyes to the future. “My first aim will be again to stay in the Super League, second I hope to win it again,” he said. “But there is a lot going on next year. Our first major aim for next year is to be successful at the World Cup Final in April. In March, we will have the only trials at Palm Beach [Fla.] to give everybody a chance to qualify for the Super League team. Then, through the Super League events, we will do the preparation and selection for the 2006 World Equestrian Games at Aachen.”

The Super League win was not the only U.S. success at Barcelona. On Saturday evening, Sept. 17, Aaron Vale topped the Copa de S.M. la Reina–the Queen’s Cup.

The jump-off duel for the top prize–a valuable Lexus car–was between Vale and the French rider Eugenie Angot. Vale opened the jump-off aboard the 11-year-old, Han-overian gelding Artur with a clear round in 33.42 seconds.

Angot stayed clear as well aboard the 9-year-old French mare Ilostra Dark but took 35.23 seconds to place second.

For Vale, it was the continuation of a great season. With Artur, whom he has only ridden since January, Vale has already won five grand prix classes. “With Artur, I have an outstanding horse and I hope to make a championship team with him. He has a great heart and he is fast. I have the feeling the faster he goes the even better he jumps. All season he was very consistent.”