Barcelona, Spain—Sept. 22
The Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping Final began with the opening round at Barcelona CSIO*****.
Out of 18 national teams starting Round 1, only right qualify to jump in the Final Round 2, and the Hermès U.S. Show Jumping Team of Audrey Coulter, Lucy Davis, Lauren Hough, and Laura Kraut, led by Chef d’Equipe Robert Ridland, secured a berth with a zero-fault Round 1 total.
Laura Kraut and Zeremonie’s clear round clinched the Hermès U.S. Show Jumping Team’s spot in the Final. Photo by Libby Law Photography
“Usually we are preparing for the Friday night class [not having qualified for the Final but instead the consolation final],” Ridland joked. “When we walked the course this morning I thought it was fantastic and that the eight teams that make it will deserve to be there on Saturday and it proved to be the case.
“We certainly have had a good year, one we can be proud of, but our depth is not just in our Rio [Olympic Games silver-medal] team. It’s nice to be here on a zero score today,” Ridland continued.
Laura Kraut (right) and Robert Ridland at the press conference. Photo by Libby Law Photography
The U.S. was one of three countries to finish Round 1 on 0 faults, joined by Germany and defending champions Belgium. Also moving forward to the final are Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.
The U.S. team drew 13th in the order of nations and was led off in strong fashion by Hough and The Ohlala Group’s Ohlala, a 12-year-old Swedish Warmblood mare. Hough and the mare produced a clear round over the technical Santiago Varela-designed course.
Lauren Hough on Ohlala for the USA. Photo by Libby Law Photography
“I thought it was a good course,” said Hough. “It is a difficult event to build for with so many countries and having riders at all levels. [Santiago Varela] asked enough good questions to present a challenge without over-facing some of the less experienced countries. I am very comfortable going first with Ohlala. I stuck to my plan and put in some [added strides] where maybe some others wouldn’t and she jumped fantastic.”
Riding next in the order was Coulter and Copernicus Stables, LLC’s Capital Colnardo, an 11-year-old Holsteiner stallion. The pair gave a solid effort, but ran into trouble during toward the end of the course, tipping a rail at the B element of the triple combination at 12, and another at the final fence to finish with 8 faults, which would be the team’s drop score.
Audrey Coulter on Capital Colnardo for the USA. Photo by Libby Law Photography
Fresh off a team silver medal at the Rio Olympic Games, Davis and Old Oaks Farm’s Barron, a 12-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding, delivered another clear round for the United States. Then anchor rider Kraut and Old Willow Farms, LLC’s Zeremonie, a 9-year-old Holsteiner mare, brought home the third clear round of the day, securing America’s place in the final.
Lucy Davis on Barron for the Hermès U.S. Show Jumping Team. Photo by Libby Law Photography
Speaking to the format of the competition, Hough noted, “This is always a tough day for us with the added pressure of getting into the final. Everyone rose to the occasion—Laura, as our anchor on her young horse, pulled through and Lucy delivered a strong round. We are all feeling good going into Saturday.”
There were plenty of surprises in the first round at the Real Club de Polo in Barcelona, including that the newly-crowned Olympic team champions from France disappeared from the reckoning.
It was quite a surprise when the Belgians managed to produce such an impressive performance, as the defending Furusiyya champions have had a poor season in the 2016 series. “I’m very happy with the way the horses jumped and the riders rode, but maybe the result today was a bit unexpected,” admitted Belgian Chef d’Equipe Dirk Demeersman. “Last year we came with a team with a lot of experience, but this year we came with a team with not so much. However we have been showing good results in the last few weeks,” he pointed out.
Gregory Wathelet’s clear round on Coree helped the Belgian team finish on 0 faults and qualify for Round 2. Photo by Libby Law Photography
Tested
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The 80-seconds time-allowed over the track set by Spain’s Santiago Varela proved fairly easy to get, but his course certainly tested the 72 horse-and-rider partnerships that took it on. The bogey of the day was the final line from the oxer at Fence 11 to the triple combination at 12 on a right-hand bend, and then the final planks at Fence 13.
Time and again horses either stood off or got too close to the oxer and had that down, and many were off-balance for the triple combination.
The French looked vulnerable from the start—Philippe Rozier and Rahotep de Toscane kicking off with a 21-fault score so when teammates Kevin Staut (Reveur de Hurtebise HDC), Roger Yves Bost (Sydney Une Prince) and Penelope Leprevost (Flora de Mariposa) each had a fence down their 12-fault total would be too much at the end of the day.
The Germans were the first to post three clear rounds, World No. 1 Christian Ahlmann steering Taloubet home with the greatest of ease before Marcus Ehning (Pret a Tout) and Daniel Deusser (First Class van Eeckelghem) followed suit.
Daniel Deusser on First Class van Eeckelghem for Germany. Photo by Libby Law Photography
Ludger Beerbaum, lining out for his country in his very last Nations Cup, made it all the way to the final planks before having that down with Casello.
The Americans and Belgians however had to wait for their fourth and last riders to complete the track before posting their zero scorelines, Kraut (Zeremonie) anchoring the U.S. total and Gregory Wathelet (Coree) doing likewise for Belgium.
Great Start
Rio 2016 individual gold medalist Nick Skelton got the British off to a great start with a super clear from Big Star.
Nick Skelton on Big Star. Photo by Libby Law Photography
When Michael Whitaker backed that up with a great round from Viking, the Brits were well in contention for one of those top-eight places. All they had to add at the end of the day was the single error from Scott Brash and Ursula, and the Swiss and Italians were the same, clears from Steve Guerdat (Corbinian) and Martin Fuchs (Clooney) ensuring Paul Estermann’s 4 faults with Lord Pepsi would be all the former would count.
Steve Guerdat on Corbinian for the Swiss team. Photo by Libby Law Photography
The Italians showed the same kind of grit that earned them victory in the Furusiyya leg in Dublin this summer with clears from Piergiorgio Bucci (Casallo Z) and Lorenzo de Luca (Ensor de Litrange) backed up by single mistakes from their team-mates.
The battle for the last two places was possibly the closest of the day, and the Brazilians were unlucky to lose out. Rodrigo Pessoa set them up with an opening clear from Citizenguard Cadjanine Z but when Stephan de Freitas Barcha (Landpeter do Feroleto) put a foot in the open water and lowered the last and then Felipe Amaral (Premiere Carthoes BZ) did the same and also hit the vertical at Fence 10 then it seemed their chances were dashed.
But a brilliant last-line clear from Pedro Veniss and the stunning stallion Quabri de L’Isle left them on an 8-fault total that looked good enough to see them through to Saturday’s finale. However the Dutch matched that when last-to-go Gerco Schroder (Glock’s London) repeated Harrie Smolders opening clear with Emerald.
Gerco Schroder on Glock’s London for the Dutch team. Photo by Libby Law Photography
Rescued
And then the Irish were suddenly rescued by their last-line partnership, Greg Broderick with MHS Going Global. Darragh Kenny (Go Easy de Muze) and Denis Lynch (All Star) each left a pole on the floor, but a clear from Broderick could dispose of Shane Breen’s opening double-error with Golden Hawk.
And, if the Irishman was quick enough, he could also snatch a qualifying spot for his country. Because if the Dutch, Irish and Brazilians were all tied for seventh place then time would decide which teams would get through to Saturday night’s extravaganza.
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Greg Broderick on MHS Going Global helped clinch Ireland’s berth in the Final. Photo by Libby Law Photography
Cool as a breeze Broderick set off at a cracking pace, and when the scoreboard showed a clear round in 73.71 seconds that was good enough to slot his team in behind the Dutch and put paid to Brazilian chances.
Despite their fault-free scorelines, the leading sides were not going to let today’s strong result go to their heads however. “I was very happy with the way all four horses jumped today and it’s great to be in the Final on Saturday, this is the target from today’s qualifier, but we all start on a zero score on Saturday so we have to do it all over again” said German Chef d’Equipe Otto Becker.
It will be an emotional night for Ludger Beerbaum as he says farewell to the team sport on which he has had such influence during his long and illustrious career. But he didn’t want to get caught up in the emotion today. “After 30 years I feel very lucky to do the job the way I’ve done it. I have had a lot of support and I have no regrets. Now I’m looking forward to whatever is left,” he said tonight.
The final round of competition will feature the top eight teams from Thursday’s opening round, all starting off on zero faults. Competition will take place Saturday at 3 p.m. ET and can be watched live on FEITV.org. Teams ranked ninth through 18th—Brazil, Qatar, Spain, Austria, Egypt, Colombia, Mexico, France, Sweden and Australia—will move forward to the Longines Challenge Cup on Friday at 3 p.m. ET. That competition can be viewed live on the FEI YouTube channel.
Result:
1. Germany 0 faults: Taloubet Z (Christian Ahlmann) 0, Pret a Tout (Marcus Ehning) 0, First Class van Eeckelghem (Daniel Deusser) 0, Casello (Ludger Beerbaum) 4.
1. USA 0 faults: Ohlala (Lauren Hough) 0, Capital Colorado (Audrey Coulter) 8, Barron (Lucy Davis) 0, Zeremonie (Laura Kraut) 0.
1. Belgium 0 faults: Bisquet Balou C (Nicola Philippaerts) 4, Cas de Liberte (Niels Bruynseels) 0, Grand Cru van de Rozenberg (Jerome Guery) 0, Coree (Gregory Wathelet) 0.
4. Switzerland 4 faults: Quorida de Treho (Romain Duguet) 8, Corbinian (Steve Guerdat) 0, Lord Pepsi (Paul Estermann) 4, Clooney (Martin Fuchs) 0.
4. Great Britain 4 faults: Big Star (Nick Skelton) 0, Viking (Michael Whitaker) 0, Ursula (Scott Brash) 4, Ornellaia (John Whitaker) 8.
4. Italy 4 faults: Casallo Z (Piergiorgio Bucci) 0, Ensor de Litrange (Lorenzo de Luca) 0, Antonio (Gianni Govoni) 4, Tower Mouche (Bruno Chimirri) 4.
7. Netherlands 8 faults: Emerald NOP (Harrie Smolders) 0, VDL Groep Arera C (Maikel van der Vleuten) 8, Caruso LS La Silla (Jeroen Dubbeldam) 8, Glock’s London NOP (Gerco Schroder) 0.
7. Ireland 8 faults: Golden Hawk (Shane Breen) 8, Go Easy de Muze (Darragh Kenny) 4,, All Star (Denis Lynch) 4, MHS Going Global (Greg Broderick) 0.
Photo by Libby Law Photography
Photo by Libby Law Photography
Photo by Libby Law Photography
Photo by Libby Law Photography
