GREAT BRITAIN FINISH 2ND IN FURUSIYYA FEI NATIONS CUP FINAL, BARCELONA
Saturday 26 September 2015
This evening saw the 2016 Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup series draw to a close with the Final taking place at the Real Club de Polo arena in Barcelona, Spain.
It was the top eight teams, from the initial nineteen that jumped on Thursday, who were invited to contest the floodlit Final with it’s €2.5m prize fund. Qualifying alongside GB were some of the world’s best nations made up of Germany, Sweden, USA, The Netherlands, Ireland and Switzerland.
The course designed by Santiago Varela was an incredibly tough one with very just over a handful of riders managing to jump clear.
British Team
It was Ben Maher with the British Bred mare Diva II owned by Tatiana Korsakova who once again took the role of pathfinder for the team. It was an unfortunate 4 penalties for Ben Maher when a top pole rolled from its cups in what otherwise was a foot perfect round.
Next to go was 19 year-old Jessica Mendoza with her mother’s British Bred mare Spirit T. A forward going round saw Jessica needing to try and contain Spirit T’s enthusiasm. A vertical mid-way round caught them out, as it had for so many others before them to see them finish with just the 4 penalties.
At the halfway stage, once all nations had put their first two riders forward, GB sat in joint 3rd place on 8 penalties. Laura Renwick with her own and husband John’s bay gelding Bintang II whom she has produced since a youngster were next to go. It was an uncharacteristic round for them both as having started well Bintang took a dislike to something in the arena and picked up 4 penalties for a disobedience. A foot in the water and a fence down saw a further 8 penalties accrued with 4 additional time penalties added.
Anchorman Joe Clee with Ludwig Criel’s consistently brilliant Utamaro d’Ecaussines entered the arena knowing that it was crucial he delivered a clear if GB were to finish high up in the placings. It was an incredible round that they delivered to post a top class clear which saw Joe look absolutely delighted when he came through the finish line with time to spare and no penalties to add. Their consistent clears during the past two years have seen them become the mainstay of the British Team and watching them this evening it was easy to understand why.
Overall Standings
Competition this evening highlighted more than ever how the nations cup format is a superb spectator one. As each rider came forward, fortunes changed with nations sliding up and down the leader board as each of their riders came through the finish line.
After Joe had been there was just two riders left to go and it was all down the last rider, Gregory Wathelet for Belgium, as to how the final placings would be decided. If he jumped clear then we would finish in 2nd place, if he faltered then we would sit in joint 1st position. There was more than just the final placings to play for in respect of Gregory as he was also the sole rider whom could pick up the €200k double clear bonus having jumped clear on Thursday.
It was almost an eerie silence that fell on the arena as all eyes followed Gregory around the course. Approaching the last and with tension mounting, the entire stadium burst into a crescendo of noise when he jumped clear. Rising to their feet in acknowledgement of the tremendous achievement they had witnessed the noise that erupted in the stadium was incredible.
For Great Britain, the series and the Final has been a successful one. A solid finish at Dublin saw Great Britain secure their place on next years series and the objective of finishing high up at the Final has also been met. This along with the other objective of qualifying for Rio 2016 which was met at the European Championships in Aachen leaves GB in a strong position going forward into next year.
We have seen new combinations come forward at this level in 2016, the most notable of which is young Jessica Mendoza whom has come straight from the Junior environment up to Senior European Championships level. GB have Scott Brash in the World No.1 position, a place he has held since the end of 2013 bar one month earlier this year. This in addition to their incredible win at Spruce Meadows when they made history by being the first to win the Rolext Grand Slam for Showjumping makes Scott's domination of the sport even more notable.
Britsh Bred horses have topped the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses twice in the past few years in the form of Ursula last year and Argento this.
We now look ahead to the Global Champions Tour Final where Scott will be hoping to win the title for the third year running in a few months time before focusing on Rio next summer!
For full results and more information from Barcelona please visit www.csiobarcelona.com
RESULTS
1st Belgium (4)
2nd Great Britain (8)
3rd Netherlands (8)
4th USA (12)
5th Ireland (12)
6th Germany (12)
7th Sweden (16)
8th Switzerland (20)
1svujitxhxur8.jpg "Great Britain command victory in the Pony Nations Cup of Compiegne")
.jpg "Thrilling Weekend Kickstarts the STX-UK Pony British Novice Championship Second Round")