BRITS WIN FURUSIYYA NATIONS CUP IN ROME

Friday 22 May 2015

BRITS WIN FURUSIYYA NATIONS CUP IN ROME

It was a fantastic win by the British team in Rome this afternoon when they won the 3rd leg of the CSIO 5* Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup series.

This was one of the four competitions of the series that Di Lampard, the World Class Showjumping Performance Manager, would have been targeting as it is the first of four at which we were eligible for league points.  To hit the ground running by picking up maximum points at the first is exactly what Di would have been hoping for and she, along with the entire team, looked ecstatic at achieving this.

Leading at the halfway stage on zero penalties, the team held on to this lead but not without intense pressure as the final placings were taken right to the wire and not settled until last rider of the competition had completed his round.

First Round
With a freak hail storm having taken place only moments before the competition was due to start the entire arena was under water and causing considerable concern.  The historic grass arena which is topped with sand was announced as fit to continue with it being reviewed at strategic parts of the competition.  It was the initial competitors that would have had to cope with this imperfect going and for Holly Gillot from Loughborough, Leicestershire with her own 10 year-old liver chestnut gelding Dougie Douglas it no doubt played a substantial part in their uncharacteristic 12 penalty finish.

Fortunately, it didn’t take too long for the sun to reappear and the arena to dry out considerably along with the grandstands filling up again with spectators.  Robert Whitaker from Kent and the 12 year-old bay gelding Catwalk IV owned by Mandy Hall put in a foot-perfect performance to finish on a zero penalty score.  A performance that was mirrored by Michael Whitaker from Nottinghamshire and the 10 year-old grey stallion Cassionato who is owned by Beverley Widdowson.

John Whitaker from Huddersfield with his own and wife Clare’s 13 year-old British bred bay stallion Argento took the role of anchor.  Giving GB the third clear, in a competition where the best three of four scores count in each round, saw the team leap into first place a fence ahead of both the Netherlands and Sweden who were also chasing league points as were Spain and Italy alongside ourselves.

Second Round
The delight on Holly’s face was clear for all to see when she posted a second round clear having delivered an outstanding performance with Dougie Douglas who looked like he was jumping for fun.   For Rob Whitaker, the disappointment was etched on his face when he was awarded 4 penalties within sight of the finish line when the final fence fell.

With tension mounting, as a result of the Netherlands having produced two clears from their first three riders in the second round, the concentration on Michael’s face was intense as he rode into the arena with the eye-catching and Cassionato.  With all fences left untouched it was absolutely gut-wrenching to see a time penalty accrued due to them finishing just outside the time allowed.

As the competition played out, and with teams jumping in reverse order, all eyes were on the fourth and final rider for the Netherlands, Georco Schroder and Glock’s Cognac Champblanc.  With them producing a faultless round this then meant that nothing other than a clear by John would be enough to secure a GB win.   As calm and collected as always, no one would have been able to tell the pressure that John would have been carrying on his shoulders.  With the entire British team and support crew squashed onto the stand alongside the arena supporting John and riding each and every fence with him it is amazing it didn’t collapse when they jumped into the air in jubilation when John broke the finish line clear.

With John raising his hand in delight in recognition of Argento’s incredible performance and the fact that GB had won this all important leg of the series the crowded grandstands stood in recognition of his achievement.

Talking afterwards Di commented “This has been an incredible day today.  Everyone has delivered such brilliant performances and to win the first of the competitions in which we are chasing points puts us in an extremely good position.  All the horses and riders have been fantastic, team spirit is superb and I really am unable to praise everyone enough; not just our horses and riders but also our owners, grooms and support crew.  It’s just been a fantastic afternoon”.

Further information on the show and for full results please visit www.piazzadisiena.org Full information in respect of the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup series can be found by visiting www.fei.org.
 

RESULTS
1.    Great Britain   (1)
       Holly Gillott / Dougie Douglas -  12/0
       Robert Whitaker / Catwalk IV - 0/4 
       Michael Whitaker / Cassionato - 0/1
       John Whitaker / Argento - 0/0

2.  Netherlands (4)
3.  Sweden (8)
4.  Spain (12)
5.  Switzerland (16)
6.  Italy (18)
7.  Qatar (21)
8.  Belgium (28)



 

 

FEI TV will be showing live footage from the event. To access this please visit www.feitv.org. The programme will also be shown at a later date on Horse & Country TV. Please visit www.britishshowjumping.co.uk and click on ‘What’s on TV’ for broadcast times.

 

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 1998.

 
Recent More News
Appointment of Independent Non-Executive Board Directors Appointment of Independent Non-Executive Board Directors
28/03/2024
POYS PREVIEW 2024 POYS PREVIEW 2024
27/03/2024
Charlie Hancox from Worcestershire is February’s NAF Shining Star Charlie Hancox from Worcestershire is February’s NAF Shining Star
26/03/2024
British riders hit the heights in Spain with Grand Prix wins as siblings Ellen and Donald Whitaker dominate at two major shows British riders hit the heights in Spain with Grand Prix wins as siblings Ellen and Donald Whitaker dominate at two major shows
25/03/2024
New champions spring into action at the British Showjumping Spring Championships New champions spring into action at the British Showjumping Spring Championships
25/03/2024
view news archive »