Great Britain finish third at the CSIO4* Nations Cup of Sharjah
Monday 29 January 2024
vi7duuqon6x4.jpg "Great Britain finish third at the CSIO4* Nations Cup of Sharjah")
Great Britain claimed third place in the CSIO4* Nations Cup of Sharjah presented by Longines to start 2024 on a high.
Nine teams contented the 12 fence 1.55m course designed by Germany’s Frank Rothenberger with Great Britain drawn as the last team to jump.
Pathfinder Joe Stockdale came home on four faults as Barbara Hester and Laura Stockdale’s 10-year-old Ebanking just tapped out a rail in the treble combination.
Donald Whitaker, riding Reitsportanlage Dagobertshausen GmbH & CO.KG and his own 11-year-old Millfield Collette, also had a rail down in the treble combination as well as the oxer at number eight to finish round one on eight faults.
Skye Higgin kept the team in the hunt for a podium position as she steered Bernadette Lejeune’s 11-year-old Djordania Du Tillard to a wonderfully judged clear round.
Jack Whitaker took the anchor rider position with Michael Whitaker and Graham Gillespie’s Equine America Q Paravatti N. An unfortunate rail at the double as well as another at the oxer at fence 11 saw the combination finish the first round on eight faults.
At the halfway point, Great Britian were sitting in joint third with Ireland on 12 faults. With Saudia Arabia sat just behind them on 17 faults, there was much work to be done in round two to ensure a top three finish.
Di Lampard’s team came out in round two full of determination as all four riders added just four faults to their score. Ireland fell to the wayside adding an extra 20 faults to their score, but Saudia Arabia bettered their round one score to keep the pressure on. With both teams finishing round two on 24 faults the time would determine where each team finished: Great Britian claiming third place just six seconds ahead of Saudia Arabia.
“To finish on the podium was incredibly pleasing,” commented chef d’équipe Di Lampard. “We had two good results with young horses Ebanking and Djordania [Du Tillard] which is encouraging for these partnerships for the future. We need to improve marginally as a team as we look forward to the first Longines League of Nations competition in Abu Dhabi. There was a slight lack of consistency, but we are looking at all the positives of yesterday.”
CSIO4* Nations Cup of Sharjah – Sunday, 28 January 2024
1st: United Arab Emirate – 0/0 145.36 seconds
2nd: Germany - 4/1 222.44 seconds
3rd: Great Britain – 12/12 217.35 seconds (Chef d’Équipe Di Lampard)
Joe Stockdale & Ebanking - 4/4
Donald Whitaker & Millfield Colette – 8/4
Sky Higgin & Djordania Du Tillard – 0/4
Jack Whitaker & Equine America Q Paravatti N – 8/4
Find the full results here
Image Credit – Helen Cruden
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