Ben Maher jumps clear in Barcelona with Quilata
Thursday 28 September 2017
It was an 11th place finish for Great Britain in the opening leg of the Longines Nations Cup Final in Barcelona this afternoon despite a superb clear by Ben Maher with Quilata, a 13 year-old mare owned by Poden Farms.
The team, competing under the guidance of World Class Performance Manager Di Lampard and the title sponsor banner of NAF UK, had hoped to secure their place in Saturday evenings Final in which the top eight teams would qualify from the field of fifteen nations that had gained their place at Barcelona.
Finishing on a total of 16 penalties however saw them finish in 11th place and disappointingly out of the running meaning that they will compete tomorrow night in the Longines Challenge Cup alongside the other six nations that failed to qualify for Saturday's Final.
It was a total of 8 penalties apiece for Scott Brash with Ursula XII owned by Lady Kirkham and Lady Harris and Guy Williams with Rouge de Ravel owned by S.C.E.A. de Lillebec. Will Whitaker with Utamaro d’Ecaussines owned by Ludwig Criel became the drop score with their 13 penalty score as a result of three down and a time penalty.
Pole position after this, the first leg of the Final, was taken by Canada on a zero penalty score whilst France, the Netherlands, USA, and Germany all sat in joint 2nd on 4 penalties. Switzerland, Belgium, Ireland, and Sweden all shared 8 penalties meaning that one of them would need to be relegated based on cumulative time. It was Ireland that was forced to take the relegation which will see them join Great Britain in tomorrow nights competition where they will also be joined by Italy, New Zealand, Brazil, UAE, and Spain.
Ben Maher’s clear will see him progress through on a zero penalty score tomorrow. His objective will be continuing to be in contention for the €50k clear round bonus on offer and the Grand Prix on Sunday as well as the team Challenge Cup tomorrow night which commences at 21:00 hrs local time.
For full results please visit http://bit.ly/2ysPiYn.
For further information on the show and results, visit www.csiobarcelona.com. Full information in respect of the FEI Nations Cup series can be found by visiting www.fei.org. FEI TV will be showing live footage from the event. To access this please visit www.feitv.org.
British Showjumping would like to thank NAF, title sponsors of the Senior Nations Cup Teams along with the Children, Junior and Young Rider teams.
NAF’s premium range of Five Star brands include Superflex, Superflex Senior, PROFEET, Optimum, Magic, Oestress and Respirator Boost with quality at the heart of everything they do. They are a UFAS (Universal Feed Assurance Scheme), GMP+ (International Feed Assurance Scheme) and BETA NOPS (Naturally Occuring Prohibited Substances) accredited company and this enables them to guarantee full traceability on all the natural ingredients they utilise in their formulations, which are also selected in compliance with the FEI guidelines for Clean Sport. For further information, visit www.naf-equine.eu/uk/index.jsp.
The GBR showjumping teams are supported by the British Equestrian Federation’s World Class Programme, funded by UK Sport through the National Lottery. The Programme focuses on identifying talent, developing potential and maximising medal-winning performances on the world stage.
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