Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping Final 2014 - First competition
Thursday 09 October 2014
Great Britain secure their place in the Final Eight to compete on Saturday evening
It was the Dutch team that stamped their authority all over the first round of the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping 2014 Final in Barcelona, Spain today when coming out on top with a zero score. In a competition during which the formbook was otherwise completely turned on its head, it was Sweden that lined up second while Belgium, Canada and Germany finished joint-third.
Only eight nations could qualify for next Saturday night’s final competition, and there was a gasp of near-disbelief when the defending Furusiyya champions from France, who claimed team silver behind The Netherlands at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014 in Normandy last month, failed to make the cut into the closing stages along with the WEG bronze medallists from the USA.
Instead it is Italy, Brazil and Great Britain who will complete Saturday night’s line-up which is set to bring the 2014 Furusiyya series to a spectacular conclusion.
Very technical
Course designer, Spain’s Santiago Varela, set them a big bold track, and as Dutchman Jeroen Dubbeldam said afterwards the last line of fences was “very technical”. Clears from the first two riders into the ring - Italy’s Luca Moneta with Neptune Brecourt and Sweden’s Peder Fredricson with H&M Simon - suggested the test was not over-strong. But that was very deceptive, because many of the world’s biggest stars couldn’t match those performances.
The opening vertical and following oxer were followed by a right-hand turn to a double - vertical to oxer - at fence three and a big water-tray oxer at fence four. There was then a left-rein turn-back to a big vertical at five which regularly hit the floor, and then a six-stride distance to the following oxer before bending right to the open water which was quickly followed by another sharp vertical at fence eight.
The degree of difficulty now increased even more with every fence, the tall red vertical at nine followed on four strides by a narrow oxer at 10 before turning left-handed down the final line. This was testing every inch of the way. Varela set the last three obstacles on an unusually-shaped snaking line, so having negotiated the tricky triple combination that began with a triple bar, riders had to quickly adjust left towards the penultimate oxer and then immediately pull right-handed again for the final vertical. What was required were horses that were not on the forehand and who were still listening to every instruction coming from on top.
“You needed a balanced horse at the end of the course, that was the important thing” Varela explained.
Impossible to predict
And it was impossible to predict the top-eight qualified teams until the very end. Drawn fourth to go, the Americans got off to an unsteady start when McLain Ward’s Rothchild hit the middle element of the triple combination and the penultimate oxer at 12 for eight faults. And when Kent Farrington and Voyeur returned with 12 on the board then the four-fault results from both Lauren Hough (Ohlala) and WEG individual bronze medallist Beezie Madden (Cortes C) left them on a final tally of eight which proved too expensive.
But if American supporters were disappointed then the French were in shock, because Simon Delestre’s 12 faults with the hard-pulling Qlassic Bois Margot were followed by five from Penelope Leprevost with Nayana and 11 from Jerome Hurel whose stallion, Quartz Rouge, got into such a muddle after lowering the penultimate oxer that he ground to a halt at the last. The big chestnut’s round had begun with sensational jumping, but, like so many others, things unravelled at the end of the course.
So when Kevin Staut’s Estoy Aqui de Muze hit the last two fences, the game was up for the French who finished third-last of the 14 competing nations.
Nine clear rounds
There were only nine clear rounds throughout the whole competition, and the Dutch secured top spot by recording three of these. Dubbeldam’s team and individual world title winning partner, the 10-year-old Zenith SFN, got their effort off to a shaky start when hitting the oxer at fence six and then putting a foot in the water. But that was only a minor detail when Maikel van der Vleuten (VDL Groep Verdi), Jur Vrieling (VDL Bubalu) and Gerco Schroder (Glock’s London) all kept a clean sheet. In the end they were untouchable.
Possibly one of the biggest surprise results of the day was the joint-sixth place finish for Italy which was underpinned by a brilliant clear from the first pair into the ring today, Luca Moneta and Neptune Brecourt. The Brazilians always looked rock solid, also finishing on 12 faults when all four riders made only a single mistake on course.
GB meanwhile made the cut by a margin of two faults over the Americans when completing with 14 on the board.
William Whitaker from Huddersfield with Elisabeth Fredlund’s 11 year-old bay gelding Fandango were trailblazers for the team. Competing at their first Furusiyya Final they returned home on 12 faults.
Joe Clee who is based in Belgium with Utamaro d’Ecaussines the10 year old bay stallion owned by Ludwig Criel. A mainstay for the British Team this year, Joe had been acknowledged as Team Rider of the Year at the British Showjumping Awards Ball on Tuesday evening. Finishing on 4 penalties his score was matched by fellow team mate Spencer Roe from Lincolnshire with Sally Roe’s 11 year-old bay gelding Wonder Why. Spencer had also been acknowledged as the '21 & Under Rider of the Year' at the prestigious Awards Ball.
Michael Whitaker from Nottinghamshire took the role of anchor with Cassionato, a 9 year-old grey stallion owned by Beverley Widdowson. Cassionata is horse that Michael has been extremely enthusiastic about in respect of his talent. Still very much starting his international career, he is also a horse that prolific owner Beverley Widdowson and husband Gary are very excited about.
Rob Hoekstra, Chef d'equpe and World Class Showjumping Performance Manager commented "We started the day saying our objective was to finish in the top eight and we did exactly that so I'm happy. Everyone has gone well and we look forward to Saturday".
For further information on the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping 2014 Final at Real Club de Polo in Barcelona, Spain from 9-12 October 2104 visit website www.csiobarcelona.com or contact Press Officer Isabel Suter,isuter@rcpolo.com, +34 760 258 222.
Result:
1. Netherlands 0 faults:
2. Sweden 4 faults
3. Belgium 8 faults
3. Canada 8 faults
3. Germany 8 faults
6. Italy 12 faults
6. Brazil 12 faults
8. Great Britain 14 faults: Fandango (William Whitaker) 12, Utamaro D'Ecaussines (Joe Clee) 4, Wonder Why (Spencer Roe) 4, Cassionato (Michael Whitaker) 6.
