British Showjumping’s Team NAF Round Up from CSIO 5* St Gallen
Sunday 06 June 2021
Having enjoyed fantastic weather at the start of the four-day CSIO5* show at St Gallen in Switzerland, it was an incredible let-down for the British Team when the weather broke at the start of the weekend and got progressively worth through to Sunday afternoon which played host to the Nations Cup competition.
Riding under the title sponsor banner of Team NAF, the team of four riders all came forward for the first round before making the decision to save their horses for another day and withdraw from the competition rather than risk them by jumping again in conditions that they were without doubt going to struggle with.
It was Harry Charles from Alton, Hampshire and the 12 year-old bay stallion Romeo 88 owned by Ann Thompson who fared the best when they put in a tremendous performance to leave all fences untouched. Taking it steady due to the ground conditions they found themselves riding in, they accrued a single time penalty as a result in what was otherwise a foot-perfect round.
Opening for the team was Holly Smith from Loughborough, Leicestershire with Denver XI a 13 year-old bay gelding owned by Ian Dowie. A touch of a pole mid course saw them pick up 4 penalties en-route. Next to go William Funnell from Dorking, Surrey with the Billy Stud homebred and owned 11 year-old chestnut gelding Equine America Billy Diamo collected an uncharacteristic 9 penalties towards the letter end of the course with Diamo clearly unsettled with the heavy going as a result of the rainfall they were having to endure.
For anchor rider Scott Brash MBE from Peeblesshire and based in Horsham, West Sussex it was a sensible decision he made when retiring mid course with Hello Senator, a 12 year-old bay gelding owned by Lady Pauline Kirkham and Lady Pauline Harris, who was clearly uncomfortable.
With so much at stake for all riders competing at elite level this year it made absolute sense to withdraw their horses and keep them safe and sound rather than push them into the second round. The show had certainly been a successful one for the Brits prior to this with Scott Brash and Hello Vincent, a 12 year-old also owned by Lady Pauline Kirkham and Lady Paulien Harris, taking a very close 2nd in the Friday afternoon Grand Prix after a nail-biting jump off.
Harry Charles took 3rd in the 1.50m Grand Prix qualifier on the opening day, Thursday 3 June, with Valkiry de Zance, a 12 year-old owned by Irina Abramovich. Their double clear performance was just a fraction of a second behind those ahead of him such was the level of competition. Day 1 had also seen Will Funnell had take 6th with home-bred talent Billy Alpen in the 1.40m class.
The class preceeding the Grand Prix on Friday saw Will Funnell and Scott Brash take 4th and 5th in the 1.45m class with Billy Alpen and Hello Forever respectively, both of whom jumped double clears for their placings.
Harry Charles shone in the 1.50m speed class on Saturday morning when he claimed a GB victory with Valkiry de Zance to see the Union Flag presented at the top of the line up. Their time of 94.69 seconds made them the only combination from a field of twenty-six starters to break the 95 second barrier from an extremely strong field.
Sunday morning had started well with Holly Smith and Billy Sarafina, another young and promising British Bred horse from the Billy Stud, jump double clear in a time that shaved two seconds off their nearest rival to take the win in the Youngster Cup Final. The next class, a 1.45m speed, also saw the Brits feature high in the line up when Will Funnell with Billy Alpen stopped the clock in 56.84 seconds to take 2nd place behind Maurice Tebbel (GER).
Di Lampard, World Class Performance Manager for Showjumping, said "This show starts our season and with some of the team here today heading straight to La Baule next week for another Nations Cup competition shortly followed by Sopot we made the decision to withdraw. The conditions were out of our control and not the best today and we are now looking ahead to next week and the rest of the season as it winds it's way to the Tokyo Olympic Games and the European Championships."
For full results and further information on the show visit www.csio.ch
Image: Harry Charles & Romeo 88 (Katjia Stuppia)
British Showjumping would like to thank NAF, title sponsors of the Senior Nations Cup Teams along with the Pony, Children, Junior, Young Rider and Veteran 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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