WE NEEDED GENIUS IN DUBLIN AND THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT WE GOT!
Friday 08 August 2014
This final leg of the Furusiyya Nations Cup series was an absolute crucial one for Team GB with so much hinging on it that at times it was almost impossible to watch.
As the UK leg came to a close last week at the Longines Royal International Horse Show at Hickstead the situation in respect of Great Britain managing to retain their position on the top level tier looked pretty dire. We were sitting in 9th place and knew nothing other than a stroke of genius by the team selected for Dublin would do. In fact, initial calculations had shown that nothing other than a win would be enough to secure our place working on a theory that most of the other nations competing for points would put across strong teams.
If we were looking for genius, then that’s certainly what we got . Sharing pole position at the end of the first round with the Netherland on zero penalties we looked incredibly strong. Ben Maher with Jane F Clark’s grey mare Cella had finished on 4 penalties with Joe Clee and Ludwig Criel’s bay stallion Utamaro d’Ecaussines jumping clear. Spencer Roe with his mother Sally’s bay gelding Wonder Why had put in a foot perfect clear, a performance which was mirrored by World No.1 rider Scott Brash with Hello Sanctos, the bay gelding owned by Lady Kirkham and Lord & Lady Harris with whom he won Team Gold at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
As much as winning the competition was important, the most crucial aspect from a performance perspective was that we did enough to secure ourselves within the top seven on the league table. Entering into the competition in 9th place we knew we had a lot of work to do and the pressure on the riders and the support teams must have been immense.
The course, which had been designed by Alan Wade had certainly taken many prisoners. The German team in particular had issues ending up in them being eliminated. Notably, it was the combination which caused the problems despite nothing being too apparent as to why it would be the Achilles heel of so many. But it was the Netherlands who really suffered in terms of feeling the pressure. Having finished the first round so strongly and GB seeing them as the major threat to our taking first place their demise had to be one of the most spectacular of the series to date.
Whilst GB continued to put in solid performances with nothing more than one jump apiece being accrued for all bar Spencer Roe who put in one of the extremely few double clears of the competition; the Netherlands faltered time after time to end up with a finish score 20 and a 6th place finish.
It was the USA who won the class with just 4 penalties, only one fence ahead of Great Britain who finished on 8 faults. Their joy at their triumph was clearly evident when they stood on the podium holding the prestigious and historic Aga Khan trophy aloft.
But, it was definitely elation that the British Team felt at their meteoric rise up the league table as a result of their 2nd place finish in Dublin. Jumping from 9th place to 6th in one fell swoop meant we had done just enough to secure our spot on next year’s Top Level Furusiyya Nations Cup series without having to go into battle for a place via the Final in Barcelona. The relief felt by everyone must have been immense as the importance that these team competitions play in the performance pathway programme is second to none.
Talking after the presentation Rob Hoesktra, World Class Showjumping Performance Manager commented Rob Hoekstra “I’m very very proud of the team. They were under a lot of pressure to do well and all week we’ve only talked about winning. For what we wanted to achieve, as far as I’m concerned we won. They all looked really good today and as I said before I am so proud of them.
This year, our aim in the Nations Cups was to give as many opportunities as possible to some of our young riders to gain some experience at this level. Some have performed incredibly well, a prime example of this would Spencer Roe with his double clear today which played a crucial role in our 2nd place finish.
Dublin Nations Cup Results:
1st USA (4)
2nd Great Britain (8)
3rd Ukraine (16)
France (16)
Furusiyya League Standings:
1st France (345)
2nd Netherlands (345)
3rd Germany (305)
4th Sweden (300)
5th Belgium (295)
6th Great Britain (287.50)
Further information on the show and for results can be found by visitingwww.dublinhorseshow.com. Full information in respect of the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup series can be found by visiting www.fei.org.
The British Showjumping Teams are supported by Exchequer and National Lottery funding via UK Sport.
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.
14kvaj7pl3106.jpg "Jonathan Egmore and Mollie Rose Smith are winners in the Equissage Pulse British Novice Second Rounds.")
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11dtw0hmsttk0.jpg "NAF Five Star Bronze and Silver League Qualifiers get underway at Speetley Equestrian Centre")
