6th place finish for GB in Roeser Nations Cup
Friday 30 June 2017
The large grass arena at Herschsfeld Roeser in Luxembourg drew a considerable number of spectators for the CSIO 3* Nations Cup competition with everyone being able to get close to the action via the grandstands and hospitality areas that enclosed it on all four sides.
It was German course designer Peter Schumacher that carried the responsibility of building a 1.50m course that would ask just the right amount of questions across its twelve obstacles requiring fifteen jumping efforts. There wasn’t one particular jump on the course that became the most problematic but if you had to choose one it would most likely have been the double that caught most of the nations in the early stages.
Starting the competition in 2nd place behind Belgium on the Division 2 League Table, this was the sixth point scoring competition of the series for Great Britain, competing under the sponsor title banner of Team NAF, with just one qualifying leg to go.
First Round
At the end of the first round it was Belgium that secured the lead as the only team to finish on a zero penalty score. Joining them as one of the eight teams to go through to the second round were Luxembourg (4), Switzerland (4), Spain (8), UAE (9), Great Britain (12), Poland (16) and Austria (17) who sat in 2nd to 8th place respectively. The five nations that fell by the wayside at the end of round one were Norway, Germany, Denmark, Hungary and Morocco.
For Great Britain, the desired clear rounds that Di would have hoped for were missing however the performances, some of which were particularly strong, were enough to secure GB’s place in the second round and retain their second place on the league table.
Michael Whitaker from Whatton, Nottinghamshire took the role of pathfinder for the British Team with JB’s Hot Stuff, an 11 year-old British bred bay mare owned by Jayne Bean. It was a 4 penalty finish with them being one of the combinations that picked up faults at the second part of the double.
William Whitaker, from Huddersfield with Ludwig Criel’s impressive 13 year-old bay stallion Utamaro d’Ecaussines were second to go for the team and having negotiated the double cleanly were incredibly unlucky to pick up 4 penalties shortly afterwards when the back pole of an oxer fell.
Robert Smith from Shrewley, Warwickshire was third in with his own 9 year-old bay stallion Ilton VD Spithoeve. The combination were also unfortunate to have a rub of a pole for 4 penalties.
John Whitaker from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire with either Cassinis Chaplin, a 9 year-old grey stallion owned by Claire Conlon and Clare Whitaker took the role of anchor for the team. A touch of a front pole of the oxer jumping into the combination saw them pick up 4 penalties with a further 4 being accrued at the final fence, a and orange and white vertical. This saw John unfortunately become the discard score and GB carry forward 12 penalties into the second round in sixth place at the halfway stage.
Second Round
For Great Britain, it was a case of saving the best until last with Michael and Will both picking up 4 penalties each and Robert 9 penalties as a result of two fences being lowered and a time penalty. It was the masterful John Whitaker who delivered the final round and the best of the competition for the Brits when he left all fences untouched in an extremely stylish clear to finish on just 1 time penalty when he broke the finish line just outside the time allowed. This was enough for GB to retain their 6th place position in the competition on a total of 21 penalties.
Belgium took the title finish on a clear penalty score of zero whilst home nation Luxembourg finished in 2nd on 9 penalties with the UAE just one time penalty behind them in 3rd place.
Talking afterwards Di Lampard commented “Of course it’s disappointing that we didn’t have the clears we had hoped for, however it would be remiss of me not to say that all of the horses were jumping well and I suppose we just have to accept the way it is. All riders have qualified for the Grand Prix on Sunday which we are now focused on.”
LEAGUE TABLE AFTER ROESER
1. Belgium (380)
2. Great Britain (255)
3. Luxembourg (180)
4. Denmark (172.5)
5. Norway (165)
6. Austria (150)
NATIONS CUP RESULTS
1. Belgium - 0
2. Luxembourg - 9
3. UAE - 10
4. Switzerland - 12
5. Spain - 18
6. Great Britain - 21
Michael Whitaker / JB's Hot Stuff (4 / 4)
William Whitaker / Utamaro d'Ecaussines (4 / 4)
Robert Smith / Ilton ( 4 / 9)
John Whitaker / Cassinis Chaplin ( 8 / 1)
7. Austria ( 33)
8. Poland (53)
The Grand Prix will be on Sunday 2nd July at 15.00 hrs local time. For further information on the show and full results visit www.jumping.lu. 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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