British Showjumping’s Team NAF 3rd in Linz CSIO3* FEI Nations Cup
Friday 04 May 2018
It was an equal 3rd place finish with Italy today in the FEI 3* Nations Cup competition in Linz, Austria. Securing their place on the prize giving podium the team, riding under the title sponsor of NAF UK, put in some solid performances to sit high up in the line-up in the outstanding arena at the Linzer Pferdefestival which started yesterday and finishes on Sunday.
Belgium took the honours finishing on 4 penalties with Denmark taking 2nd on 17penalties. Great Britain and Italy sat just 1 penalty behind on 18 penalties to finish in joint 3rd whilst Germany took 5th and Austria 6th on 26 and 27 penalties respectively.
Holly Smith, from Loughborough, Leicestershire with her own 9-year-old bay gelding Hearts Destiny produced not only the best performance of the team but also one of the best of the competition. Posting a double clear her outstanding performance made the course, which caught out so many, look easy with her returning home on zero penalties in each of the two rounds.
Joining her on the team was Jamie Gornall from North Yorkshire with the 12 year-old grey stallion Christian 25 owned by Gornall Equestrian. Graham Gillespie from Dunbartonshire with Andretti, a 12 year-old bay gelding owned by Jorand Yannick and pathfinder Spencer Roe from Lincolnshire with the 15 year-old bay gelding owned by Sally Roe. Spencer also posted a zero penalty score in the second round to give GB another all important clear.
Talking afterwards Di Lampard, World Class Performance Manager for Showjumping commented “I’m absolutely elated that Holly’s plan came together today. She went to Samorin last week to prepare for here and to give the horse some valuable experience for his future career. When you see a plan like that come together, resulting in a double clear nations cup performance, it is not only rewarding but also gives a positive message in respect of the fact that detailed preparation can never be underestimated. We now have the Grand Prix to look forward to”.
The Grand Prix takes place on Sunday 6th May at 15:00 hrs local time. For further information on the show and full results once the show is underway, visit www.linzerpferdefestival.com.
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.
Image: Team NAF in Linz. L-R Graham Gillespie, Holly Smith, Spencer Roe, Di Lampard & Jamie Gornall (CREDIT: Team Myrtill)
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