FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing 2015: Irish Eyes Are Smiling At Boekelo While Britain Clinches Series Title

Ireland scored their first ever win in the FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing in superb style at Boekelo (NED), final leg of the 2015 season, after four fine Cross Country performances over an influential track.

The USA finished second, which was also their best result since the FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing began in 2012. New Zealand was third and, as a result, beat Japan in this Asia-Pacific Olympic qualifier to secure their ticket to Rio 2016.

Great Britain, the only nation to contest all seven legs this year, finished fifth at Boekelo after half the team completed the competition, but they easily sealed their place at the head of the FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing final leaderboard by seven points over Germany.

Ireland’s team manager Nick Turner said he was “absolutely delighted” with the win. “We had a young rider competing in his first CCI3* and some exciting young horses and everyone pulled together and focused,” he added. “It’s a great note to finish on this season and it sets the team up in good spirits for Olympic year.”

It was a thrilling rollercoaster of a competition in which the scoreboard changed dramatically.

New Zealand led after Dressage with Jonelle Price in pole position on Cloud Dancer, the recent winner of the young horse CIC3* at Blenheim Palace (GBR). But although Price gave the black gelding a great ride across country, the Dutch warmblood looked a little green and clocked 14.8 time penalties.

The rest of the Kiwi team – Jesse Campbell on his CCI4* horse Kapaachino, Tim Price (Xavier Faer) and Dan Jocelyn (Dassett Cool Touch) – all went clear as well, but they couldn’t match the speedy Irishmen who were on a mission around Sue Benson’s twisting, technical course.

The 19-year-old Cathal Daniels (IRL), who making his CCI3* debut, set the competition alight with a blazing round on the eight-year-old Rioghan Rua which was the first of only four inside the optimum time of 10 minutes 32 seconds.

Jonty Evans, eventually eighth on another lovely young horse, Cooley Rorke’s Drift, Joseph Murphy (Westwinds Hercules) and pathfinder Padraig McCarthy on Simon Porloe were all equally committed and the Irish quartet shot up from seventh place after Dressage to overtake the New Zealanders by 0.3 penalties.

The American team, whose best rider was Matthew Brown, eventual sixth on Super Socks BCF, also had four clear Cross Country rounds. Marilyn Little withdrew RF Scandalous before Jumping, but Brown, Buck Davidson and Elisabeth Halliday-Sharp went on to ride solid final phase rounds. This was good enough to overtake the New Zealanders, who lost any chance of victory when they added a disastrous 40 penalties to their team score and dropped to third.

France, who have been a consistent presence in the FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing 2015, finished fourth at Boekelo. Their anchorman, Cedric Lyard, retired Qatar de Puech Rouget after two refusals at the double of waters, but Astier Nicolas (Spes Addit d’Or) and Nicolas Touzaint (Crocket 30) finished in ninth and 10th places.

Britain had had four riders in the top 10 but, unfortunately, only two of them were team members: Dani Evans, fifth on Smart Time, and Izzy Taylor, seventh on Briarlands Birdsong. Nicola Wilson, who triumphed as the CCI3* winner on her other horse, Bulana, fell off her team horse Kiltealy Brief at fence seven and Emily Parker did not start across country on Diamond Sundance.

Germany was also down to two riders after falls for Marina Köhncke and Josefa Sommer and Australia crashed out when Paul Tapner withdrew Short Black before Cross Country and Sam Griffiths had a fall with Angelo. Australia’s woes continued when Christopher Burton, who held the individual lead after Cross Country with a superb performance on Monarch’s Exclusive, dropped to 14th with 17 Jumping penalties.

Alice Naber-Lozeman (NED) was crowned national champion when finishing 19th on ACSI Peter Park, but, sadly, the host nation, Netherlands, had no chance when two team members, Tim Lips and Merel Blom, withdrew.

Great Britain, the only nation to contest all seven legs of the FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing 2015, were confirmed winners of this exciting series at Boekelo (NED) today (11 October 2015). (Eventing Photo/FEI)

FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing 2015: the breakdown

Great Britain has been committed to the FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing since the concept started in 2012, always drawing from a pool of younger riders who have not had senior team experience. This year, they won at Ballindenisk (IRL) and Strzegom (POL) and were disappointed not to triumph on home ground at Houghton Hall (GBR) where they were beaten by Germany. They were also third at Fontainebleau (FRA) and fourth at Waregem and, by contesting all seven legs this season, were able to discard their eighth place at Aachen (GER) in the final scoresheet.

Germany have been Britain’s great rivals in the FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing, topping the leaderboard in 2013 and 2014. They won three times this year, in Houghton Hall, Aachen and Waregem (BEL), but missed Fontainebleau and Ballindenisk and so could not overtake Britain this time.

This is the first year Australia has played such a prominent part in the FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing and they have generally drawn on the same quartet of riders for the six events they contested, with their best results being second places at Fontainebleau and Strzegom.

France has been strong in the FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing from the start, and heroically made the long journey to Ireland for Ballindenisk. Their best result in five starts was their win on home ground at Fontainebleau. The Netherlands, fifth in the final table, competed at six out of seven events, their best result being a third place at Waregem.

“This was a fantastic finale at Boekelo,” said the FEI’s Eventing Director Catrin Norinder. “The FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing continues to be an excellent series, especially now that so many countries are beginning to realise the benefits it offers in terms of giving championship and team experience to young horses and riders.”

Boekelo Results

1 Ireland 174.9
Jonty Evans/Cooley Rorke’s Drift, 54.5; Joseph Murphy/Westwinds Hercules, 60.1; Cathal Daniels/Rioghan Rua, 60.3 (Padraig McCarthy/Simon Porloe, 65.9)

2 USA 197.0
Buck Davidson/Copper Beach, 67.4; Matthew Brown/Super Socks BCF, 52.6; Elisabeth Halliday-Sharp/HHS Cooley, 77.0; [Marilyn Little/RF Scandalous, WD Jumping]

3 New Zealand
Jonelle Price/Cloud Dancer, 62.9; Jesse Campbell/Kaapachino, 64.5; Tim Price/Xavier Faer, 71.5; (Dan Jocelyn/Dassett Cool Touch, 81.6)

4 France 227.3
Astier Nicolas/Spes Addit d’Or, 54.6; Nicholas Touzaint/Crocket 30, 55.2;Jean-Lou Bigot/Focus, 117.5; (Cedric Lyard/Qatar de Puech Rouget, EL Cross Country)

5 Great Britain, 1,105.2
Dani Evans/Smart Time, 52.4; Izzy Taylor/Briarlands Birdsong, 52.8;
(Nicola Wilson/Kiltealy Brief, EL Cross Country; Emily Parker/Diamond Sundance, WD Cross Country)

6 Germany 1,122.5
Josephine Schaufer/Sambucca 10, 58.9; Anna Siemer/Butts Avondale, 63.6; (Marina Köhncke/Let’s Dance, EL Cross Country; Josefa Sommer/Hamilton 24, EL Cross Country)

7 Australia 1,123.0
Christopher Burton/Monarch’s Exclusive, 58.3; Andrew Hoy/Cheeky Calimbo, 64.7; (Sam Griffiths/Angelo, EL Cross Country; Paul Tapner/Short Black, WD Cross Country)

8 Netherlands 1131.6
Alice Naber-Lozeman/ACIS Peter Parker, 61.8; Andrew Heffernan/Millthyme Corolla, 69.8; (Tim Lips/Brent, WD Cross Country; Merel Blom/Chiccolino, WD Cross Country)

9 Japan 1,135.7
Ryuzo Kitajima/Just Chocolate, 77.6; Yoshi Oiwa/The Duke of Cavan, 58.1; Toshiyuku Tanaka/Ballastar Bay, EL Cross Country

10 Brazil 2,050.8
Gabriel Figueiredo Silva Cury/Grass Valley, 50.8; Ruy Fonseca/Korsica, RET Cross Country; Carlos Paro/Summon Up The Blood, RET Cross Country

FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing 2015 Leaderboard
1 Great Britain 52 points
2 Germany 44
3 Australia 40
4 France 39
5 Netherlands 32
6 Ireland 27
7 Belgium 17
8 New Zealand 17
9 USA 17
10 Sweden 11
11 Spain 6
12= Poland 4
12= Canada 4
13 Japan 2
14 Brazil 0

FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing 2015: Germany Jumps Into Contention With First Win In Britain

The German team made their first appearance in FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing 2015 a winning one when they arrived on British soil and captured the third leg in the beautiful and historic surroundings of Houghton Hall (GBR) this weekend.

The home side, Great Britain, finished second out of the six teams and now heads the FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing leaderboard by just one point from France, who came third at Houghton Hall. Both nations have competed in all legs this season so far. The Netherlands took fourth place, ahead of Spain, fifth, and a three-man Australian team placed sixth.

Although Germany has enjoyed great success in the FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing, winning two out of three series, this is the first time they have managed to triumph at the British leg.

“We are very happy to win here in England,” said team manager Hans Melzer. “The three boys were all clear inside the time, which meant that Sandra [Auffarth, the team anchor], on a younger horse, could afford not to rush and let the horse find a rhythm.”

He added: “The facilities here are super and the Cross Country was really fun and encouraged forward riding. The ground was perfect after the rain.”

Andreas Ostholt was pathfinder for the German team on his lovely horse So Is It and eventually finished second behind French team member Luc Chateau (Propriano de l’Ebat), who led throughout the competition, only adding 1.6 Cross Country time penalties to his excellent Dressage mark of 35.3.

“I’m really happy with the little guy,” Ostholt said of his horse. “I always enjoy coming to Houghton; it’s one of the best events in England.”

His team mates, 20-year-old Niklas Bischorer (Tom Tom Go 3), who is currently based in Britain, and the very experienced Dirk Schrade (Hop And Skip), were fourth and fifth. World champion Sandra Auffarth on Ispo added 9.6 Cross Country time faults to her Dressage score of 50.2 to finish 20th.

Former dual European champion Pippa Funnell (GBR), called into service for the British team, finished third on Billy the Biz, one of the young competition horses produced by the Funnells’ Billy Stud.

“We are all really excited to have finished second to such a strong German team with an inexperienced team of horses,” said Funnell.

Sarah Bullimore (GBR) was 10th on Conpierre and Francis Whittington (GBR) was 12th on West Side. Young rider Georgie Strang (GBR), who made her FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing debut at Ballindenisk (IRL) last month, was 16th on Ascot H.

The French were second after Dressage, but lost ground when their best-placed rider, Alexis Gomez (Rien Qu’un Crack), had a run-out when lying in fifth place.

Tim Lips (NED) was the best-placed of the Netherlands team, in sixth on Bayro, but Merel Blom incurred 20 penalties on Chiccolino and Jan van Beek was eliminated on Diamond Lancer.

Alberto Hermoso Farras finished best of the Spanish team, in 29th place on Mirla. Kevin McNab, ninth on Casperelli, was best of the Australian team but they only started with three riders and their chances went when Andrew Hoy and The Blue Frontier were eliminated on the Cross Country.

Next month the action moves to Strzegom in Poland, scene of the 2017 FEI European Championships, where it’s anticipated that the mighty Germans will strengthen their position on the leaderboard.

Germany wins leg three of FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing 2015 (centre), with Great Britain (left) placing second and France third at the beautiful and historic Houghton Hall (GBR). (Trevor Holt/FEI)

Results at Houghton Hall (GBR)

1 Germany 131.3
Andreas Ostholt/So Is It, 41.0; Niklas Bischorer/Tom Tom Go 3, 45.0; Dirk Schrade/Hop And Skip, 45.3; (Sandra Auffarth/Ispo, 59.8)

2 Great Britain, 146.1
Pippa Funnell/Billy the Biz, 42.0; Sarah Bullimore/Conpierre, 50.6;
Francis Whittington/West Side, 53.5; (Georgie Strang/Ascot H, 55.1)

3 France, 157.7
Luc Chateau/Propriano de l’Ebat, 36.9; Regis Prud’hon/Debiut, 59.0; Camille Lejeune/R’ du Temps Bliniere, 61.8; (Alexis Gomez/Rien Qu’un Crack, 71.4)

4 The Netherlands, 246.3
Tim Lips/Bayro, 45.8; Iris Pemen/Weerings Junior, 90.5; Merel Blom/Chiccolino, 110.0; (Jan van Beek/Diamond Lancer, 1,000)

5 Spain, 251.5
Albert Hermosa Farras/Mirla, 69.9; Manuel Senra Chover/Cruising By, 88.9; Eduardo Via-Dufresne Mestres/Eclipse del Trebol, 92.7; (David Roldan Menacho/Ingrato, 1,000)

6 Australia, 1114.8
Kevin McNab/Casperelli, 48.2; Christopher Burton/Monarchs Exclusive, 66.6; Andrew Hoy/The Blue Frontier, 1,000

FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing 2015 Leaderboard after 3 out 8 events

1 Great Britain 28 points

2 France 27 points

3 = Australia 14

3 = The Netherlands 14

5 Germany 11

6 Ireland 9

7 Spain 6

FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing 2015: France Are Unbeatable At Home To Steal Early Lead

France’s Eventing riders produced an emphatic win in the first FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing competition of the 2015 season at the weekend in Fontainebleau (FRA).

The French team repeated their 2014 victory when they also won on home soil, and they enjoyed a comfortable winning margin of nearly 30 penalties over Australia, who finished second.

Gwendolen Fer (FRA), riding Romantic Love, was best of the team in individual second place and she had an excellent Cross Country round for just 1.2 time penalties, which was easily the fastest time of the day. Arnaud Boiteau, riding Quoriano ‘ENE HN’, was fourth and newcomer Helen Vattier on Quito de Baliere was ninth.

An all-male Australian trio opted for steadier Cross Country speeds in their first international competition of the year. Christopher Burton was the fastest, clocking 8.8 time penalties on TS Jamaimo, to finish fifth.

Last year, Burton had to withdraw the horse before Cross Country due to colic at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014, so he will no doubt be delighted with TS Jamaimo’s sparkling performance to start the season.

Great Britain, who maintain a policy of fielding younger, up-and-coming riders who have yet to ride on a championship team, also fielded three riders and finished just 0.3 penalties behind Australia. Izzy Taylor, a regular on FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing teams, was the highest placed in sixth on the mare KBIS Briarlands Matilda.

Four teams contested this first of eight competitions in the FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing and the Netherlands finished fourth, having dropped from third place after Dressage due to Cross Country time penalties.

One remarkable result from the weekend was that all 14 team members jumped clear across country, although none of them achieved the optimum time of 6 minutes 19 seconds around Fontainebleau’s twisting forest tracks. Fer and Burton were also penalty free in the Jumping stadium.

Germany, winners of two out of the last three series, could not field a team at Fontainebleau, but their leading rider Michael Jung still led from the start to collect individual honours on his wonderful horse La Biosthetique Sam. No doubt the Germans will be out, all guns blazing, before long.

The FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing next crosses the Irish Sea, to the Fell family’s hospitable event at Ballindenisk in County Cork (IRL) next month, which last year produced a win for the British team.

Gwendolen Fer (FRA) and Romantic Love scored the fastest time on Cross Country, helping France to win the first leg of FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing 2015 at Fontainebleau, France (Eric Knoll/FEI).

Results

1 France, 148.3
Gwendolen Fer/Romantic Love, 45.3; Arnaud Boiteau/Quoriano ‘ENE HN’, 47.4; Helen Vattier/Quito de Baliere, 55.6; (Karim Florent Laghouag/Entebbe de Hus, 58.2)

2 Australia, 178.0
Christopher Burton/TS Jamaimo, 50.8; Paul Tapner/Kilronan, 59.4; Kevin McNab/Casperelli, 67.8

3 Great Britain, 179.7
Izzy Taylor/KBIS Briarlands Matilda, 51.6; Flora Harris/Amazing, 62.3; Nick Gauntlett/Crown Talisman, 65.8

4 Netherlands, 199.1
Tim Lips/Bayro, 58.4; Merel Blom/Rumour Has It N.O.P., 67.5; Andrew Heffernan/Boleybawn Ace, 73.2; (Theo Van de Vendel/Zindane, 76.2)

Full results on http://www.crazyhorseride.fr

FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing 2015 Leaderboard (after 1 out 8 events)

1 France 11 points

2 Australia 9

3 Great Britain 8

4 Netherlands 7

The French team repeated their feat of 2014 when they also won on home soil, and enjoyed a comfortable victory at the opening leg of FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing 2015 in Fontainebleau. Left to right: Karim Florent Laghouag (FRA), Helene Vattier (FRA), Gwendolen Fer (FRA) and Arnaud Boiteau (FRA).

FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing 2015 calendar

1 Fontainebleau (FRA) 19-22 March

2 Ballindenisk (IRL) 24-26 April

3 Houghton Hall(GBR) 28-31 May

4 Strzegom (POL) 25-28 June

5 Aachen (GER) 11-14 August

6 Montelibretti(ITA) 17-20 September

7 Waregem (BEL) 24-27 September

8 Boekelo (NED) 8-11 October

FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing 2015: The Season Springs Into Action

Spring is in the air for the international Eventing community with the eagerly awaited launch this weekend of the FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing 2015 season at the popular French venue of Fontainebleau.

This series, first piloted in 2012, was designed to aid national coaches in preparing their championship squads by providing them with the opportunity to give team experience to a wider selection of riders. Last year, the concept was enthusiastically embraced by 15 nations.

The 2015 season comprises eight FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing competitions across eight countries: France, Ireland, Great Britain, Poland, Germany, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands. They are all run at CIC3* level, apart from the last event of the series in Boekelo (NED), which is a CCI3*. Under the rules for 2015, there has to be a minimum of three teams starting the Dressage phase.

Germany, the reigning Olympic, World and European team Eventing champions, have topped the leaderboard of this series twice in three years, and last season enjoyed an extraordinary winning run across five events: Strzegom (POL), Aachen (GER), Malmö (SWE), Montelibretti (ITA) and Waregem (BEL).

Great Britain, the champions in 2013 and a close second last year, and France, third three years consecutively, have both been equally committed, and the French will be very hard to beat on home ground this weekend where the twisting tracks of the forest at Fontainebleau always prove a technical challenge.

The New Zealanders were so strong last year that they finished fourth on the leaderboard on the strength of only three appearances, two of which were winning ones, and Ireland, the Netherlands and Italy featured strongly as well.

“We are very encouraged by the way riders and team managers have entered into the spirit of the FEI Nations Cup Eventing,” said Catrin Norinder, FEI Director, Eventing & Olympic.

Olympic, World and European champion Michael Jung riding La Biosthetique Sam for Team Germany, winners of the FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing 2012 and 2014. The combination is pictured here at Strzegom (POL) in 2014. (Leszek Wójcik/FEI)

“The series has provided a chance for up-and-coming riders to attract the attention of their team selectors and for some of them it has clearly provided valuable experience before tackling their first championships.

“Every year, the final event of the series has become more and more exciting and there have been some hotly contested competitions on the way. We fully expect 2015 will be an equally competitive series.”

Four nations line up for the opener at Fontainebleau this weekend: France, Australia, with a trio including Chris Burton on his Adelaide CCI4* winner TS Jamaimo, Great Britain, whose squad includes Francis Whittington on the 2014 Blenheim CCI3* winner Easy Target, and the Netherlands, fielding some of the riders from their triumphant bronze medal effort at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014.

Follow the action on http://www.crazyhorseride.com

FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing 2015 calendar

1 Fontainebleau (FRA) 19-22 March
2 Ballindenisk (IRL) 23-26 April
3 Houghton Hall (GBR) 28-31 May
4 Strzegom (POL) 25-28 June
5 Aachen (GER) 11-14 August
7 Montelibretti (ITA) 17-20 September
8 Waregem (BEL) 24-27 September
9 Boekelo (NED) 8-11 October