Britain on the up in Nations Cup series

A new-look Irish outfit extend the nation’s run of form while Ben Maher is faultless

BRITAIN will be promoted to the top Nations Cup tier as long as we complete the final in Barcelona (28 September-1 October).

A total of 20 faults in the last leg of the series in Gijon, Spain (30 August-4 September) meant fifth place for Britain, which secured second place in the second European division.

Thanks to a rule change, the top division will feature 10 teams in 2018 rather than the current eight (news, 13 July) so as long as a British team competes in – and completes – in Barcelona, promotion is assured.

Six riders have put their names forward: Robert Smith with

Bavi, Ilton or Cimano E; John Whitaker with Ornellaia, Argento, Talisman De Mazure or Cassinis Chaplin; Guy Williams with Rouge De Ravel; Ben Maher with Diva or MTF Madam X; Michael Whitaker with Calisto Blue or Viking and Scott Brash with Ursula or Hello Forever.

A squad of five will be picked.

FRANCE clinched a narrow but assured victory in the concluding leg of the FEI Nations Cup before the final in Barcelona at the end of the month. The French quartet led from the outset, finishing a fence ahead of the Netherlands, with Jur Vrieling acting as chef d’equipe, who amassed a total of eight penalties.

Newly crowned European champions Ireland, sending out some new combinations as part of their “planning for 2018”, produced some great performances for third on 12 points with pathfinder

Shane Breen (Ipswich Van De Wolfsakker) riding a double clear at this combination’s first Nations Cup, helped by team-mates

David Simpson (Keoki), Cameron Hanley (Quirex) and Anthony Condon (Balzac).

The course resulted in plenty of reshuffling of the leaderboard in round two but the Irish pack returned a team score of zero to move up to the podium spot.

“Fence eight was a stiletype fence and it was narrow,” explained Shane. “There was a roll-back up to it and some lost a bit of balance on the turn and found they didn’t have the space to jump it.

“The last fence came after a

triple bar and there was a floaty six strides to it. It was cleverly designed with a white plank at the bottom and on the top, and some horses slightly misjudged it.”

Ireland’s chef d’equipe Taylor Vard added: “It was a great comeback from the lads and we are really thrilled with the second-round performance. Shane’s horse jumped two fantastic clear rounds. Cameron had an excellent second round and Anthony finished it off brilliantly with a clear when last to go. This was always a building exercise and we come away from here adding to our strength in depth with some new combinations for next year.”

FIFTH FOR BRITS

GREAT BRITAIN’S quartet of Keith Shore (Mystic Hurricane), Alison Barton (Roma IV), Nigel Coupe (Golvers Hill) and Ben Maher (MTF Madame X) finished fifth on 20 penalties, with the latter producing one of four double clears in the competition. Retaining their second position at the end-of-season standings means the Nations Cup final in Barcelona and possible promotion to division one (see news, p5) remains on the cards.

“Ben proved to be a master in his role of anchor today, showing not only what a superb rider he is but also the extremely good relationship he has built with the talented Madame X within a very short time,” said

chef d’equipe Di Lampard.

Ireland’s Dermott Lennon picked up a five-star wining double on day one of the show with Gelvins Touch and Fleur IV. Cameron Hanley also secured victory in the young horse classes with the seven-year-old Arany

De Kergane (Nervoso x L’Arc De Triomphe). Louise Saywell and Laura Renwick kept the British flag flying with some good placings over the weekend.

Results for the grand prix were not available at the time of going to press.