Wellington, Fla. – Feb. 16, 2020 – With prize money, national pride and valuable points towards the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Final in Barcelona on the line, elite representatives from eight countries vied for the top spot on the scorecard Sunday during the $230,000 Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ of the United States of America CSIO5* at the Palm Beach Masters. Pitted head-to-head, the contest highlighted selected contenders from Mexico, the United States, Great Britain, Israel, Australia, Canada, Ireland and Brazil. Providing an electrifying show on their home turf in front of a packed crowd, the United States’ team ultimately emerged victorious following a nail-biting jump-off against Great Britain. Team members Jessica Springsteen, Margie Goldstein-Engle, Laura Kraut and Beezie Madden each piloted their equine partners to at least one clear trip, with Kraut and Confu turning in a double-clear effort, one of only four to achieve that for the day, and Madden on Darry Lou anchoring the squad in the tie-breaker.
Comprised of 11 CSIO5* events, the 2020 Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ calendar began Sunday at Deeridge Farms, which hosted the series season-opener and the only qualifying contest in the United States. North American challengers will be offered two more chances to earn a spot at Nations Cup competitions in Coapexpan, Mexico, and Langley, Canada, later this spring, as they vie for a spot in the annual Final at the Real Club de Polo in Barcelona, Spain in October. Only six nations will be awarded slots in the grand finale, which showcases the two highest-ranked teams from the three divisions: European, Middle East and North / Central America and Caribbean.
The reigning champions of the class, Team Mexico’s troop returned with only one member from the 2019 team, Manuel Gonzalez Dufrane, while the overall defending title-holders as the victors of the 2019 Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Final, the squad from Ireland, continued to rely on three of its four members from the prior year, including Paul O’Shea, Cian O’Connor and Darragh Kenny. The all-female team from Great Britain, composed of Alexandra Thornton, Emily Moffitt and Amanda Derbyshire, was at a disadvantage with only three athletes instead of four, meaning they would not have the opportunity to drop a score.
At the conclusion of the first round of riding, Great Britain and Ireland were tied for the lead with a total score of 4 faults apiece. On the British side, both Moffitt and Derbyshire left all the rails in the cups and avoided the water throughout the 15-effort track, designed by FEI Level 4 course designer Alan Wade (IRL), while the Irish contenders of Capt. Brian Cournane and O’Shea likewise completed their first attempts fault-free on their respective mounts. One rail behind with a total score of 8 faults, the three teams of the United States, Mexico and Israel were neck-and-neck, while Australia and Brazil were tied for sixth place each with 12 composite faults and Canada sat in the final position with 14 total penalties. Out of the starting field of 31 exhibitors, 10 horse-and-rider partnerships produced clear trips.
Returning to the ring in reverse order of the standings, all eight contingents took their chances over the same pattern of formidable obstacles, with two fences raised slightly in height. Turning in the first double-clear effort of the day as the initial pair to return, Tiffany Foster (CAN) and Figor rose to the occasion to try to help put their team back in contention, and Nicolas Pizarro (MEX) followed suit soon thereafter aboard Fabrice DN. Improving upon their performances from the first round where each duos accrued 4 faults, Springsteen with RMF Zecilie, Daniel Bluman (ISR) on Ladriano Z and Thornton aboard Cornetto K all navigated penalty-free rides. As the class progressed, both the United States and Great Britain were able to capitalize on Ireland’s misfortune after its first two combinations both lowered two fences. The home nation rallied, with Goldstein-Engle and her longtime partner Royce turning in a clear effort, followed by another score of zero for teammates Kraut and Confu, their second of the afternoon. Similarly, Great Britain continued to stay consistent as the first two of its three pairs, Thornton on Cornetto K and Moffitt riding Winning Good, avoided touching each obstacle.
Headed into the final group, the ladies of Great Britain still impressively maintained their lead by one rail, sitting on 4 faults to edge ahead of the USA’s 8 faults and Israel’s 12 faults with only one rotation of the anchor riders remaining. Thanks to her teammates’ three penalty-free rounds, the need for Madden to compete again on Darry Lou was negated and the veteran equestrian opted to save her horse. With one rail in hand ahead of the United States, Great Britain’s Derbyshire was afforded some wiggle room as the final challenger, but one downed fence upped her team’s composite score to 8 faults, tied with the United States to force a jump-off.
For the final phase of competition, each of the all-women teams were faced with a decision to choose which partnership would return to the ring for the abridged jump-off pattern. For the United States, that was Madden and Darry Lou, while the ladies from across the pond selected Thornton and Cornetto K.
First to tackle the track, Madden and Darry Lou put the pressure on with a foot-perfect course that stopped the timers in 33.11 seconds. With the victory on the line, Thornton pushed Cornetto K to a valiant effort over the fences, his third time of the day, and kept all the fences up but could not quite catch the pace and crossing the finish line in 36.34 seconds to secure the win for the home nation and capture the reserve honors for Great Britain. With a final score of 17 faults, Mexico rounded out the podium spots.
With all teams beginning with zero points, Team USA secured its spot as the early frontrunners in the North / Central America and Caribbean division with 100 points headed into the next jewel of the circuit, which will take place in Coapexpan from Apr. 30 – May 3. The squad from Mexico trails with 80 points, while Canada brings up the rear in third position with 70 points thanks to its fourth-place finish Sunday.
The day’s festivities concluded CSIO5* week at the Palm Beach Masters, the second of three weeks in the 2020 series, with action returning to Deeridge Farms for the Palm Beach Open CSI5*/CSI2* from Mar. 10-15.
FROM THE WINNER’S CIRCLE
Beezie Madden
On riding in the jump-off:
“For sure I didn’t want to leave the door too open for her to be faster than me. My horse rises to the occasion when I call on him and put a little pressure on him, so I have to say right from the first jump he felt like he was jumping better than the first round. In hindsight I left him a little too fresh and he wanted to play a little after fence one, so I had to kick him in the belly and tell him ‘no, he have to get down to business here.’ He really came through. I ended up doing an extra stride than I thought I might do after the liverpool, but Darry Lou was really good throughout and jumping off a big gallop.”
Laura Kraut
On her thoughts before the class:
“You hate to be over-confident, but I was feeling good. Confu has been jumping well down here. I had an unlucky fence in the grand prix the other day and I said to myself, ‘ok, that’s it, I need to do two clear rounds on Sunday.’ He was fantastic today and, that being said, it was hard not to be over-confident when I had a team like this of great riders and horses. That’s the most confident I’ve felt in a long time. It was great.”
Margie Goldstein-Engle
On falling off after her first round:
“Royce hadn’t jumped for the whole week so he was nice and fresh, and maybe with the heat I left him a little too fresh. As I finished, I kind of relaxed and it was starting to rain so they put one of the plastic bags over the speaker right as I went by it, and I didn’t really have my reins, so when he darted right I went left. I was just trying to check how nice the footing is here! It was really nice, I got up close and personal!”
On her second round:
“I was just trying to stay on! After Jessica [Springsteen] went, and she had a fantastic round and went clean, I knew we still had to fight to try and get clear rounds. It’s a lot of change that usually happens in the second round. After Royce ran around the ring for a while, he was much quieter for the second round! I just made sure when I went to the oxer this time to come out and get a little bit straighter to it. He actually felt great both rounds. I think the approach I had to that oxer was a little better and I tried to pay a little more attention after I landed after the last jump. He felt great and all my teammates were super. It’s a nice feeling to have this strong of a team.”
Jessica Springsteen
On her plan for the second round:
“I felt that all of us that had faults in the first round, we all had unlucky rails. For the second round, I didn’t want to change my plan too much. I just needed a little more space back to that vertical. Other than that, my horse jumped amazing both rounds, so I was really thrilled with her. It was really a team effort today. You always feel good when you know you have Laura, Beezie and Margie behind you. That always gives you some good confidence.”
Robert Ridland – Team USA chef d’equipe
On how the class turned out:
“I told Laura [Kraut] that we don’t want to have Beezie going in the second round. Our own Nations Cup is always special – for any home country, it is. This is a hard one because everyone’s horses are not in mid-season form, but when you looked at the field it was just as easy to be fifth. It was some really good jumping and Alan [Wade] set a great course. This is what the sport is about. The Nations Cup is the pinnacle of the sport. Last year we weren’t so fortunate here or anywhere else, really, so it is nice to win the first one.”
Alan Wade – course designer
On his thoughts fabout his design:
“It was proper show jumping. That’s why I love Nations Cups. For me, it’s an honor and a privilege to design in the United States of America. To go to another country and design what I think is the most important week of show jumping in that country [is an honor]. This class is probably the most important class I have designed this year. I put a lot of thought into it with respect to the fact that it’s early in the year and there are many goals. It was still fair, but I kept the dimensions and we kept the height. The distances might not be as tricky as you see in the grand prix, but we let the horses jump the height and then put up two fences in the second round. It’s up to the athletes. They provided a great afternoon of sport and it was an honor to design the course.”
RESULTS
