Irish Have Good Results in Holland, but Sweden has Sweetest Weekend

The competition in Rotterdam swung into high gear Friday with the fifth leg of the FEI Nations Cup Jumping – Europe Division 1 Series, as top European teams continue their hunt for one of the 18 spots (plus the home team Spain if not qualified) in this year’s Final in Barcelona at the end of September. In this Nations Cup qualifier in the Netherlands, four teams went through the first round with zero faults, but things got trickier when they came back on course for a second go, and it came down to the Swedes making the fewest errors:

1. Sweden – 4 faults
2. Switzerland – 8 faults
3. Italy/Spain – 12 faults

Ireland’s Nations Cup squad, led by Chef d’Equipe Rodrigo Pessoa, finished with 16 faults, earning €11,667 on the day. But the victorious Swedes picked up €64,000 and the maximum qualifying points toward Barcelona. They now sit in second place behind leaders Italy:

1. Italy 345
2. Sweden 307.5
3. France 302.5
4. Germany 285
5. Switzerland 250
6. Spain 250
7. Ireland 210
8. Netherlands 190

Seven teams will make it out of the elite Division 1 into the 2017 Nations Cup Final, (last year’s edition was won by Team Germany), and Ireland will be looking to solidify its position in upcoming divisional qualifiers (the CSIO5* in Falsterbo, Sweden and CSIO5* in Hickstead, Great Britain in July, and the CSIO5* in Dublin in August). Great Britain, albeit runners-up in the Final last year, are competing in Europe Division 2. 

In Sunday’s Longines Grand Prix Port of Rotterdam at 1.60m, Sweden’s Peder Fredricson on H&M All In again carried the day in an eight-pair jump-off in a time of 40.15 seconds, winning €50,000, with Ireland’s Cian O’Connor second on Good Luck in 40.46 seconds (earning €40,000).

On the Dressage front in Rotterdam, the United States won the FEI Nations Cup Dressage competition, with Americans Laura Graves coming in first in the individual InterChem Grand Prix Freestyle and Edward Gal and Glock’s Voice taking first  in the Grand Prix Special. The Dutch team was eliminated from the Nations Cup after Madeleine Witte-Vrees’s horse Cennin lost a shoe just a few minutes before their test and could not compete. According to the FEI, “Under the current regulations, the entire Dutch team was eliminated as a result.”

The 70th edition of CHIO Rotterdam, its platinum anniversary, will take place June 21-24, 2018.

FEI Nations Cup Show Jumping results and Grand Prix results