Great Britain, Ireland, the U.S. and Canada in title hunt at this week’s Nations Cup Jumping Final

Among that group at the Real Polo Club de Barcelona are teams from Germany, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Switzerland, Sweden, and host nation Spain.

Last year, the Netherlands won the Nations Cup title in the Catalan city, with the United States and Belgium rounding out the podium. And at the recent Tryon FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) in North Carolina, it was the Americans who took gold followed by Sweden and Germany. Of course, not all the riders who were in North Carolina for the WEG will be at the Real Polo Club – founded in 1897 and host of equestrian sports at the 1992 Summer Olympics,

For Great Britain, chef d’equipe Di Lampard will be leading a squad made up of Amanda Derbyshire (with Roulette BH), William Funnell (Billy Mccain), Harriet Nuttall (A Touch Imperious and Dulf), Holly Smith (Claddagh Iroko and Hearts Destiny) and William Whitaker (Fandango). For the Emerald Isle (whose Bertram Allen and Molly Malone V are pictured above at last year’s Final), Lampard’s counterpart Rodrigo Pessoa is bringing Shane Breen (Can Ya Makan and Ipswich van de Wolfsakker), Anthony Condon (Aristio and Zira II), Darragh Kenny (Balou du Reventon and Billy Manjaro), Billy Twomey (Diaghilev and Kimba Flamenco) and Michael G. Duffy (Chappo Chey and Lapuccino 2).

There are numerous other high-profile riders in the sport who will be in Spain for the venerable competition, including Austria’s Max Kûhner, Belgium’s Niels Bruynseels, Brazil’s Pedro Veniss, Spain’s Pilar Lucrecia Cordon, France’s Kevin Staut, Germany’s Marcus Ehning, Italy’s Lorenzo De Luca, the Netherlands’ Harrie Smolders, Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat, Sweden’s Peder Fredricson, and the United States’ Laura Kraut.

All will be chasing after the €1.7 million in prize money on offer, but first and foremost a place on the championship podium. And as Dutch chef d’equipe Rob Ehrens put it after the Netherlands’ victory last year, what will happen later this week is still very much up in the air: “Barcelona is wonderful and the Final of the Nations Cup is always thrilling. It’s very difficult already on the first day, you start with 15 countries and separating the teams is very hard…. but that is the jumping sport and that is what makes it exciting!”