USA win through in thrilling Consolation class at Furusiyya Final
US riders may have been disappointed when failing to make the cut into tomorrow’s Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Final decider when missing the cut by a few short seconds yesterday, but they were all smiles today when clinching the honours in the Consolation Competition. It was no walk in the park however, as they had to battle it out with the Swiss in a nerve-wracking jump-off that went right down to the wire and kept spectators on the edges of their seats.
The race against the clock was a real thriller, with the advantage changing at every turn. “Yesterday was very frustrating and I was a little melancholy afterwards, but that’s what sport is all about, the beauty of sport, it goes back and forth, and its about coming back and giving a better performance” said anchorman McLain Ward who clinched it for the US side this afternoon.
First Round
The first round track provided plenty of problems, and only eight clear rounds were recorded. Unlike yesterday however, the mistakes were registered all around the course even though the double at eight and the triple combination at 11 proved particularly influential.
The Saudi Arabian team was already assured of third place when finishing with six faults while Austria slotted into fourth when posting a total of 12. Elimination for Angelica Augustsson when her mare, Mic Mac du Tillard, decided to throw in the towel left the Swedish team exposed. So when they had to count double-errors from both Jens Fredricson (Lunatic) and his brother Peder (H&M Cash In), then not even a fabulous clear from Rolf-Goran Bengtsson and Casall Ask could rescue the situation and they lined up alongside Spain in equal-fifth place.
Qatar finished seventh with 18 faults, while Colombia and Japan shared eighth spot with 10, while the three-rider Australian team finished tenth and last on a scoreline of 30 faults.
Unfolded
The tussle between the Swiss and Americans unfolded as the last-line riders took their turn in the first round. A clear from Pius Schwizer would put huge pressure on American anchor Beezie Madden as the Swiss would then be on a zero score. But when the relatively inexperienced eight-year-old Toulago kicked out a pole in the middle of the penultimate triple combination then the best the Swiss could do was a first-round four-fault tally, leaving the door open for the USA.
Santiago Varela’s track however included a turn away from the entrance to the arena on the approach to the vertical at fence six, and many riders angled this to make up time. As Madden turned the corner with Simon however they lost their symmetry and the 14-year-old gelding jammed on the brakes in front of the fence. He cleared it at the second time of asking, but with two additional time faults this would have to be the drop score so the four collected by Katie Dinan and Nougat du Vallet were added to the clears recorded by McLain Ward (Rothchild) and Lucy Davis (Barron). A jump-off was assured, but nobody could have predicted what would happen next.
Three Riders
Under the new Furusiyya Final rules, just three riders from each team would come back into the jump-off, and Beat Mandli and his handsome young stallion, Croesus, led the way for Switzerland, lowering the first of the two remaining elements of the former triple combination to return a four-fault score in 39.88 seconds. The new rules also allow for the order of riders to be changed, so Madden was back in the ring again as American pathfinder this time, and she gave the US supporters yet another fright when Simon, turning towards exactly the same area of the arena where he had ground to a halt in the first round, suddenly hesitated, but then continued on to clear the finish line in 40.72 seconds.
Varela had all sorts of tricks up his sleeve though, and the sharp time-allowed of 41 seconds kept the pressure on all the way. Switzerland’s Paul Estermann and Castlefield Eclipse hit the vertical second fence to add four more to the Swiss tally before the USA’s Lucy Davis raised American temperatures even higher at the same fence. Starting out with plenty of pace, the lines of communication between horse and rider suddenly failed on the turn to the second fence. As Davis said afterwards, “we were both a bit tense because we wanted to go well”. Her check in front of the fence seemed to confuse the nine-year-old Barron, “and he started popping up and down!” she admitted. The gelding suddenly found his gears again and continued on, but left the plank at the vertical on the floor along with the original first fence, now three obstacles from home. And the lost time while they tried to regain their equilibrium early on the track added two seconds to see them register a 10-fault total, thus handing the advantage back to the Swiss.
But when Steve Guerdat’s Nasa had two fences down it was left to McLain Ward to snatch it back, and he had a fence in hand coming into the ring. The American opted for a careful clear, picking up two time faults to clinch it. “Obviously I knew the situation and was aware the time-allowed was tight – that’s an excellent decision (the time-allowed) because it makes it exciting to the very end. When I jumped the Longines oxer I knew if I had one down we would still win, but I have a horse that doesn’t want to knock fences down!” he said afterwards.
Mixed Emotions
There were mixed emotions in the US camp after the prize-giving ceremony. Their victory today was bitter-sweet. Chef d’Equipe, Robert Ridland said “obviously we are very excited to win but, to be honest, we wanted to be on that podium tomorrow. Yesterday was an amazing competition, it couldn’t have been more than the Organising Committee, the FEI and Furusiyya could have wished – so many top teams finishing so close together. We got the short end of the stick, but even so it was a great competition!”
His team wasn’t for giving up without a fight however. “This morning we got up and it was a new day, a new competition and I believe we just won the largest prizemoney ever for a team competition in the history of the sport – at least for the next 24 hours anyway!” he pointed out. There was €300,000 up for grabs today, but it pales into insignificance compared to the €1,500,000 on offer in tomorrow afternoon’s historic finale.
Ridland talked about his strategy for the jump-off. “We worked that out beforehand, I had the form filled out in three different ways, Beezie and McLain were always boxed in with one of the other two to be the middle one. It was a tight choice, but this has always been a team effort, ever since winning the qualifier at Wellington, and Reed (Kessler, who didn’t compete in the jump-off) jumped double-clear that day”.
Madden talked about her performance with Simon. “In the first round (the stop at fence six) wasn’t expected and he (Simon) got a bit rattled but he was fine by the end of the course and good for the jump-off”.
Davis talked about her glitch in the jump-off with Barron – “I’m not sure how to explain it, and it wasn’t what I was planning or hoping for! I certainly didn’t want to put the pressure on McLain like that. My horse and I are a little green still, but we are working things out, hopefully we will work it out and progress as time goes on”.
The new five-rider format for the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping Final has very definitely received the seal of approval this weekend. Robert Ridland said, “I think it’s fabulous….it makes for good strategic moves and makes it a bit like of game of chess, plus the jump-off option as well makes it team sport the way we always hoped it would be. It’s the model for the future and everyone is very excited to see what will happen tomorrow”.
Ward agreed. “The format is very exciting and I noticed people gave 110 percent for the team competition here. In these days of huge prize-money for Grand Prix competitions that has faded, but it is at the core of the sport, and the generous prizemoney got people focused and the love of the sport won through” he added.
Delight
FEI President, HRH Princess Haya, held a press conference at the Real Club de Polo today and expressed her delight at the success of the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping series and the Final. She also talked about her memories of competing in Barcelona herself.
“It feels like coming back to my roots. I competed here for three years with my father's horses, so it feels like coming home! This is an historic occasion, and it is an honour to be part of it together with the FEI, Furusiyya and Barcelona.
It's been an incredible road for us, to take our oldest product, together as a family, and revamp and restructure it. We owe our thanks to the vision of HRH Prince Faisal and the Saudi Equestrian Fund, and their patience and belief in the product. We have worked with all the stakeholders, committees, riders, people at the heart of the sport including the media, everyone with strong feelings about the sport, to create a truly global product that will see us through another 100 years with a lot of strength” she said.
Asked if the Spanish city will play host to this Final in future years she replied, “I would be happy to have the event again here in Barcelona, but the nature of the Nations Cup series is that it is truly global in its essence. I hope it travels all around the world, and the final may travel too, but I'm sure it will come back to Barcelona” she said.
The inaugural Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping Final is far from over yet however. Tomorrow brings the eight top nations back for one more round and, possibly, another jump-off. If the action so far is anything to go by, another afternoon of spectacular sport lies ahead. It gets underway at 15.30 local time, so don’t miss a hoofbeat….