Canadians just Pip the British at Thrilling Furusiyya Leg in Wellington

Team Canada picked up maximum points when winning tonight’s second leg of the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping 2014 series at Wellington in Florida (USA).  Left to right on the podium: Yann Candele, Eric Lamaze, Tiffany Foster and Ian Millar, with Chef d'Equipe Mark Laskin. Photo: FEI/StockImageServices.com  Story: FEI/Louise Parkes

Team Canada came out on top in a tough 12-way battle for the honours at the second leg of the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping 2014 series at Wellington in Florida (USA) tonight. Taking command with the only zero score at the end of the first round, the Canadians fended off a strong challenge from the British to claim the top step of the podium.  But they only headed them by a single fault in the final analysis while the host nation, USA, slotted into third.  Brazil and Ireland shared fourth place ahead of Venezuela in sixth, Columbia in seventh and Germany in eighth spot.

Just eight of the 12 competing countries qualified for the second round, and Mexico, New Zealand and Chile all missed the cut while the Israeli side was eliminated in round one.

With many of the most experienced riders partnering relatively inexperienced horses the course set by America’s Steve Stephens proved testing enough.  However the Americans and Canadians sent out their big guns and it was the latter who proved the strongest on the night.  Just three riders managed to jumping double-clear over the course set by America’s Steve Stephens, and they were Canada’s Yann Candele with Showgirl, Britain’s Tim Gredley with Unex Chamberlain Z and Brazilian pathfinder Alvaro de Miranda riding AD Uutje.

Canadian Chef d’Equipe, Mark Laskin, was delighted with the result.  “Canada’s been on a bit of a roll! First it was curling! And then women’s bobsled… then it was hockey, two games! And now it’s show jumping!” he said tonight, referring in part to the recent Sochi Winter Olympics. And he picked Candele out for special mention. “I want to welcome Yann back to our team, I’m really happy to have him, especially tonight. I think that’s a key for Canada right now. We have four fantastic riders with four fantastic horses, and they did an incredible job!” Laskin added. 

Fairly elusive

The course was not enormous but first-round clears proved fairly elusive, with fences falling everywhere around the arena.  The opening oxer was wide and German pathfinders, Andre Thieme and Conthendrix, picked up four faults at this one in both rounds.  Another oxer at five was followed by the famous bicycle vertical, with super-narrow poles on top, which was first introduced by Venezuela’s Leopoldo Palacios at Spruce Meadows in Canada some years ago and which has been replicated at many other venues ever since.  

Stephen’s course included three doubles, and the first of these was an oxer to vertical at fence seven while the next was a two-stride vertical to oxer at fence nine after which riders turned left-handed to the open water.  Arguably the most difficult obstacle of all however was the one-strided double of verticals that followed the water which proved the undoing of many, but for the host side it was the water itself that prevented them from possibly forcing a jump-off.

Lying second

As round two began, it was the Americans who were lying second carrying just four faults while the British were only a single point further adrift carrying five.  The Brazilians and Irish were tied on nine faults at this stage, and they would remain locked together when each added a further eight faults to their tallies.

Ben Maher led the British into the second round with another four-fault run with Diva, but Gredley’s back-to-back clear bolstered his team’s chances only for third-line rider, Gemma Paternoster who had collected just a single time penalty first time out with Osiris, to collect nine faults at her second attempt.  A brilliant anchorman clear from World No 1 Scott Brash and Hello Annie steadied the British ship however, ensuring they would add only Maher’s four to leave them on a final total of nine faults.

A surprising double-error from McLain Ward and Rothchild, at the bicycle vertical and the final oxer, put pressure on the Americans. But despite four, at the first element of the influential double at nine, for Brianne Goutal and Nice de Pressey, it seemed hope was not lost if Laura Kraut and Beezie Madden could leave the course intact. Kraut’s fabulous little grey, Cedric, had been foot-perfect first time around and seemed a banker for a second clear, but when he put a toe in the water at his second attempt, then not even Madden’s superb run with Simon could rectify the situation.  Because by then the Canadians already had it in the bag.

Candele and Showgirl led their side into round two with another copybook clear, so despite a mistake from Tiffany Foster and Victor at the second element of the double at nine and for the legendary Ian Millar and Dixson who had been spectacularly clear first time out but who fell foul of the planks at the second element of the double at seven this time, it was all done and dusted.  Canada’s total of eight faults would be good enough to clinch it, and anchorman, Eric Lamaze, didn’t need to bring Powerplay back to the arena for a second time.  

Very exciting

“Tonight’s win was very exciting.  The Nations Cup here in Wellington is getting bigger and bigger every year and it’s getting tougher and tougher to win it.  Now there are so many strong teams, but tonight’s win has given us great momentum” Candele said.

Asked if tonight’s course was tough he replied - “it’s not easy to say how difficult a course is when you jump it double-clear!  But the water to the double of verticals toward the end of the course was difficult” said the man who hails from France but who has been competing under the Canadian flag “for about six years now”.  His horse, Showgirl, joined his string after the 2013 Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping Final in Barcelona (ESP) last year.

For further information on the second leg of the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping 2014 series at Wellington (USA) check out website www.equestriansport.com or contact Press Officer Jennifer Wood, Email: jennifer@jenniferwoodmedia.com or Tel: ++-803 240 7488   

Result: 

 

Facts and Figures:

• Wellington, USA presented Round 2 of the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping 2014 series.
• Tonight's competition was the first leg of the North America, Central America and Caribbean League.
• A total of 12 countries fielded teams - Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Great Britain, Israel, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, USA and Venezuela.
• Only three nations were eligible to earn points in the North America, Central America and Caribbean series - Canada, Mexico and the host nation USA.
• Three teams fielded just three riders - Chile, Israel and New Zealand.
• Just 8 of the 12 teams returned for the second round.
• Course designer at Wellington was America's Steve Stephens, a former Nations Cup rider and course designer at the Beijing Olympic Games equestrian events staged in Hong Kong in 2008.
• 3 double-clear rounds in today's competition - from Canada's Yann Candele (Showgirl), Great Britain's Tim Gredley (Unex Chamberlain Z) and Brazil's Alvaro de Miranda (AD Uutje).
• 3 teams started with just 3 team members - New Zealand, Chile and Israel - and none of these made the cut into the second round.  
• The Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping Final will take place in Barcelona (ESP) from 9 to 12 October 2014.

 

 

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