CSIO Barcelona: the USA wins the consolation final.
The USA have won the consolation final of this year’s edition of the Furusiyya Fei Nations Cup. The US riders led by Robert Ridland ended the final in Barcelona with just 1 penalty which came in the second round.
McLain Ward & Rothchild and Beezie Madden with Cortes ‘C scored a clear run each. Lauren Hough collected 8 penalties but her score was discarded by the US coach. Margie Engle and 10 year-old stallion Royce were unable to finish the course in the allotted time. However, it was still enough for the US to go through to the jump-off where the American riders scored 3 clears (without Margie Engle & Royce) and that was good enough for the USA to take first place and a prize of 80.000 euro.
Australia finished in second place with 8 penalties. The best performance from the Australian riders came from Amy Graham with 13 year-old Holsteiner Bella Baloubet (Baloubet du Rouet) who scored a double clear (the first round and jump-off). She was the only one to do so from her team. Jamie Kermond with Quite Cassini and Julia Hargreaves on Vedor came close to a double clear, but they weren’t quite quick enough to finish the course on time and were subsequently handed a time penalty. The score by Hargreaves was discarded by the coach while Robinson Paterson with Boris III ended up with 8 penalties.
The final podium slot went to France who were made to pay for the key absences to the team such as Roger-Yves and Castle Forbes Myrtille Palois and Reveur de Hurtebise of Kevin Staut. It was a below par display from the French riders, ending up with 12 penalties and they didn’t go through to the jump-off.
The rest of the results were as follows:
4th Spain – 14 penalties
5th Venezuela – 17 penalties
6th Qatar – 21 penalties
source: www.csiobarcelona.com