France, Ireland, Krajewski and Boonzaaijer Reign at Boekelo

Team Ireland took the final leg of FEI Eventing Nations Cup™ competition this weekend at Boekelo, their first win at the prestigious Dutch show in nine years. The USA finished second and Germany third. 

France, who ended their campaign in the Netherlands with a sixth-place finish, won the series, with victories at both Montelibretti and Strzegom and podium finishes at Arville and Lignières. 

Team Germany finished second overall in the Nations Cup on 320 points to France’s 425, thanks to a win at Arville and a third-place finish at Boekelo. Great Britain took third in the series, having landed on the podium at Arville and Lignières as well for a total of 300 points.

Great Britain's Laura Collett aboard Decapo

Individually, it was Julia Krajewski of Germany and Nickel 21 who were awarded first place, the Tokyo Olympic champion’s second time claiming the top honours at Military Boekelo-Enschede. Janneke Boonzaaijer (23rd on a score of 43.6) was crowned the Dutch national champion aboard I’m Special N.O.P., her first experience winning the title.

Heading into Sunday’s jumping phase to decide the ribbons, the Team leaderboard had seen a flurry of changes. Whilst France had the Nations Cup virtually sewn up on an unbeatable season, Germany and Great Britain were tied on 240 points each, making for an epic battle for the other two podium spots. 

After Thursday and Friday’s dressage competition, Germany were in the lead on 76.2 points, with Great Britain right on their heels with 80.4 points, thanks to two-time Olympic medalist Laura Collett and Dacapo finishing first individually. 

But as is often the case, the cross country day proved to shake up the standings. Although Collett held onto her lead — picking up just 1.6 points on Adrian Ditcham’s course — the team dropped to fifth behind Germany in fourth place.  

Germany's Julia Krajewski riding Nickel 21

That opened the door for Team Ireland to rocket to the top, with Aoife Clark (Sportsfield Freelance), Susannah Berry (Clever Trick), and Padraig McCarthy (Pomp N Circumstance) all finishing in the top 15, alongside teammate Austin O’Connor (Isazsa). 

The USA moved into second, and New Zealand were bumped up to third. Would it still be possible for the Germans and the British to snag those coveted positions at the prize giving?

A rail down for Collett dropped her to second on 29.3 points, whilst a clear round from Krajewski boosted her to the top of the board to finish on 28.8 points. A beautiful clear from American Hallie Coon and Cute Girl put them in third at the end of the day on their dressage score of 30.4 points. 

That kept the USA in second for the leg and let Germany move into third. Great Britain dropped to fifth behind fourth-place New Zealand after Kiwi athlete Tim Price finished clear with Global Quest. 

Team Ireland celebrating

When all the points were tallied for the day, France had to settle for sixth, chased by Belgium, Sweden, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Italy. 

Overall in the series, Sweden finished fourth, followed by Italy, Ireland, the USA, Belgium, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and Austria. 

Eventing may have wrapped up for another season, but there’s plenty more action to come for Dressage and Jumping fans with a new FEI World Cup season underway.

Catch all the excitement on FEI TV. 

Words by Patricia Salem

Images from Libby Law/FEI