The FEI Eventing Nations Cup in Millstreet, Ireland ended with a victory for France, with Great Britain settling for second and Ireland cruising to an easy third place.
Olympic champions France were leading the scoreboard going into the Jumping phase and with only less than one penalty separating France in first place from Great Britain in second for this event, the pressure was tangible.
A substitution in the showjumping gave GB twenty penalties despite a cracking cross-country performance, pushing them into second.
With just 10 points on the overall FEI Nations Cup leaderboard between France and GB, the result in Millstreet had the potential to change the look of the current rankings.
Ireland were lying in third on home ground and team USA were dealt a blow when Bruce O'Davidson Junior withdrew before the cross-country phase incurring 200 penalties. Under the new rules, there was no room for a discarded score which left the USA in fourth place going into the jumping phase.
The showjumping course appeared innocuous with but proved tricky to ride, with even the experienced horses struggling to jump clear. In amongst the FEI Nations Cup™ contenders were plenty of individual riders
Sarah Ennis and Woodcourt Garrison jumped a steady clear for Ireland but with no chances of moving down to fourth or up to second, the rounds were more for pride than anything else. Padraig Flanagan picked up four penalties but James O’Haire and China Doll looked less fluent than usual and had two poles down.
Millie Dumas of GB cantered into the ring to get the battle between France and Great Britain underway, but a very late pole meant that France - who were just inches in front - now had one fence in hand over their British competitors.
Francois Lemiere kept his cool for a super clear, moving France ever closer to yet another victory.
Despite excellent cross-country performances a win just wasn’t on the cards for Great Britain with Flora Harris and Bayano taking two poles.
With three fences now in hand, it seemed unlikely that France were to be toppled from their top spot.
Christopher Six dropped only one fence despite a couple of hairy moments – so with only one rider left for each team, France looked poised to take the gold, barring a catastrophic performance from their anchorman Thomas Carlile.
Alexander Bragg for the British team had a lovely clear on Baloubet du Rouet son, Barichello but picked up a single time penalty.
The final rider of the day Thomas Carlile on Upsilon with two fences in hand – but there was no need for any wiggle room on such a scopey, elastic horse. They cruised round to a superb clear to bring the gold home for France in true style.
You can catch many of these Nations Cup riders at the FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2018 in September from Tryon, North Carolina. Follow the build up on the FEI social media channels and watch all the action on FEI TV.
Images by FEI/Tony Parkes
Text by Sophie Baker
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