Needle result for Britain at Dublin as fight for Nations Cup final qualification concludes

Britain has qualified for the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup Finals in Barcelona in October. Team GBR finished sixth in the final leg, the Aga Khan at the Stena Line Dublin Horse Show, this afternoon (Friday, 10 August) to secure a spot at the final.

Holly Smith was Britain’s star performer riding Hearts Destiny, delivering a four-fault first round and then a clear in the second barrage. William Funnell and Billy Buckingham also put in a crucial second-round clear, albeit with one time-fault.

Amanda Derbyshire contributed in both rounds with eight and four faults  on Roulette BH, while Alexandra Thornton’s first-round four faults on Cornetto K proved valuable.

Britain finished sixth of the 10 teams in Europe division 1. The top seven teams qualify for the final — the other teams who have made the cut are Belgium, Ireland, Switzerland, France, the Netherlands and Sweden.

Mexico scored its first win in the Aga Khan today, finishing on its first-round total of eight faults. Patricio Pabel (Babel) led the way with a double clear, while Eugenio Garza Perez (Victer Finn DH Z) and Enrique Gonzalez (Chacna) both delivered second-round clears. Federico Fernandez (Landpeter Do Feroleto) had four faults at each attempt, with his score counting for the team in the first round.

The Mexicans raise the Aga Khan trophy at Dublin 2018. Picture by Peter Nixon

“I’ve been doing the sport a long time and I don’t think I’ve ever had a win like this, with a team like this, in front of a crowd like this, at a show like this,” said Enrique, emphasising how knowledgable the Dublin spectators are. “It’s a real horse show and I don’t think all the other shows should be called horse shows.”

Article continues below…

You might also be interested in:

‘Like nothing I’ve ever felt before’ — meet the 19-year-old giving his sporting heroes a serious run for their money

We caught up with huge young showjumping talent Harry Charles in the midst of what he describes as the year

Britain finishes second in Hickstead Nations Cup after tense jump off with Ireland

After Britain and Ireland couldn’t be separated at the end of two rounds, each team selected one rider to jump

Meet the banana-loving horse from Colombia — who’s turning into a superstar

‘He can be fast, scopey, he’s everything. And he’s such a great guy — a super friendly horse who just

Ireland tied for second place with Italy and France, with all three teams finishing on 12 faults.

It was a disappointing finish for the home side as they had led after round one on a zero score. But things did not go their way in round two, with Shane Sweetham (Main Road), Paul O’Shea (Skara Glen’s Machu Picchu) and Cameron Hanely (Quirex) all having four faults and Mark McAuley eliminated after Utchan De Belheme had two refusals.

“Congratulations to the Mexicans — they were the better team on the day,” said Mark.

Four pairs jumped a double clear in the Nations Cup today — Mexico’s Patricio Pabel (Babel), Italy’s Luca Marziani (Tokyo Du Soleil), France’s Alexandra Francart (Volnay Du Boisdeville) and the USA’s Laura Kraut (Zeremonie).

Full report on the showjumping and showing from Dublin in Horse & Hound on Thursday (16 August issue).

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.

Pippa Roome

H&H magazine editor and eventing editor

Pippa is a true eventing geek and has been H&H’s eventing editor since 2005. She has first-hand experience of competing up to British Eventing intermediate and international CCI2*-L level, and has worked in the industry on a top event yard. Pippa enjoys nothing more than immersing herself in the sport at the highest level, reporting from the five-stars and international championships, including the Olympics.