Wellington, FL – Clear rounds were the way to win at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center as 10 countries took part in the $75,000 FEI Nations Cup presented by G&C Farm. The US team jumped to an equal fourth place finish with the team from Great Britain over Anthony D’Ambrosio’s 12 obstacle course. The finished on a 22 fault total. Of the 10 nations to contest America’s only Nations Cup, the top six teams from the first round returned to the International Ring for round two. The German team of Jorg Opperman and Che Guevara 17, David Will and Don Cesar, Johannes Ehning and Salvador V, and Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and Checkmate 4 claimed top honors on four total faults. The team from Ireland finished second with eight faults and Canada placed third on a score of nine faults in the feature class of CSIO week at the FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival.
Leading off the American effort was Lauren Hough (Wellington, FL) and Laura and Meredith Mateo’s Quick Study. In the first round, the 13-year-old French Warmblood gelding’s clear round never looked in doubt as the Nations Cup veterans cruised to a fault free effort. The pair jumped confidently in their return effort which was marred only by tapping the plank at fence four for a four fault total.
Continue reading US Ties for Fourth in the $75,000 FEI Nations Cup at CSIO Wellington