Tag Archives: Challenge Cup

Brilliant British Young Guns Clinch Challenge Cup

(L to R) Jack Whitaker, Harry Charles, Emily Moffitt, Chef d’Equipe Di Lampard, John Whitaker, and Holly Smith. (FEI/Lukasz Kowalski)

It was a night for the next generation at the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Final 2021 at the Real Club de Polo in Barcelona, Spain when a team filled with fresh young faces claimed the Challenge Cup trophy for Great Britain.

Clear rounds from 22-year-old Harry Charles riding Romeo 88 and 23-year-old Emily Moffitt partnering Winning Good anchored the British scoreline. The four faults picked up by team pathfinders, 32-year-old Holly Smith and Denver, was all they had to count when posting a convincing victory without having to call on anchorman and longtime legend John Whitaker and Unick du Francport.

In the first round, things didn’t go Britain’s way, so they found themselves in the five-way battle between Division 1 teams when both Canada and Uzbekistan withdrew. It was a night filled with nervous tension, because one of those five nations would be relegated to the EEF Nations Cup series in 2022 when finishing last.

In a bizarre turnaround, the newly crowned European champions from Switzerland were amongst those battling to stay in the top league, and they were really feeling the pressure when they had to start with just a three-man side after Bryan Balsiger’s TwentyTwo des Bisches was unfit to compete. The electricity in the air in the closing stages was immense, but it was Team Italy who found themselves in the relegation spot when they put 43 faults on the board. Their place in Division 1 will be taken by the Czech Republic when the 2022 season gets underway.

France finished second with a finally tally of 10 faults, Norway finished third with 21, and the Swiss slotted into fourth with an uncharacteristic 25.

Looked set

The French were first to go, and with just single time faults from Penelope Leprevost (GFE Excalibur de la Tour Vidal) and Marc Dilasser (Arioto de Gevres), they looked set to discard the eight collected by Gregory Cottard (Bibici) when Mathieu Billot and Quel Filou set off as their last partnership. But the 15-year-old gelding was clearly not on form when putting in a stop, and when the pair retired then that handed it to the British.

The Swiss had to count all three of their results, with eight from Steve Guerdat (Victorio des Frotards), nine from Edwin Smits (Farezzo) and eight more from Martin Fuchs and Chaplin making up their unusually large scoreline. Fuchs and Guerdat were both on that gold medal winning European team in Reisenbeck, Germany just four weeks ago, but on different horses. Guerdat said that it was “a strange week for us here. I don’t want to say I was very confident, but you don’t expect us all to be that bad two days in a row. It was hard watching at the end,” he admitted.

But if it was a tough day for the reigning European champions, it was an even tougher one for Team Italy for whom nothing seemed to go right, with three fences down for Piergiorgio Bucci (Naiade d’Elsendam Z), 14 faults from Fabio Brotto 9Vanita Delle Roane), 17 from Antonio Garofalo (Conquestador), and retirement for Riccardo Pisani (Chaclot).

The British were at the other end of the spectrum, making it all look pretty easy, and John Whitaker, who at 66 has a lifetime of glory already behind him, joked about not having to compete when the rest of his side did all the hard work and left him on the sidelines.

Unbelievable job

“The three young ones really did an unbelievable job today. Yesterday didn’t really go to plan, but we were still fighting today – or at least they were fighting and they pulled it off in style!” said the man who first competed in Barcelona back in 1984.

His nephew Jack Whitaker, who turns 20 next week, was fifth man for the British side and there is a real sense of Team Great Britain rebuilding itself at last after a long period in the doldrums. As Holly Smith pointed out, “We haven’t been having the best time of it, but I think I speak for everybody: we are all so connected, and things will change and this is the start of it!”

Moffitt confirmed the sense of a new beginning too. “When we came here, we knew it was a case of sink or swim, but we swam so I’m happy with that!”

Talking about her 12-year-old gelding Winning Good, she said she was very disappointed when picking up five faults when Britain finished tenth of the 15 competing nations. “We know we are capable of a double-clear, but we are not robots and things can happen, and I was really happy that we were back to doing what we do best today – and my horse is the love of my life. Everything about him is amazing and he just wants to do it. He loves it so much!” she said.

Harry Charles has been really developing into a top-class rider over the last year, and his faultless rounds earned him a handsome €50,000 bonus which he admitted was very nice indeed. This was a watershed moment in his career for a number of reasons.

“I was under a bit of pressure as third rider today, but John was right behind us ready to go.

“Jack’s been my best friend for many years, so it’s been great to be on a team with him, and to ride with John on a team was one of my bucket list things – it’s such a great team to be part of!” he said.

Prizegiving

His father Peter Charles, former individual European champion and Olympic team gold medallist at London 2012, proudly pinned the Longines sash to his son’s jacket before the prizegiving ceremony. It was a huge moment for them both.

“My dad is my trainer and he’s been brilliant all my life. He kind of stopped his own career to help us, but he says he gets no bigger joy than watching us compete, so he really is the backbone of it all!” Harry said.

“I’ve been at this 5-Star level a couple of years, and I’ve got more consistent and have the horsepower now, so it’s starting to come through more than it previously did, and I’m getting more confident in the ring this summer as well. It’s all coming together really nicely, and I couldn’t be more excited for the future!” he continued.

He said getting the ride on Ann Thompson’s Romeo last year has turned everything around for him. “He’s the best horse I’ve ever had and he’s really taken me to a new level – in terms of experience, building up to a major championship, going to the Olympics as my first Championship, being around the other riders like Scott (Brash) and Ben (Maher). This Final is kind of like a mini-Championship here, coming on the back of Tokyo. I’ve learned a lot and it’s been a helluva year!” he added.

Proud

British Chef d’Equipe Di Lampard said she was really proud of her young side. “When they needed to, they stepped up to the plate in style, all of them, and with John in the wings – he obviously didn’t touch a fence tonight,” she pointed out with a laugh.

“It’s been progression, a new generation coming through; they’ve been consistent all year and it’s been a big learning year for them. Hopefully, we can look forward to big things next year,” she said. She had great praise for the exceptional skill of course designer Santiago Varela, who also built the tracks at this summer’s Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

She said to him, “We appreciate your courses; they’re so educational; they get the riders really thinking and they’re really kind to our horses too. We love meeting up with you Santi; you really do a great job!

“It’s always been on my bucket list to have a win here, so we’ve started with the Challenge Cup and hopefully we can come back and do more next year. On behalf of all the riders I’d like to thank Daniel (Daniel Giro, Show Director) for organising this wonderful event!” she added.

Results here.

by Louise Parkes

Media contact:

Shannon Gibbons
Manager, Media Relations & Media Operations
shannon.gibbons@fei.org
+41 78 750 61 46

Team Germany Clinches the Challenge Cup

Marcus Ehning riding Comme Il Faut. (FEI/Jim Hollander)

USA finishes second ahead of Brazil in third 

Marcus Ehning was the hero of the hour when clinching the Challenge Cup for Germany at the Longines FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping Final 2018 in Barcelona (ESP) riding Comme Il Faut. Team-mate Philipp Weishaupt produced a foot-perfect pathfinding run from the lovely mare Asathir, but when Hans-Dieter Dreher left two fences on the floor with Berlinda and youngest team member Maurice Tebbel had a fence down and a time fault with Chacco’s Son, then all the pressure was piled on Ehning’s shoulders. He knew exactly what he had to do because he’s done it so many times before.

“I had to go clear to win the class. This last 20 years I’ve been doing the sport I’m used to the pressure. Especially this year I had a few rounds where I had to be clear and I was lucky I was clear, but I hope that will change and that in future years the pressure is on someone else!” — Marcus Ehning (Team Germany)

Of the seven competing nations there were two with just three team-members, Canada who started out that way in the first round of the Final and USA whose numbers were reduced when Jessica Springsteen and RMF Zecilie were a late withdrawal. But Alex Granato really rose to the occasion by steering Carlchen W through a foot-perfect round. So when all the US had to count was a double-error from Andy Kocher and Kahlua and a single time fault from Lucy Deslauriers with Hester, then their nine-fault total was good enough for runner-up spot.

That time fault was costly, however, because Deslauriers was the last of the five riders chasing down a €50,000 bonus on offer to anyone producing clear rounds. If she had been just that little bit faster, she would have had it all to herself.

Brazil lined up third on 10 faults ahead of Spain with 15, Canada with 16, Great Britain with 20, and the United Arab Emirates on a big score of 40 faults.

The Germans had mixed feelings about their success. The competition was open to the teams that did not qualify in the first round for the top-eight Final. Philipp Weishaupt said it was tough to miss the cut by such a narrow margin when time was taken into account after four teams completed with an eight-fault scoreline. “We missed out by less than a second, and it wasn’t so easy to keep the motivation up today. We put our breeches on in the hotel and came out to jump tonight but all the other teams had their jeans on. But we knew we had to do it and we knew we had to try our best,” he added.

Ehning, who along with Tebbel was a member of the German team that claimed bronze at the FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2018 in Tryon, USA two weeks ago when their team-mate, Simone Blum, also took the individual title with the lovely mare DSP Alice, is one of the world’s most admired horsemen. He had the crowd spell-bound as he cruised at high speed around the track to bring glory to his country once again.

When asked how he prepared to go into such a pressure round, he explained that Comme Il Faut had been jumping too high in the practice arena, so he schooled him over small fences to get him to jump lower which would allow them to take on the course at greater speed.

“Especially at the first fence I wanted him to be fast. The time was a bit tight… but if you can flow with him then you just have to follow him and he makes it very easy for the rider; he’s a very clever horse!” — Marcus Ehning (Team Germany)

Meanwhile, his Chef d’Equipe described the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ series as “the biggest thing we have in our sport! All of our different stakeholders are fighting for it: the breeders, supporters, owners, the riders, the Chefs’ d’Equipe, the Federations, everybody. It’s something special to be in a team, to fight with a team, to lose or win together for your country. I love this!” Otto Becker said.

Result here.

By Louise Parkes

Media contact:

Shannon Gibbons
Media Relations and Communications Manager
shannon.gibbons@fei.org
+41 78 750 61 46