FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping: Belgians bound for Barcelona Final and Division 1 slot after brilliant win in Roeser

by Louise Parkes

Team Belgium confirmed their return to Europe Division 1 when sealing promotion with a definitive victory at the sixth leg of the FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping 2017 Europe Division 2 League in Roeser (LUX) today. 

Taking command with the only zero score of the first round they added just six more in round two without calling up their anchor partnership, while the hosts sprang a major surprise when finishing a superb second ahead of the United Arab Emirates in third. Belgium cannot now be overtaken at the top of the Division 2 leaderboard after an extremely effective campaign, but the battle for the second spot in next year’s 10-nation Division 1 series and the FEI Nations Cup™ 2017 Final in Barcelona (ESP) in September will continue at the last leg in Gijon (ESP) next month. The British look set to take it, but another less than sparkling performance today failed to improve their position.

“We knew at the beginning of the year that some of our top riders would compete at Global shows during the season so from the start we planned to give opportunities to many riders and I’m very, very happy that it has worked out so well! I’m very proud of them all - it means a lot to be back in Division 1 next year!”  Peter Weinberg, Chef d’Equipe BEL

Pathfinder Nicola Philippaerts was the only Belgian to fault in the first round, but his clear with H&M Harley vd Bisschop second time out was followed by Catherine Van Roosbroeck’s effortless double-clear with the stallion Gautcho da Quinta. So although Dominique Hendrickx and Bacardi les Hauts collected six faults for a stop after an unfortunate slip on the turn to the influential penultimate triple combination, that was good enough to ensure that Vilm Vermeir and Iq van het Steentje didn’t have to go again because victory was already assured.   

The crowd held their breath as a battle for runner-up spot ensued between the first-round four-faulters from Luxembourg and Switzerland. Christian Weier’s single error was followed by two from Victor Bettendorf second time out, but when Charlotte Bettendorf went clear and anchorman Marcel Ewen picked up just a single time fault it fell to London 2012 Olympic champion, Steve Guerdat, to pin the hosts back to third. A mistake in the Longines triple combination put paid to that however, dropping the Swiss to fourth behind the impressive UAE foursome.

Now lying third with 180 points, Luxembourg could challenge the British for that much-sought-after second-place finish on the Division 2 leaderboard with another good performance in Gijon next month. “That possibility was presented to us today, but we’ll have to see as a team if it makes sense” said Christian Weier however. “It’s a nice spot to be in, but let’s not get carried away. We’ve just a small string of horses!”

Result:

1. Belgium                      -   6 faults
2. Luxembourg               -   9 faults
3. United Arab Emirates   -  10 faults

Full result here http://results.hippodata.de/2017/1343/docs/r_10_final_result.pdf

Facts and Figures:

13 teams - Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Luxembourg, Morocco, Norway, Poland, Spain, Switzerland and United Arab Emirates - competed in today’s sixth leg of the FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping 2017 Europe Division 2 League at Roeser in Luxembourg.

Morocco belongs to the Africa League and United Arab Emirates has already qualified for the FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping 2018 Final in Barcelona (ESP) through the Middle East League. 

This is the 25th anniversary of Luxembourg’s Réiser Päerdsdeeg Horse Show which was first staged in 1992 as a national event and has evolved into a top-class CSIO***.

Course designer was Luxembourg’s Peter Schumacher.

4 double-clear performances - from Belgium’s Catherine van Roosbroeck and Gautcho Da Quinta, United Arab Emirates Abdullah Mohammed Al Marri and Sama Dubai FBH, Switzerland’s Philipp Zuger and Casanova FZ and Spain’s Diego Perez Bilbao with HH Best Buy. 

The last leg of the FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping 2018 Europe Division 2 League will take place at the 75th anniversary Hipico Internacional in Gijon (ESP) which takes place from 30 August to 4 September. 

Quotes:

Peter Weinberg, Chef d’Equipe BEL: “Our first goal was to get into Division 1 again, that worked out well. The next big thing for sure is the European Championships and then to do well next year when we are back in the first Division.”

Catherine Van Roosbroeck BEL: “We went to St Gallen and the team ended up in fourth place, Gautcho and I were fourth in the Grand Prix and I got the prize for Leading Rider. My horse has been jumping double-clear and doing well all this season. We bought him when he was four (he’s now 11) and I built him up to this level, he’s been doing Nations Cups for a few years already. I know he made it look easy today. I think he’s in the best form of his life!”

Christian Weier LUX: “We have been working a long time toward this goal and wanting to promote the sport in Luxembourg. What happened today is something special, our first time to have a team in a Nations Cup in Luxembourg. We have to be realistic with our means though, we’ve seen other teams coming up from the second division to the first and it doesn’t work out for them. We don’t have enough horses -  I’m an amateur and personally I think it would be aiming too high, but of course it’s not my decision!”

Standings in FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping Europe Division 2 after round 6 in Roeser (LUX) based on best four results per nation: 

1.    Belgium       -  380

2.    Great Britain - 255

3.    Luxembourg - 180

4.    Denmark - 172.5

5.    Norway - 165

6.    Austria -  150

7.    Portugal       -  145

8.    Czech Republic-  140

Full Standings here http://results.hippodata.de/2017/1343/docs/nationscup__standings_d2.pdf