Lexington, KY - The U.S. show jumping squad picked up a major victory on Friday July 20 narrowly winning the Nation’s Cup at Falsterbo over Denmark.

The squad, comprised of three riders from the Developing Young Riders’ Tour, put on a tenacious performance against some of the most experienced riders in the world. Eliza Shuford, Brianne Goutal, Georgina Bloomberg and Molly Ashe overcame their third placing after the first round and fought back hard to force a tie after the second round and then a jump-off for the win.

In the second round Shuford shook off the disappointment of an unfortunate refusal in the first on Olymp and jumped a great round, adding just four faults. Goutal had two good rounds with Onira having one rail down in each. Bloomberg and Cim Christo picked up their first double clean round in a Nation’s Cup competition and kept the pressure on the competition.

A chance for victory then came down to Ashe. She needed to jump clear in order to tie the team for first and force a jump off. Her horse Victome, despite still being somewhat inexperienced, jumped an impeccable clear round and into a tie with the Danish.

The rules stipulate that in the scenario of a tie, the chef d’equipe of each team selects one rider to jump off. Melanie Smith-Taylor chose Goutal and she and Onira delivered a clean and fast round and the victory.

“The girls came back determined and fighting with that "never say die" spirit that I love so well!” said Smith Taylor after the win.

For more information please contact Joanie Morris, Communications Manager, High Performance at [email protected].