By Joanie Morris

Lexington, KY - The US Show Jumpers continued their march across Europe with another amazing performance in St. Gallen, Switzerland in the third leg of the Meydan FEI Nations Cup. Christine McCrea, Ashlee Bond, Laura Kraut and Richard Spooner stayed on the roll that began last week in Rome and continued with a jump-off for the win in Switzerland.

“It doesn’t happen often back-to back to win in a top league like this,” said Chef d’Equipe George Morris. “This is a great group; we have five great riders and a bunch of wonderful horses.”

Morris selected Spooner (Agua Dulce, CA) to jump-off to break the tie. The seasoned veteran carried the weight of the win back into the ring for the third time.

“I could have used any of the three in the jump off,” said Morris of Spooner, Kraut or Bond. “Richard’s horse was very, very fast in Rome, but I didn’t want to get him any more strong, he was very strong today. I thought maybe Ashlee’s horse as he was a bit more backed up, Richard helps Ashlee, Ashlee was leaning to Richard, so I said we can flip a coin. Ashlee would have done a great job. Richard is a master craftsman, a master jump-off rider.”

Spooner, known across the US jumping community for his uncanny ability to shave seconds off seemingly unbeatable times, put the Europeans on notice that his accelerator was good on both sides of the Atlantic. Riding Cristallo, an 11-year-old gelding owned by Half Moon Bay, Inc., Spooner went head-to-head with German rider Marcus Ehning after the two teams were tied on four faults after the two Nations Cup rounds.

Spooner had the disadvantage of going first in the jump-off, he put up a lightning fast time on the headstrong Cristallo but had the fourth fence down, a tall vertical, meaning that all Ehning had to do was jump clear. Riding Plot Blue, the German rider hunted around the course in textbook style, but had the very last fence down with the lightest of rubs. Spooner was more than 10 seconds faster, so his time prevailed.

“Richard’s strategy was he had to really lay it on him,” said Morris. “Marcus is a very fast and smooth rider. If he hadn’t, Marcus could have gone very fast, Richard had a little bad luck at one fence. Marcus played it right and carefully but just hit the last fence.”

Bond (Hidden Hills, CA) continued to defy her age for the US as the 24-year-old rider jumped two clear rounds on Cadett 7 for the third consecutive Nations Cup – an unprecedented achievement.

Olympic veterans, Kraut and Cedric had one rail in the second round after a first round clear, continuing their consistent roll through Europe. McCrea and Vegas struggled in the second round and retired but they served as valuable substitutions for Lauren Hough and Quick Study.

This puts the US team well-clear a top the Meydan FEI Nations Cup standings, over the nine other best Jumping teams in the world.

“I’m very pleased, it is very, very important to stay in this league,” said Morris. “This league is our preparation for championships. This gives us a leg up for the summer. Not that we can coast but it will give everyone confidence.”

Next stop on the Meydan FEI Nations Cup Tour is Rotterdam in Holland on June 19.

Here are the current standings:


1. USA 22.0
2. Switzerland 21.0
3. Germany 16.5
4. The Netherlands 11.5
5. France 11.0
6. Great Britain 9.0
7. Belgium 8.5
8. Sweden 7.0
9. Italy 4.0
10. Ireland 3.5


For more information, please visit: http://www.meydanfeinationscup.org/Pages/Default.aspx.

Watch Rotterdam live on FEI TV! See www.fei.org for more information.



ENDS