Barcelona, Spain - The NetJets U.S. Jumping Team finished fifth overall in the final round of the 2023 Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup Final on a team total of nine faults. Germany were crowned the winners, while France finished second, and Belgium in third. Brazil finished in fourth, narrowly edging the U.S., and securing the single Olympic qualification allocation available to the highest-placed and previously non-qualified team at the conclusion of the competition. The NetJets U.S. Jumping Team will now turn their sights to the 2023 Santiago Pan American Games, where they will look to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
“We knew coming here we were going to face talented opposition. We knew Brazil was going to be tough and we were right. They were a better team than us on Thursday, and we had always said this was a team of five, and we didn’t want to leave anything on the table, so we brought in a fresh horse today,” said Chef d’Equipe Robert Ridland. “We barely missed today and of course it’s frustrating. It was a very close contest between us and Brazil, and we both finished in the top six of the fifteen teams here, which shows the competitiveness of both our teams. We have to get it done in Santiago. It’s pretty simple what our job is there. We wanted to seal the deal today, but it wasn’t meant to be, and now we focus all our efforts on Santiago.”
The team saw a substitution change for the final round with Devin Ryan and Eddie Blue checking in for Jessica Springsteen and Don Juan van de Donkhoeve on the last day of competition. McLain Ward (Brewster, N.Y.) and Callas, a 2008 Holsteiner mare owned by Beechwood Stables LLC and cared for by Virginie Casterman, were the pathfinders for the team once again and crossed through the finish with a late four faults as the final rail of the triple combination dropped after a light rub. As the class progressed, the course designed by Santiago Varela (ESP) proved challenging across the board, with rails falling throughout, keeping the scores tight with each rotation.
Karl Cook (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) and Kalinka van’t Zorgvliet, a 2010 Belgian Warmblood mare owned by Signe Otsby and cared for by Sarah Griffin, followed as the second combination in the team order and were precise with their round but fell victim to the same rail as Ward and Callas, with the C element of the triple combination, a tall vertical, slipping from the cups and keeping them from a clear round just a fence from home. The pair finished with four faults to keep the team tightly contested with Brazil heading into the third rotation.
Third in the team order, Devin Ryan (Longwood, N.J.). and Eddie Blue entered the ring with pressure for a clear. Ryan and Eddie Blue, a 2009 KWPN gelding owned by LL Show Jumpers LLC and cared for by Angela Baugh, had an early four faults, after nudging out the top bricks of the wall, before dropping a rail in the one-stride combination towards the end of the course for a total of eight faults.
Bringing it to the wire, Laura Kraut (Royal Palm Beach, Fla.) and Dorado 212, a 2013 Oldenburg gelding owned by St. Bride’s Farm and cared for by Margo Thomas, produced a nearly foot-perfect round crossing through the timers in 87.62 seconds, just barely over the time allowed to add a single time fault to their score. Brazil ultimately finished on a total of eight faults, with the U.S. slotting in just behind them on nine.
The NetJets U.S. Jumping Team will now set their sights on an Olympic berth via the 2023 Santiago Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile in a few weeks’ time where three allocations will be up for grabs and awarded to the three highest-placed and previously non-qualified teams following the conclusion of team competition. Jumping competition in Santiago will begin on October 30, and continue through November 3, 2023.
Results
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