Great Britain finished in second place in the second leg of the Meydan FEI Nations Cup, held in the Piazza di Siena in Rome on Friday afternoon.
British pathfinder Nick Skelton riding Beverley Widdowson’s Carlo 273 opened the British account with a very unlucky four faults in the first round. He was followed by Peter Charles with Olga White’s Murka’s Pom d’Ami, fresh from their double clear in La Baule just a couple of weeks ago, once again they chalked up yet another foot perfect first round clear. Ben Maher and Robin Hood W, a horse Ben co-owns with Mike and Emma Phillips of the Quainton Stud, finished the first round with an uncharacteristic sixteen faults, whilst anchorman John Whitaker had a challenging ride from Rebecca Stones’ Peppermill, and were also extremely unlucky to finish with just a single pole on the floor.
Finishing the first round on a total score of eight, Rob Hoekstra’s squad dug deep and finished the second round on a zero score with foot perfect clears coming from Nick, Ben and John, with Peter lowering a single rail for four faults.
A very polished French squad emulated their performance in La Baule at the beginning of the month by taking their second victory of the series, with third place being shared between Ireland and Spain.
CSIO5* Rome ITA Meydan FEI Nations Cup – Round 2 Friday 28th May 2010
1st France – 4 faults
2nd Great Britain
8 faults Nick Skelton & Carlo 273 – 4/0 Peter Charles & Murka’s Pom d’Ami – 0/(4) Ben Maher & Robin Hood W – (16)/0 John Whitaker & Peppermill – 4/0
=3rd Ireland 12
=3rd Spain 12
5th Germany 16
6th United States 20
7th Italy 24
8th Switzerland 28
9th Sweden 32
10th Netherlands
11th Poland
Friday afternoon’s result see’s Great Britain climb into second place on the series points table. With two victories under their belt France currently top the table with maximum points with the USA in third. For more information regarding the Meydan Nations Cup Series please visit www.meydanfeinationscup.org
The British Showjumping Teams are strongly supported by the UK Sport lottery funded BEF World Class programme. Full results can be viewed at www.piazzadisiena.com
