Britain’s eventers close in on Germany in the Nations Cup series

Team GBR closed to within two points of Germany in the FEI Nations Cup eventing series — after an impressive win in Montelibretti, Italy last weekend.

Britain finished nearly 40 penalties ahead of the Italian hosts, with a three-man German team in third.

The British riders — who were all competing in their first Nations Cup — took individual first, second, fourth and sixth places.

Nicky Roncoroni and the 10-year-old Ghareeb gelding, Trig Point, headed the leaderboard.

Nicky, Emilie Chandler (Coopers Law), Paul Sims (Calador) and Dani Evans (Raphael II) all achieved clear cross-country round within the time, the only nation to do so.

“It was a very pleasing result,” said squad manager Philip Surl. “When we walked the course we thought there were quite a few places where you could make a mistake, and also that the time would be hard to achieve.

“It was quite a logistical challenge for us to get down to Montelibretti and involved two overnight stops, but the horses all arrived well and we had a couple of personal bests in the dressage [for Nicky and Paul].”

Whereas Germany fielded their top championship combinations at Fontainebleau, Houghton Hall and Aachen, Britain has used the series to give younger riders team experience. Dani Evans has only just graduated from young rider ranks.

This weekend, Laura Collett, Lucy Wiegersma, Izzy Taylor, Sarah Bullimore and Jodie Amos will travel to Waregem in Belgium this weekend for penultimate leg of the Nations Cup.

The final event of the series takes place in Boekelo, Holland (10-13 October).

For a full report, see next week’s magazine (3 October).

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