USA Wins FEI Nations Cup San Juan Capistrano
Two weeks after winning the FEI Nations Cup against Mexico, Team USA won its second Nations Cup event in San Juan Capistrano last weekend. The team of Lillie Keenan, Karl Cook, Laura Kraut and McLain Ward collected a total of 12 penalties over two rounds to propel the Irish team to second place.
Keenan with Organ de Belliard (v. Mylord Carthago), cook with Kalinga van ‘de Jorgvliet (s. Thunder van de Zuuthoeve), met Kraut Dorado (v. Diarados Boy) and Ward met Contagious (By Contagio) Nationals coach Robert Ridland brought a strong team to the start. “The main goal is to qualify for the final of the Nations Cup because that is one of the two ways to qualify for the Olympics. We split our ‘A-Team’ in two, with the first half in Mexico and the other half here in San Juan Capistrano,” says Ritland.
Challenging course
According to McClain Ward, Leopoldo Palacios created a challenging course. “When I ran the course, I was surprised at how high it was. But then again, it’s a five-star Nations Cup. This qualification has huge consequences, and that’s how it should be.”
Ireland beyond Mexico
USA entered the second round with 8 penalties in the first round. Mexico are second with 13 penalty points and Ireland are third with 16 penalty points. In the second round, the USA received 4 penalty points, which was unchallenged with 12 penalty points. Mexico got into trouble and were awarded 20 penalty points in the second round. Ireland only conceded 1 penalty point, moving up one place in the table.
Nations Cup result.
Standings Nations Cup North & Central America & Caribbean.
Source: Horses.nl/The world of show jumping
“Coffee fanatic. Friendly zombie aficionado. Devoted pop culture practitioner. Evil travel advocate. Typical organizer.”