Bevis seals nail-biting final FEI Nations Cup qualifier win for Great Britain

A slender one-fault margin was all that separated the two nations with Bevis sealing victory with a last-to-go clear round on Courtney Z.

In a competition filled with surprises, it was The Netherlands that lined up third ahead of Switzerland in fourth, while the Canadian side that included Rio 2016 individual Olympic bronze medallist Eric Lamaze finished in fifth place.

Italy finished sixth, France seventh and Ireland lined up last of the eight teams that made the cut into the second round from a starting field of 12 nations.

The competition was the last leg of the Europe Division 2 series with three nations – Norway, Portugal and Spain chasing points.

The track set by Spanish course designer Avelino Rodriguez-Miravalles proved difficult in the first round of the competition when only four of the 47 horse-and-rider combinations managed to turn in a fault-free performance from the 12 fence track.

Egypt, Mexico, Portugal and Norway were already out of contention at the halfway stage, the three-member Egyptian side however only losing out on the clock when four countries were tied on 17 faults at the end of round one.

It was the British who led the way at the halfway stage when opener Tim Stockdale (on Fleur de l’Aube) and third-line newcomer Samuel Hutton (on Happydam) posted two of those four first-round clears. That allowed them to drop the eight collected by Joe Whitaker (on Lola V) leaving only Bevis’ single mistake on their score-card.

Canda were two fences behind the British leaders as the second round began and the only double-clear of the entire competition from their pathfinders Elizabeth Gingras on Zilversprings kept them in contention. But an additional 12 faults from the remaining team members sent them down the leaderboard, while, next in line, the Swiss and French also lost their grip when adding eight and 13 faults apiece.

The Dutch did really well to add just four to their 16-fault first-round scoreline thanks to clears from 25-year-old pathfinder Doron Kuipers (on Zinius) and 18-year-old Sanne Thijssen (on Captain Cooper),

However, it was the hosts Spain who held fastest when adding nothing to their 17-fault first effort when Eduardo Alvarez Aznar (on Fidux), Gerardo Menendez (on Cassino DC) and Sergio Alvarez Moya (on Arrayan) were all foot-perfect this time out to apply the pressure on the British leaders.

Stockdale put four faults on the board second time out, and when Whitaker hit fence eight along with both elements of the final double fence and then Hutton lowered the last element of the triple combination sixth fence and the first element of the final double fence, it all came down to Bevis.

Even discounting Whitaker’s result, his side already had 12 faults to add bringing their total to 16 and only a single fault behind the Spanish. However the 50-year-old veteran steered Courtney Z – who also carried him to a double-clear at the Europe Division 1 Furusiyya leg in Dublin last month, to a smooth fault-free tour of the track to clinch victory for the British team.

Result:

1. Great Britain 16 faults
2. Spain 17
3. Netherlands 20
4. Switzerland 22
5. Canada 24
6. Italy 25
7. France 29
Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup Jumping 2016 Europe Division 2 League
Standings after 7th and last qualifying leg: Gijon, Spain

1. Ukraine 390 points
2. Spain 360
3. Austria 285
4. Norway 234.5
5. Denmark 210
6. Poland 192.5
6. Hungary 192.5
8. Luxembourg 160
9. Russia 155
10. Portugal 132.5
11. Turkey 82.5
12. Finland 55
13. Slovenia 35
14. Slovakia 0
14. Bulgaria 0