U.S. Displays Show Jumping Strength with Nations Cup Win at CSIO5* in Poland

13 national teams in Division 2 are chasing qualifying points for the FEI Nations Cup 2017 Final in Barcelona, with only two spots allocated for the division among the 18 overall (with an automatic place for hosts Spain if not qualified). Many more spots are available for countries in the strong Division 1 — a group which includes Spain — as relatively few teams in Division 2 are at the very highest level of show jumping.

After 5 of 7 qualifiers for the division then — the Linz-Ebelsberg 4* in Austria, the Drammen 3* in Norway, the Lisbon 3* in Portugal, the Uggerhalne 3* in Denmark, and now Sopot’s 5* — the Belgian team has a commanding lead with 350 points, followed by last year’s Barcelona runners-up Great Britain, with 255. Third-place Norway sits at 160 points.

The remaining opportunities to pick up points in Division 2 will be at the Roeser 3* in Luxembourg from July 29-2, and the Gijon, Spain 5* from August 30 – September 4.

Visiting teams are allowed to compete in Nations Cup qualifiers for practice, experience, and prize money, although without the possibility of gaining points toward the Final. In the case of Sopot, the United States came to town even though they have already qualified for this year’s Final alongside Canada through the North America, Central America and Caribbean league. Nevertheless, the strong American squad in Poland had to be considered one of the favourites in the field of 13 countries, along with the likes of the Netherlands, Belgium, Great Britain, Ireland and Sweden.

In the end, though, after two rounds on Olaf Petersen Jr’s challenging track, the Americans won a thrilling jump-off over Team Netherlands, both finishing with four penalty points but with times of 36.29 seconds for the winners and 38.03 for the runners-up. Two-time Olympian Laura Kraut and Deauville S proved to be the clutch combination of the day for the U.S. in the jump-off, with the 51-year-old overcoming Dutch teenager Sanne Thijssen on Con Quidam RB. “Sanne is a great rider, always very fast,” Kraut said. “Robert Ridland [U.S. Chef d’Equipe] told me you’ve got a fence to work with, so just try to out-race her so that you will beat her even if you have a fence down!”  

“It was unbelievable,” added Ridland. “We tried to keep our focus the whole time and had plans for what the outcome could be before our final rider went into the ring in the second round. It was a great day for the sport.”