Eight countries fielded teams to compete in the Saturday Night Lights highlight event of Week 8 at Wellington International’s Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF): Australia, USA, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Ireland, Israel and Mexico.
With a team total of 13 penalties in the opening round, Australia was among the top six teams to return for round two.
Under Nations Cup rules, the best three scores from each round count toward the team total.
In the second round, Australia produced the third-best team performance on four penalties. Combined with their first-round score, this secured a very credible fourth-place finish overall.
Led by Chef d’Equipe Gavin Chester, the Australian team — comprised of Lauren Balcomb, Hilary Scott, Thaisa Erwin and Jamie Winning-Kermond — completed the competition on a total of 17 penalties in a strong international field.
Stand-out performance from Lauren Balcomb and Verdini D’Houtveld Z
Lauren Balcomb and 14-year-old Verdini D’houtveld Z (Verdi Tn x Caretino 2) delivered a stand-out performance, jumping clear in both rounds.
Thaisa Erwin and 13-year-old KWPN mare Hialita B (Emerald x Vaillant) had two rails in round one before returning to produce an impressive clear in round two.
Hilary Scott and nine-year-old KWPN mare Lola (VDL Cardento 933 x Otangelo) had two rails and a time fault in round one and were on track for a clear in round two before an unlucky late rail.
Jamie Winning-Kermond and 11-year-old Australian-bred mare Tulara WAT Colblensky (Colman x Cornet Obolensky) were consistent throughout, recording one rail and a time fault in the opening round, followed by a single rail in round two.
Victory for the USA
Team USA — made up of Karl Cook, Callie Schott, Marilyn Little and McLain Ward — earned its second consecutive victory in the $150,000 CSIO4* Nations Cup.
Over the 25-year history of the FEI Nations Cup Wellington, the USA has now won 11 times.
Cook aboard his Paris Olympic partner, 14-year-old Selle Français mare Caracole de la Roque (Zandor Z x Kannan*GFE); Little riding La Contessa, an 11-year-old Mecklenburg mare (License x Cornet’s Prinz); and Schott on 15-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Garant (Warrant x Verdi TN) were foot-perfect in the opening round. As a result, USA Chef d’Équipe Robert Ridland elected for Ward, his team’s anchor rider, to save his horse — 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Jordan Molga M (Etoulon VDl x HGT Dulf van den Bisschop) — for the second round.
The USA advanced to the second round on a score of zero, matched only with Ireland after Cian O’Connor, Shane Sweetnam and Tom Wachman jumped without faults. Scores of zero on the board once again came from Schott and Little for the home nation, while a rail fell for Cook. For the Irish squad’s return, Jordan Coyle and Cian O’Connor were clear, with Wachman posting four faults.
A familiar scenario in team jumping at Wellington International, the final decider came down to the last two rounds of the evening between Ireland and the USA. A heartbreak rail at the final fence on course put a tally of four aside Sweetnam’s name, and placed all the pressure on Ward’s shoulders.
“It’s a position that I’ve grown to be comfortable in and relish, to be honest, but I think I felt more pressure because it’s a new relationship with this horse,” said Ward of Jordan Molga M, the mount owned by Michael Smith that joined Ward’s string in December and made a debut under the lights at WEF on Saturday night. “I was going back and forth on whether I should jump the first round, and decided I needed to trust our preparation.
“I’m very lucky to have such a strong team — they put me in a pretty nice position,” continued Ward. “It’s always a good feeling knowing you’re going to either jump off or win.”
Ward only jumped once but made it count with a clear from Jordan Molga M. Ireland settled for second on a final score of four and Canada took third on nine faults.
“The two double clears were phenomenal,” said Ridland of Little and Schott’s pivotal contributions to the team effort. “That’s the way you win Nations Cups; double-clear rounds.”
Of La Contessa, the mare that carried her to the win, Little said, “Her consistency is absolutely fabulous. It’s a blessing to have a partner you can really count on. This was a dream about 12 months ago, so to be here — with a horse like that, on a team like this with mentors, and in my hometown — it’s a dream come true.”
In her first Nations Cup on home soil, Schott echoed Little’s sentiments and gave credit to Garant, owned by Southern Arches, saying, “It was really exciting to jump double clear and be there for the team. I trust Garant so much — he loves to run and jump, and if I trust him and be there for him, he’s there for me.
“He was very excited to be coming back for a second round,” Schott laughed. “I think he thought he was coming back for a jump-off, but he held us together.”
Despite the rail, Cook and Caracole de la Roque, owned by Eric Navet and Signe Ostby, made a significant contribution to the winning effort after traveling from their home base in California to Florida.
“The show here has built a really great brand around Saturday Night Lights, and not only does the horse culture here in Wellington come out, but also the general public does as well. The crowd helps us as riders, and I think it makes the sport better.”
With the FEI World Championships in Aachen, Germany, in August at the forefront of everyone’s mind, Ridland spoke about the significance of this early-season Nations Cup on the global calendar.
“This is always an interesting Nations Cup because the pressure is on to win—it’s a home Nations Cup and a really big deal,” said Ridland, who was presented with the Denis Quinlan Perpetual Trophy for the victory. “At the same time, it’s early, and you’ve got to play the long ball. This is the beginning of the year, but you can’t do everything at the end, and this will have played a role for sure in where we are later [in the season]. More importantly, what a great night it was.”
For complete results from the $150,000 CSIO4* Nations Cup, presented by Florida Coast Equipment, click here.
