PrintThe Irish team claimed the Mercedes-Benz Prize, the sixth leg of the Meydan FEI Nations Cup series in Aachen, Germany, on July 15 over the German and U.S. teams.
It was an exciting day of competition as five top teams were tied for the lead at the halfway stage. But it was the men in green who stood firm while their rivals crumbled in the closing stages.
German chances were seriously hindered when Ludger Beerbaum and his young mare Gotha had an unfortunate first round. They collected 18 faults when Gotha frightened herself so much over the triple bar fence that Beerbaum had to pull her away from the following oxer before going on to lower the second part of the tricky double two fences later and picking up a lot of time faults.
The final result has shaken up the leaderboard of the series, but the French still hold the strong advantage they established with their hat trick of wins early in the season and a score of 43.5. The United States has moved up to second place (31.5) ahead of Ireland, Great Britain and Germany.
A Challenging Track
Frank Rothenberger's 12-fence track did not disappoint. Riders come to Aachen knowing that nothing less than their best will do on this hallowed ground, and he demanded big, bold jumping from the horses and intelligent riding from their pilots. This was not a course for the faint-hearted.
Yet the two Irishmen who never touched a pole were both riding horses with little mileage at this level of the sport. With characteristic patience, 2002 World Champion Dermott Lennon has nurtured the talent of his 10-year-old gelding Hallmark Elite, and they showed their class in both rounds. Cian O'Connor's new ride, K Club Lady, has only been in his yard since April, but she made the course designer's questions seem very elementary indeed. This daughter of Landgraf was competing with an amateur rider in Spain until O'Connor spotted her a few months ago.
Irish pathfinder, Billy Twomey, collected just 4 faults on his first tour of the arena with Tinka's Serenade—one of the many victims of the penultimate triple combination. This, the water at fence 9, and the triple-bar at fence 4 proved influential throughout the competition.
Irish anchorman Denis Lynch looked set for a clear until lowering the very last, and with 4 faults on the board the Irish shared the lead with the United States, France, Switzerland and Germany at the halfway point. The real battle was played out between these five nations as Round 2 got underway.
The Clear Winners
The final result was produced with clinical efficiency however when Twomey, Lennon and O'Connor put zero scores on the board. Lynch didn't even have to ride out a second time, so he can look forward to defending Sunday's grand prix title with a fresh horse.
The all-girl U.S. team that won in Rotterdam last month were expected to prove difficult to beat, but only Nicole Shahinian-Simpson and Tristan managed a clean sheet in the second round. Four-fault rounds from Lauren Hough on Quick Study, Candice King on Skara Glen's Davos and Laura Kraut on Cedric brought their total to 12, which would only be good enough for third.
