It’s been 50 years since George Morris was on the first U.S. team to win the Nations Cup at the Rome CSIO (Italy), so it’s only fitting that he—as chef d’equipe–shepherded this year’s team to the top of the second leg of the Meydan FEI Nations Cup series.

Richard Spooner, Laura Kraut, Ashlee Bond and Lauren Hough completed the two rounds with just 4 faults. It was no easy victory however, with the French team very nearly forcing a jump-off before having to settle for second ahead of the British and Swiss, who shared third place. Germany slotted into fifth with Ireland and the Netherlands in sixth, and Italy claimed eighth place.  The losers today were the teams from Belgium and Sweden who didn’t make the cut into the second round in which only eight of the 10 competing nations battled it out.

Ashlee Bond, who rode a brilliant double-clear during the U.S. team’s seventh-placed effort at La Baule (France), repeated the feat aboard Cadett 7 in Rome. “I am honored to be a part of such an amazing team and riding for such an amazing country,” said Bond. “I wouldn’t want to ride for any other country!”

Hough and Kraut also had clean efforts in Round 1 in Rome, on Quick Study and Cedric, so Spooner’s one rail in Round 1 was the drop score. Hough and Kraut each had rails in Round 2, so after Bond posted her clear second round, Spooner’s second-round clear on Cristallo became crucial.

In The First Round

Course designer Uliano Vezzani set them a tough track.  “It was more difficult than [the first Meyden Nations Cup leg at] La Baule,” said Spooner, who clinched it for his side with a superb last-to-go performance from Cristallo. 

The triple combination proved influential, but it was the final line of fences, beginning with the triple bar at 10 and continuing to a double and concluding oxer that created most difficulty.  “The triple bar was VERY big,” said Kraut, whose only mistake with her Olympic ride Cedric was at the previous vertical at fence 9, “and the oxer going into the double was wide and tall, but the fence my horse didn’t like was the first one, the wall.”

The opening vertical, which mirrored Rome’s ancient Colosseum, stopped both Ireland’s Kevin Babington and, ironically, Italy’s Juan Carlos Garcia in their tracks when their horses refused at it before continuing on course.

The Irish were sharing second place with France and Great Britain at the halfway stage with a four-fault score, the Americans already holding the whip hand with clears from Hough, Bond and Laura Kraut.  Spooner didn’t need to jump as only the best three scores count for each team “but I hadn’t had a good week so far so I wanted to try to qualify for the grand prix on Sunday,” he explained.  As it happened it was a fortuitous decision because his four-fault first-round run prepared him for his all-important second-round clear effort with Cristallo.

In The Second Round

The Swiss and Germans carried 8 faults each into Round 2 while the Dutch carried 12 and the Italians carried 20.

The Irish lost their grip with 16 faults the second time out and the British slipped a little when Nick Skelton, Michael Whitaker and Ben Maher each had a fence down, although John Whitaker produced one of his trademark jumping exhibitions to go clear with Peppermill. 

Third-last into the ring, Kevin Staut, needed to stay clear if France was to force a jump-off with the U.S. who by now would finish with at least 4 faults after Hough collected 8, Bond went clear again and Kraut had 4.  Staut however fell victim to the first element of the penultimate double, and as Spooner came into the ring once more he knew victory was in his grasp.

With only one fence in hand, he could not afford a mistake, but Cristallo was foot-perfect all the way to the finish. “I predicted last week that on paper this was a very strong horse-rider team,” said Morris. “I said that if we have the luck this is a strong group and the rest will be lucky to beat us.”

The series now moves on to St. Gallen in Switzerland on June 4-7.