Boekelo, the Netherlands—Oct. 13

In the thrilling finale to the FEI Eventing Nations Cup 2019 series at Boekelo, Team Germany posted their fourth win of the season, while league leaders Sweden held on to take the series title. However some of the biggest smiles were on Swiss faces when they pulled Olympic qualification out of the bag.

There were three teams in contention for the single ticket to Tokyo 2020, and Dutch hopes were dashed when they found themselves lying 11th of the 12 competing nations after Saturday’s cross-country phase. But Switzerland and Belgium slugged it out to the very end, with the final series rankings swinging the pendulum in favor of the Swiss.

Germany captured the FEI Eventing Nations Cup Final. FEI/Libby Law Photography Photo

The new Olympic format led to plenty of head-scratching during the four-day fixture at which the German team took command at the outset and never flinched. Without a drop score, the multi-medaled Sandra Auffarth (Let’s Dance 73), Michael Jung (fischerRocana FST) and Ingrid Klimke (SAP Asha P) put just 78.10 penalty points on the board after dressage, with Auffarth also leading the individual rankings on her mark of 24.9. And with a hat-trick of cross-country zeros on Saturday, this phenomenal threesome looked all but unassailable going into the final jumping phase.

However there was plenty of movement below them as the cross-country course, designed by Adrian Ditcham, played its part. Australia climbed from sixth to second thanks to brilliant clear runs inside the time by Chris Burton (Clever Louis) and Kevin McNab (Fernhill Tabasco), and the Belgians rocketed up from seventh to third, thanks in no small part to a great performance from Lara de Liedekerke-Meier (Alpaga d’Arville) and just 3.6 time penalties for Constantin van Rijckevorsel (Beat It). With a two-phase tally of 117.50 they were lying just over 3 points behind Australia and just ahead of the Japanese who were in fourth going into the final day, while the Swiss also made serious headway when soaring up from 12th to fifth, their running total of 125.90 leaving them just 8 points adrift of their Belgian rivals as the action resumed on Sunday.

And it was a real roller-coaster in the battle for the team placings, with the 84-second time-allowed proving difficult to get.

Michael Jung’s fischerRocana FST made her return to four-star competition at Boekelo and helped the German team to victory in the Nations Cup. FEI/Libby Law Photography Photo

The team partnerships were last to go, and the Belgians dropped down the leaderboard when adding 30.80 to their tally. However despite the addition of just 0.4 for pathfinder Caroline Gerber (Tresor De Chignan CH) for going over the time, the Swiss also lost their grip when putting 30 more on the board. Robin Godel (Grandeur de Lully CH) collected 13.2 on his tour of the 12-fence track while Tiziana Realini (Toubleu De Rueire), who had produced one of those precious cross-country clears, posted 16.4 to bring their team total of 155.9, leaving the Swiss just behind their Belgian rivals in seventh place at the end of the day.

However, the Olympic spot would be earned by the country lying highest of the unqualified nations in the final Nations Cup 2019 standings. The Swiss lay third coming into this seventh and last leg, and their final total of 370 points left them well clear of the Belgians who completed with 355.

Meanwhile with their closest opposition from Italy not lining out this time around, the leading Swedes, carrying 435 points, had a clear run to the 2019 title despite finishing 10th at this last leg.

Tamie Smith and Mai Baum were the best U.S. finishers at Boekelo in 11th place. Sherry Stewart Photo

At the sharp end, Germany held on for a convincing win on a final score of 94.1, while a clear from Burton, 5.2 for McNab and just 4 faults for Samantha Birch (Finduss PFB) secured runner-up spot for Australia on a final tally of 123.5.

Japan finished an impressive third, Kazuma Tomoto (Bernadette Utopia) and Atsushi Negishi (Ventura De La Chaule JRA) going clear in both of the final two phases while Yoshiaki Oiwa (Bart L JRA), who had been lying individually second after dressage but who was penalized for a cross-country refusal, had a pole down at the penultimate triple combination today. The Japanese finished less than a single penalty point behind the Australians, and it is quite clear they will be a force to be reckoned with on home ground in Tokyo next summer. Fourth went to New Zealand (130.0) and fifth to Great Britain (143.0).

The last rider into the ring, Germany’s Auffarth, had individual glory in her grasp until hitting the last element of the triple combination, which dropped her to fourth and opened the door for Great Britain’s Laura Collett (London 52) to take the individual honors.

The U.S. team had a strong start to the weekend lying second after dressage. Tamie Smith (Mai Baum) put in a great cross-country round, adding .8 to sit in eighth place, while Liz Halliday-Sharp (Cooley Quicksilver) added 2.4 time penalties to sit 40th. But then Jennie Brannigan parted company from Stella Artois. Although Brannigan was eliminated on cross-country, the new Olympic format, which was being tested at Boekelo, allowed her to show jump the next day. The U.S. team received 200 penalties for the elimination, and Brannigan’s clean show jumping round counted toward the team total.

Matt Flynn (Wizzerd), the alternate, jumped clear with 22 time penalties on cross-country. If Stella Artois had not been able to continue, Flynn could have subbed in for the team score in show jumping under the Olympic format. At Tokyo, alternates will only be subbed in during the competition as needed, but at Boekelo they were allowed to complete the whole event.

In show jumping, Smith added 4.4 penalties to finish 11th, Halliday-Sharp added two rails to place 30th, and Flynn had a rail and 2.8 time faults. The team finished eighth.

For full results, click here.

For team results, click here.