t was a hard-fought battle to the finish today, May 19, in the Samsung Super League Nations Cup at the Aachen CHIO, Germany. And the German team came out on top for their second consecutive Super League win this season, with the American team breathing down their necks in second again.
The German team proved invincible, unlike last year, when they had an uncharacteristic off day and the American team one-upped them to win. With that memory stinging in their minds today, they came out with a top team—Ludger Beerbaum/L’espoir, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum/Shutterfly, Christian Ahlmann/Coster and Marcus Ehning/Gitania. The U.S. brought Margie Engle/Quervo Gold, Lauren Hough/Casadora, McLain Ward/Sapphire and Beezie Madden/Authentic to the starting order.
The Germans didn’t put a foot wrong in Round 1. All three of the first riders jumped clean, so Ehning didn’t even have to jump for Germany to start Round 2 with a clean slate score.
The American team stood second after the first round, with just Ward and Sapphire’s one rail counting. Madden and Engle both turned in clear rounds, but Hough had trouble when Casadora stopped coming around one turn. Their 14 faults in the first round was the drop score.
Engle and Quervo Gold led off Round 2 with a four-fault go, and then Hough and Ward both jumped clean. Beerbaum had pulled a rail during his second round, so with just the last riders—Madden and Ehning—to go, the race was tight. If Madden went clean, the U.S. team would end on 4 faults total, and force Ehning to jump. But Authentic caught the top rail of the vertical into the triple combination. Madden, knowing that she’d be the drop score, pulled up and retired, and the U.S. total stood at 8 faults.
The Germans had the luxury of not sending Ehning in to jump yet again, since even with Beerbaum’s 4 faults counting, they had won the day.
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The British team rallied for third place with 11 faults, while Switzerland claimed fourth on 15 faults. Complete results can be found by clicking here.
Typically, the German team was thrilled to re-assert their dominance on their home ground, which will also be the site for the World Equestrian Games in August. But they were also quick to give credit to the Americans for their dogged competitiveness.
“You have to admire those Americans–they are very strong this season,” Michaels-Beerbaum said. “They have done a great job getting riders as good as these together. They are going to feature strongly this summer I think.”
The German chef d’equipe agreed. “The fact that the Americans are in such top form so early in the season is almost frightening,” said Kurt Gravemeier. The American B team will take over next week, on May 26, when the Super League competition moves to the Rome CSIO, Italy. Then, Engle on Quervo Gold or Hidden Creek’s Wapino, Laura Kraut on Miss Independent, Molly Ashe on Neuville, Christine McCrea on Promised Land, and Candice King on Tarco, will fly the U.S. flag.
The B team will also compete at two more Super League shows, Lucerne (Switzerland) on June 1-4 and Rotterdam (the Netherlands) on June 22-25. But the final decision about the team for the WEG will be made after the Lucerne Nations Cup, taking into consideration the performances of both teams during the Super League shows.
