Langley, British Columbia – Tensions were high as five teams battled to qualify for the final in the third leg of the FEI Nations Cup Jumping North America, Central America, and Caribbean League. It was the Hermès U.S. Show Jumping Team who earned the gold medal, ahead of the Canadian home team by one fault in the FEI Nations Cup™ CSIO4* Langley on Friday. The U.S. team of Heather Caristo-Williams, Catherine Nicole Tyree, Adrienne Sternlicht and Margie Goldstein-Engle finished with 13 total faults after two rounds of jumping.
Course designer Peter Holmes of Canada tested the riders with 15 efforts and a tight time allowed of 77 seconds. The first round saw 20 starts with only three clear rounds – two of which were accomplished by U.S. riders. Adrienne Sternlicht rode Stralight Farms’ Cristalline clear over the fences in 75.24 seconds while Margie Engle bumped up the pace to finish a fault-free round on Gladewinds Partners’ Royce in 75.10 seconds. Daniel Coyle of Ireland displayed the only other clear first round riding Susan and Ariel Grange’s bay mare, Cita. The U.S. acquired only 4 faults after Catherine Tyree knocked one rail at a tight vertical aboard Mary Tyree’s Bokai in 76.67 seconds. Their three steady rounds made it possible to drop the starting score from Heather Caristo-Williams and Qui Vive des Songes Z of 22 faults.
With only 4 faults from the first round, the U.S. team began round two on top and maintained their lead, although Canada fought hard to catch them. Canadian riders Tiffany Foster, Christopher Surbey and Ian Millar obtained zero penalties in the second round, leaving little room for error for Team USA. After accumulating 39 penalties in round one, the Mexico 2 team retired. The double combination proved to be difficult for Caristo-Williams as she ended with 12 faults aboard Holly and Ralph Caristo’s 11-year-old stallion. Tyree and the 11-year-old grey gelding, Bokai raced to a time of 74.26 seconds with an unfortunate rail at the final fence to finish with 4 faults. Sternlicht and Cristalline completed another fault-free round over the fences with one time fault as they finished just over the time allowed in 78.55 seconds. The final rider to compete, Engle displaced only one rail to hold the lead for the U.S. and finish with 4 faults in 75.13 seconds aboard the 13-year-old stallion, Royce.
The United States finished the day with a team total of 13 faults after adding 9 faults to their score after the second round. They narrowly edged out the Canadian team who finished on 14 faults. With the best score of the day it was the United States standing atop the podium with Chef d’Equipe Robert Ridland.
For complete results of the FEI Nations Cup™ CSIO4* Langley, click here.
The United States finished on top of the 2017 FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping Series with a total of 280 points. Canada follows second in the standing with 250 points. Both teams will be heading to the FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping Final CSIO Barcelona at the beginning of October.
For complete standings of the 2017 FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping Series, click here.