Just 0.07 seconds made the difference between first and second place in the Dutch leg of the Longines League of Nations Friday, as Great Britain’s Harry Charles carried victory for his team with a 31.18-second trip on LT Holst Freda. That put him narrowly ahead of a 31.25-second effort by the USA’s Marilyn Little on the speedy La Contessa in a three-way jump-off.
At the end of two rounds, three teams were equal on 8 penalties, necessitating the tie-breaker. Switzerland’s Jason Smith, who did not ride in the first round over the course laid out by designers led by Bart Vonck, appeared in the second round on Picobello van’t Roosakker and had a rail,. Nonetheless, Jason, ranked number 254 in the world, was selected by chef d’equipe Peter van der Waaij to be the flag-carrier for the finale. His time of 31.64 for a clear trip was just off the mark, putting his squad third.
Harry only has had Freda for six weeks, and this was the mare’s first major competition with him. Even so, he led off strongly with a clocking of 31.18 seconds on the 12-year-old New Zealand Warmblood. Like Marilyn, he was triple-clear.
“To walk into an atmosphere like that is so impressive. I’m very proud of her and so lucky to have her,” Harry said of his “incredible” mare.
“She finds everything so easy.”
As quick as she always is, Marilyn just couldn’t catch Harry. But she has been a valuable member of the team each time she rides for the U.S., and could well be looking at a slot on the American squad for August’s world championships at Aachen.
She was double clear in the first two rounds, as was teammate Karl Cook with Caracole de la Roque. Katie Dinan finished 8/0 with Out of the Blue SCF, while Callie Schott had 8 penalties with Garant and did not appear in the second round.
The U.S. was sixth after the first round and Britain seventh, but that all changed after the second round, when first-round leader Netherlands sank to fifth.
Harry rode with Olympic individual gold medalist Ben Maher, also on a new horse (Catelly). Ben was a member of the 2012 gold medal London Olympic team with Peter Charles, the father of Harry, and Harry’s sister and teammate, Sienna Charles. Harry bred Sienna’s mount, Chawton.
The fourth member of the British team in Rotterdam, Jessica Mendoza, had 8 penalties in the first round with Summerhouse and did not advance, as only three riders from each squad are allowed to compete in the second round.
The runner-up spot in Rotterdam was meaningful for the U.S. in terms of the LLN series, because it boosted the country from last place to seventh overall of the 10 teams that contest the series. In the previous LLN outing in Ocala during March, the U.S. did not even qualify for the second round, when it fielded a completely different team.
The top countries qualify for October’s LLN final in Barcelona, and there is only one more preliminary match to go, in St. Tropez in September, where points can be accumulated.
Click here for class results. Click here for team standings overall.