U.S. seventh in Rome Nations Cup

For the first time in 78 years, the Mexican team took the prestigious Nations Cup Intensa Sanpaolo at the Piazza di Sienna in Rome, with a jump-off against Germany.

The top two each had a total of 4 faults after two rounds on Friday, prompting a jump-off, while Great Britain finished third with 8 penalties.

Mark Laskin, Mexico’s chef d’equipe, picked Patricio Pasquel (Chakkalou PS) to represent his country in the tiebreaker, while Germany’s Otto Becker chose European Champion Richard Vogel (Gangster Montdesir) as his entry. Richie was faster, but had a rail down, leaving the title to Mexico after Patricio was fault-free.

And just days later, a different Mexican team would win the 4-star Nations Cup at Langley, British Columbia. So another nation to watch out for in international competition.

The U.S. wound up seventh of 10 teams. No American was double-clear. Marilyn Little (La Contessa) had 0/4 in the two rounds, as did Laura Kraut (Dorado 212). Natalie Dean (Pedro van de Barlelbuis)  finished 4/8. The drop score in both rounds was Callie Schott (Garant) who had 8 and 22.

U.S. Coach Robert Ridland observed the second round “did not work out according to plan, particularly after finishing the first round in a tie for second place, as a result of our two clears.
“As we know though, the two-round format of Nations Cups presents a completely different type of test than what is found in the typical grand prix competitions these horses are more familiar with. Most importantly, these Nations Cups over the next month present an essential opportunity to prepare, test and evaluate the horse/rider combinations who are on the short list for the World Championships,” he concluded, referring to the multi-discipline show scheduled for August in Aachen, Germany.

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