Ireland and Britain go head-to-head in thrilling Nations Cup at Hickstead

Ireland has beaten old rival Great Britain in a two-way jump-off in the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup at Hickstead.

True grit

Conditions at the Royal International Horse Show were far from ideal, with wild winds and the first heavy rain for more 50 days. As a result, many of the world’s best riders struggled to jump clear.

The tall white gate at three was a real bogey fence, as was the open water, which saw former world number one and Olympic gold medallist Scott Brash eliminated in both rounds on Hello Shelby.

However, Holly Smith (Heart’s Destiny), Amanda Derbyshire (Luibanta BH) and William Whitaker (Utamaro D’Ecaussines) showed true grit to draw equal first with Ireland on eight faults.

‘Huge stride’

This meant there was a jump-off to decide the winning team. Holly was the designated jumper for Team GB, and the 29-year-old set the target with a lovely clear in a time of 43.39sec.

Anthony Condon, who has been based in England for the last 14 years, was jumping for the boys in green. His rode a great round with the 12-year-old stallion SFS Aristio, to break the beam more than two seconds faster.

“Holly is a very fast rider and her horse has a huge stride so she can be deceptive – I just thought that if I could do the same and be a little quicker then I could catch her.”

Valuable points

Brazil finished third, Sweden fourth and the Belgians – long-time Europe Division 1 leaders – had to settle for fifth ahead of Italy. The Dutch team withdrew with a second-round tally of 23 faults.

Ireland has now moved up to third place on the Europe Division 1 leaderboard and secured their place in the Longines 2018 Final in Barcelona in October

The Irish have another big day to look forward to when the series concludes on home turf in Dublin on 10 August.

Britain and Italy will be desperate to score valuable points and move out of the danger-zone at the bottom of the league table, as only seven of the 10 competing nations will make the cut to the Barcelona Final.

Watch the Royal International Horse Show at Hickstead on Sky 184 or Horse & Country. You can also view all the action via Amazon Video, Roku and Virgin TV.

Here’s what’s on, when:

RIHS 2018: Queen Elizabeth Cup Sunday 5 August 8pm

RIHS 2018: British Speed Classic Wednesday 8 August 7pm

RIHS 2018: Supreme Ridden Championship Sunday 12 August at 7.30pm