Brits off to a good start in Lummen

Italy has won the opening leg of the 2015 Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup Jumping league in Lummen, with Britain and the Belgian host team coming joint second.

Good start

The Italians were promoted from division two at the end of last season, but their performance proved they intend to stay put in the super league.

“This is a really good start, especially ahead of Rome in three weeks time where we will also be competing for points,” said chef d’equipe, Hans Horn. “And it all falls nicely into the Italian master-plan which involves careful preparation for this summer’s European Championships with the goal of Olympic qualification, and a fighting chance at the Furusiyya 2015 Final.”

At the halfway mark it looked like the French would be the clear winners, going into the second round on a zero score. Italy was just behind them with two time penalities, closely followed by the Brits who had four faults.

Out of contention

Joe Clee (Utmaro d’Ecaussines) and Holly Gillott (Dougie Dougie) both jumped clear, while Guy Williams (Titus) had one down and William Whitaker (Fandango) provided the drop score of eight faults.

When Italian pathfinder Luca Maria Moneta (Neptune Brecourt) collected 20 faults, it looked like Italy was out of contention. However, the rest of his team scored just four faults between them to finish on six faults and win the competition.

Guy Williams was the only clear for Britain second time out, with Holly and Joe both having one down and William once again sacrificing his score of eight faults. This put the team on a final score of 12.

Improved performance

The Belgians improved on their performance in round two, with clears from Pieter Devos and Niels Bruynseels who produced one of just two double-clears on the day. This also left them on 12 faults to take joint second place with Britain.

France was fourth after picking up 16 faults in round two, while Switzerland and The Netherlands shared fifth place. Sweden was sixth ahead of the Irish, who finished last.

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