Meydan FEI Nations Cup™: Hickstead Draw Report

The Italian team will be first to go when the seventh leg of the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series kicks off at 10.30 local time in Hickstead, England tomorrow. It’s the toughest of draws for the country that already looks destined for relegation at the end of the season. The order of go for the penultimate competition of the season is: 1, Italy; 2, Sweden; 3, The Netherlands; 4, Belgium; 5, USA; 6, Great Britain; 7, Switzerland; 8, France; 9, Ireland; 10, Germany.

The British are under tremendous pressure as they are lying second-last on the leaderboard but Chef d’Equipe, Derek Ricketts, continues to express confidence about his side’s prospects. “We have a good team for tomorrow – I think we will do well” he said simply. “It is important to be in this top Nations Cup league. It gives riders high-class competition and helps us to keep on eye on them for major championships. It also gives younger riders a chance to compete at this top level as well” he pointed out.

Another Tough Job

During today’s draw press conference, Irish Chef d’Equipe Robert Splaine was asked how he is feeling following last Friday’s tremendous victory in Falsterbo, Sweden. With his usual caution he replied that while that win was a great achievement, he knows there is another tough job to be done tomorrow. “I’ve had the opportunity to use a lot of different riders this year but we are only really showing good form now that we are on the home stretch. We are in a safer position than we were a few weeks ago but we are not so safe that we can’t slip up again. However I think we will be OK tomorrow” he said.

America’s George Morris talked about his country’s slide from pole position to second in the current standings behind the leaders from France. He’s not particularly worried about that. “If the aim was to win the series we would have to send out the most experienced horses and riders every week but that’s not what it is about for us – what’s important is staying at this top level of the sport and giving as many riders as possible a taste of it” he explained. He is particularly pleased, but not altogether surprised, with how well Cara Raether coped at Falsterbo last week. “She is a very solid rider on a good horse and she has more experience than you might think. She has competed in Calgary and Europe and in the Pan Am Games” he said.

Extra Challenging

Dutch Chef d’Equipe, Rob Ehrens, pointed out that tomorrow’s class is extra challenging because of the long break between the first and second rounds. Round two begins at 16.00 hours. “The horses, and the riders, will have to be warmed up all over again for the second round – but of course two of the teams will have a very early finish to their day because they won’t be coming back” he added.

None of the team managers want to be in that position tomorrow. It’s crunch time now in the 2009 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ and not just every round, but every single jump will count for a great deal when the competition gets underway tomorrow morning.

Quotes:

Khadija Turki, Group Senior Manager, Meydan – “We in Meydan are really enjoying our sponsorship of the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™, it is top sport and we are very excited as we come to the end of the series. I wish all the teams the very best of luck tomorrow and I hope they have fun!”.

John Youngs, President Hickstead Ground Jury – “We’ve made a lot of improvements here at Hickstead over the last two years and the going in the ring is just about perfect”.

David Holmes, FEI Executive Sports Director – “Things are getting really exciting – its close at the top and at the bottom of the leaderboard and it will be a really interesting competition tomorrow”.