It could hardly be more exciting as the 2009 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series reaches its climax at Dublin Horse Show in Ireland this week. Just four points separate the Americans from the French at the top of the leaderboard while Germany is only 3.5 points further behind. The Swiss and Dutch are sitting comfortably in joint-fourth spot ahead of the Irish who have pulled themselves out of the danger-zone following their victory at Falsterbo and their third placing two weeks ago at Hickstead.
Winner’s Prize
It does seem that the French could be the ones to claim the overall winners prize of €100,000, and Friday could be a very lucrative day for them if they also manage to win the final leg and claim the lions share of the €200,000 prizefund. But there are going to be big losers on Friday too.
The Italians are already doomed to relegation having picked up only four points over the season, and nothing can save them now. A rule-change at the end of 2008 means that there are no double-points available in this last leg, so even if they managed to turn the formbook completely on its head and win the final competition they cannot move off the bottom of the league table. They won’t be the only nation saying farewell to the premiership of Nations Cup jumping however, as two of the 10 countries competing in the 2009 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series will go down. And one of the biggest questions of the week is – who will join them? Will it be the British?