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‘We’ve had all the drama!’ Britain still on top at European Showjumping Championships after rollercoaster afternoon

Eleanor Jones Eleanor Jones

    • Britain stays on top of the pile at the Longines FEI European Showjumping Championships, after an afternoon of “all the drama”.

    The team added nothing to yesterday’s total of 3.96 to stay in the lead, ahead of the Germans on 4.19 and Belgium on 4.61. All three of the top teams counted three clears today.

    “We’ve had all the drama, haven’t we, all in the second day, but I couldn’t be more proud of the whole squad,” said British Equestrian showjumping performance manager Di Lampard.

    Ben Maher and Dallas Vegas Batilly jumped the first fault-free round of the day, the great mare with the “spring back in her step” after yesterday’s four-fault round, then Matt Sampson and Medoc De Toxandria were desperately unlucky to be eliminated in the troublesome triple combination.

    “It was really unfortunate for Matt,” Di said. “The horse was going so well, and whether he just trod on himself on take-off, and took the momentum away, and then just lost a bit of confidence at that moment. But the lads will get behind Matt tonight, and we’ll see if the horse is ok, and give him a jump tomorrow morning. And if he’s happy enough, we’ll go and have another go.”

    Di paid tribute to Donald, who came in third with Millfield Colette and jumped the round of their lives to add nothing to the score, after which Scott showed his true class and horsemanship to get himself and Hello Folie clear through the triple having lost his reins moments before.

    “We’re looking forward to [the team final tomorrow], but I think we have to just let everybody settle and gather their thoughts – it’s been quite an entertaining afternoon here in A Coruńa!” Di said.

    Ireland had a fantastic day, jumping three clears to climb to fourth place on 8.39 faults.

    In the individual competition, Germany’s Richard Vogel and United Touch S jumped clear today to maintain their position on top of the leaderboard on 0.01 penalties, after overnight leaders Daniel Coyle and Legacy withdrew. Donald and Colette are second on 0.67 and Scott and Folie fourth on 1.08; Julien Apaillard of France and Donatello D’Auge also jumped clear today to stay third with 0.89.

    • To stay up to date with all the news from the European Showjumping Championships as it happens, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website today from just £1 a week. Our reporter Eleanor Jones will be on site throughout

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    Eleanor Jones
    Eleanor Jones

    H&H news editor
    Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.
    Eleanor Jones

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