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Riders put pre-class falls behind them to claim podium spots in Dublin Nations Cup

Pippa Roome Pippa Roome

    • Riders from the top two teams had falls today (8 August) before the Dublin Nations Cup, but they fought back to stand on the podium in this prestigious class.

    The Dutch lifted the Aga Khan Trophy for the third time, claiming their first win in this Nations Cup at the RDS Dublin Horse Show since 2010.

    Pathfinder Frank Schuttert took a fall when his mare, Isis, slipped on the way back from the pre-class parade.

    He explained: “My horse was just a bit fresh and it was quite slippery for horses with their shoes on – it wasn’t her fault, just a thing that happened. I’m actually still recovering from an injury; four months ago I broke my hip and I fell on the exact same spot today.”

    Frank went on to have 12 faults in the first round and eight in the second, but his team-mates – Kevin Jochems (Camilla Van De Helle), Willem Greve (Grandorado TN NOP) and Harrie Smolders (Mr Tac) – all delivered double clears to secure victory for the Netherlands.

    “We kept fighting,” said Frank. “I was disappointed with my riding, I think I was maybe a little bit too much in my head and my horse is inexperienced. She did great and I had a lot of confidence in my team-mates. They did a fantastic job and it was a joy to watch them. Next time personally, I will fight back. But congratulations to the rest of the team and it was a great result.”

    Germany took second in today’s Dublin Nations Cup, their effort spearheaded by a double clear from Sandra Auffarth and Quirici H. Sandra’s effort was particularly impressive as she had a fall in the warm-up for the first round. She was permitted to take a little extra time to recover, so jumped a couple of horses later than the original running order.

    Sandra is a former eventing world champion and a multi-medallist in that discipline, most recently taking team silver and individual bronze at the 2023 European Championships on Viamant Du Matz, but she has not evented internationally this year and has been focusing on showjumping. She won a five-star grand prix at Falsterbo with Quirici H last year.

    Sandra was backed up today by Christian Ahlmann (Blueberry), Marco Kutscher (Catelly) and new European champion Richard Vogel (Cloudio), who all jumped one clear round and had four or eight faults in their other performance.

    Ireland took third, with double clears from young talents Tom Wachman (Tabasco De Toxandria Z) and Seamus Hughes-Kennedy (ESI Rocky) drawing huge cheers from the home crowd.

    Britain finished fifth, with Joe Stockdale on Ebanking, Matt Sampson riding Daniel and Donald Whitaker with Millfield Colette all delivering one clear round and one four- or eight-fault round. Adrian Whiteway and Chacco Volo had one down on each showing.

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    Pippa Roome
    Pippa Roome

    H&H magazine editor and eventing editor
    Pippa is a true eventing geek and has been H&H’s eventing editor since 2005. She has first-hand experience of competing up to British Eventing intermediate and international CCI2*-L level, and has worked in the industry on a top event yard. Pippa enjoys nothing more than immersing herself in the sport at the highest level, reporting from the five-stars and international championships, including the Olympics.
    Pippa Roome

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