DUTCH DELIVER IN DUBLIN AS FRENCH CELEBRATE SECOND SERIES VICTORY

In a thrilling conclusion to the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™, the team from The Netherlands put up a tremendous fight to win the last round in Dublin today where the French were crowned series champions for the second successive year.  The Dutch came to the Irish fixture knowing that only victory would guarantee them a place amongst the elite nations in 2011 and, inspired by their Chef d'Equipe Rob Ehrens, and ably assisted by the only two double-clear rounds of the competition from Eric Van der Vleuten and Marc Houtzager, they succeeded in their mission in the finest of style when finishing on a four-fault total. 

The French arrived knowing they already had the series title in their grasp, but that didn't take any of the fight out of them.  Chef d'Equipe Laurent Elias said yesterday "we come to Dublin to win, just like everywhere else.  We had a great start to the season with three victories and we know we are the champions again, but we have a great team here and we want to win this Aga Khan Cup and finish off our great season in the best way" he added.

TRAILING
The Dutch however left all the others trailing in their wake, Ireland and the USA sharing runner-up spot on 20 faults, while the French finished fourth with 24 ahead of the British with 28.  For Spain, making their debut in the top level this season, it was a deeply disappointing day.  Lying sixth on the 10-nation leaderboard, they could not afford to be overtaken by any of those below them who were all lying in the bottom-four relegation zone.  But they were undermined by a finishing total of 32 faults, which was only good enough for equal-sixth place alongside Sweden, and when The Netherlands earned the maximum 10 points as today's victors the two nations swopped places - the Dutch moving up into sixth on the overall league standings and therefore qualifying for next year's series, while Spain dropped to seventh and will now be relegated to the Promotional League in 2011 along with Sweden, Switzerland and Poland. 

Clear rounds for some of the early riders seemed to suggest that Bob Ellis's track might be a little too kind, but that wasn't how it turned out.  The man who will set the questions for riders at the 2012 Olympic Games in London had given them a tough task and the fences fell at every point around the course, but particularly regularly at the triple combination which was the last obstacle on the track - the front pole of the final element denying many riders that vital clear.  The vertical following the water at fence seven did its job as expected too when riders couldn't quite regain enough control, while both parts of the double at fence five also regularly hit the floor.
 
SURPRISE
It seemed the Swedes might be about to spring a surprise similar to the one they sprang on their home ground at Falsterbo last month when they went into the second round as joint-leaders with the eventual winners carrying just four faults.  Peder Fredricson had lifted Swedish hearts with a great opening clear from H&M Arctic Aurora Borealis which was followed by eight from Alexander Zetterman with Isaac. Then older brother Daniel Zetterman produced a fabulous round from the grey, Glory Days, before Henrik Von Eckerman and LB Paola returned with just four on the board after lowering the vertical that followed the double.  

The Dutch however were already digging in, Van der Vleuten's clear with the nine year old VDL Utascha and Houtzager's anchorman fault-free effort with Tamino leaving them looking strong while Jur Vrieling and VDL Bubalu made it all the way to the penultimate vertical before picking up four faults there and Harrie Smolders made his only mistake with Exquis Walnut de Muze at the vertical after the water.

Next in line was the USA with eight on the board, four each from Beezie Madden (Coral Reef Via Volo) and Cara Raether (Ublesco) and a clear from last man Rich Fellers (Flexible) while McLain Ward's eight (Rothchild) provided the discard.  Ireland, Great Britain and France all shared a first-round tally of 16 while Spain and Switzerland carried 20 each into round two, but Germany missed the cut when only eight nations returned to the ring.  The first-round German total of 28 proved much too expensive.

GAME OVER
By the time Holland's Vrieling followed Van der Vleuten's second clear with a great round from the stallion Babalu it was already game over however, Swedish chances rapidly disappearing when Von Eckerman picked up 16 faults and both Fredricson and Daniel Zetterman left three fences on the floor.   Alexander Zetterman's four fault effort this time was in vain.  The Irish rallied with clean sheets for both Cian O'Connor (K Club Lady) and Denis Lynch (Nabab's Son), adding only the four picked up by pathfinder Billy Twomey (Tinka's Serenade) who has been pivotal to Ireland's survival in the top-level series this season.   And this brought them on to level pegging with the Americans whose only clear in this round came from Madden.  The French meanwhile could only manage a single clear in each round, while the British got it together in the closing stages when both Tina Fletcher (Hello Sailor) and Nick Skelton (Carlo) were fault-free second time out but it was only good enough for fifth place.

The Spanish recovered to rack up three four-fault efforts second time out but it was all too late. Their fate was sealed as they joined the Swedes in sixth place while the Swiss limped home with another 20 to add in round two for last place.

Rob Ehrens was immensely proud of the effort his team made today.  Asked if he was under huge pressure ahead of this final leg of the series he said "it has been difficult for us during the whole season. I really admire my riders but also the horse owners, the sports federation and all the people who supported us and made this possible. I’m also a really happy coach that I have no problem at all getting good riders to all the top league shows. They always said yes when I called them.  It went slowly, slowly, slowly at the beginning of the season, then a little bit better, but four penalty points over two rounds today - I'm really delighted!" he said.  He added "we always speak together and the most important thing for us over the whole season is the welfare of the horse. We have a couple of younger horses so you can’t put them in to all shows, you have to make a mix and it worked out well in the end. Harrie was always there when I needed him, the same with all the riders, we do everything with good harmony" he pointed out, saying with a grin "we had a little less beer yesterday evening and I put them to bed early and it all worked out fine!"
 
STARTED WELL 
Speaking on behalf of the French team, reigning European champion Kevin Staut said "we started really well with three good victories, then we changed a little bit the horses and riders, so we could finish all the time in the top four in each round of the series".  He said that that the focus for France will now be turned to the forthcoming Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky and he said ominously "we would like to continue like this".  He continued - "a lot of French riders did a really good job to help us through all the rounds of the Meydan series and I'd like to thank all the owners, sponsors and all the people around the French team who were really concentrated on helping us.  This result is really good for everybody" he pointed out.

Rob Ehrens pointed out that it was due to the "great idea that came from Jacob Melissen to create a fund, through a syndicate, to keep horses in Holland -  that we have a great horse like Utascha.  Its really good for us that we can keep the best horses in our own country, especially next year which is the year before the Olympic Games when so many horses are sold".

FEI Director of Jumping, John Roche, congratulated Dublin Horse Show "for organising a fantastic event and for improving facilities so that they are now world-class".  And he added "I'd like to thank Meydan for their support for the last two seasons, without which none of this would be possible". 

Laurent Elias was in complete agreement, "yes, thank you to Dublin - the French team is always very happy to participate here" he said, adding, "and I'd like to congratulate the Dutch team - once again they have proven that they are a superb equestrian nation!".
 
For further information on the last leg of the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ in Dublin go to website www.dublinhorseshow.com or contact Press Officer JP Montgomery at Email: jp@rds.ie or Tel: +353 1 6680866.

RESULT:
1.    The Netherlands 4 faults - VDL Groep Utascha SFN (Eric Van der Vleuten) 0/0, VDL Bubalu (Jur Vrieling) 4/0, Exquis Walnut de Muze (Harrie Smolders) 4/8, Tamino (Marc Houtzager) 0/0.
2.    Ireland 20 faults - Tinka's Serenade (Billy Twomey) 0/4, Hallmark Elite (Dermott Lennon) 12/8, K Club Lady (Cian O'Connor) 8/0, Nabab's Son (Denis Lynch) 8/0.
2.    USA 20 faults - Coral Reef Via Volo (Beezie Madden) 4/0, Ublesco (Cara Raether) 4/8, Rothchild (McLain Ward) 8/8, Flexible (Rich Fellers) 0/4.
4.    France 24 faults - Mylord Carthago HN (Penelope Leprevost) 0/8, Kellemoi de Pepita (Michel Robert) 8/4, Admiable (Marie Pellegrin Etter) 8/0, Kraque Boom (Kevin Staut) 8/4.
5.    Great Britain 28 faults - Murka's Pom D'Ami (Peter Charles) 8/12, Billy Congo (William Funnell) 12/12, Hallo Sailor (Tina Fletcher) 4/0, Carlo (Nick Skelton) 4/0.
6.    Spain 32 faults - Guarana Champeix (Rutherford Latham) 8/4, Herald (Pilar Cordon) 8/4, New REmake de Servery (Fernando Fourcade Lopez) 12/4, Action Breaker (Sergio Alvarez Moya) 4/5.
4/16.
6.    Sweden 32 faults - H&M Arctic Aurora Borealis (Peder Fredricson) 0/12, Isaac (Alexander Zetterman) 8/4, Glory Days (Daniel Etterman) 0/12, LB Paola (Henrik Von Eckermann) 4/16.
8.    Switzerland 40 faults - Tresor V (Steve Guerdat) 16/4, Kiamon (Werner Muff) 12/12, Upanisad di San Patrignano (Jane Richard) 8/4, Carlina IV (Pius Schwizer) 0/12.
9.    Germany 28 fautls in FIRST round - MacKinley (Mario Stevens) 8, Calado (Jorg Naeve) 8, Neolisto Van Het Mierenho (Andreas Knippling) 12, Leoville (Philipp Weishaupt) 13.

2010 MEYDAN FEI NATIONS CUP™ - FINAL STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 8 AT DUBLIN:
1.    France        -    53.5
2.    USA            -    44.0
3.    Great Britain    -    42.5
4.    Ireland        -    38.00
5.    Germany        -    35.5
6.    Netherlands    -    31.00
7.    Spain        -    25.5
8.    Sweden        -    18.00
9.    Switzerland    -    16.00
10.    Poland        -    0

FACTS AND FIGURES
The Dutch team won the final round of the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series in Dublin, Ireland today but it was FRANCE who won the series title for the second year in a two.
Today's course designer was Great Britain's Bob Ellis who will create the courses for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
There were just two double-clear rounds in today's competition - both produced by members of the winning Dutch team - Eric van der Vleuten (VDL Groep Utascha) and Marc Houtzager (Tamino).
The four teams relegated to the Promotional League due to finishing in the final four places on the series leaderboard are Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Poland.
The bogey fence on today's course was the triple combination, the last obstacle on the 12-fence track.
It fell 10 times in each round and had a considerable influence on the result of the competition.
 
QUOTES
Pat Hanly, Show Director Dublin Horse Show - "This has been a fabulous day, the spectators were great and really got involved in the competition.   We continue to build crowd each year for past five years since we re-did the arena. Thanks to Bob Ellis for putting on great competition in full of stands packed with spectators who really enjoyed themselves".

Bob Ellis, Course Designer – "I was just a little bit concerned when they first started, I didn’t think I’d done enough but in the end I thought it was a very fair course - it rode well".

MEYDAN FEI NATIONS CUP™
A Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ event is organised as a five-star Nations Cup, i.e. a competition in which official teams representing nations compare their merit. At each event the teams gain points according to their placing. At the end of the 2010 season the team with the highest points wins the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ and the four teams with the lowest points are relegated to the FEI Nations Cup series (Promotional League). Two teams from the Promotional League will join the Top League in 2011.
 
The complete rules, latest news, results, standings and photos are on www.meydanfeinationscup.org

The World’s Top 10 Teams: France, the USA, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, The Netherlands, Sweden, Great Britain, Spain and Poland.

The World’s Best Eight Venues:
La Baule (FRA), Friday 14 May; Rome (ITA), Friday 28 May; St. Gallen (SUI), Friday 4 June; Rotterdam (Ned), Friday 18 June; Falsterbo (SWE), Friday 9 July; Aachen (GER), Thursday 15 July; Hickstead (GBR), Friday 30 July; Dublin (IRL), Friday 6 August.

FOUR MUNSTER RIDERS NAMED ON IRELAND TEAM FOR HICKSTEAD SUPER LEAGUE NATIONS CUP

The pressure is intense ahead of this Friday's seventh leg of the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series in Hickstead.  The Sussex venue has staged the British Nations Cup since taking on the mantle of the Royal International Horse Show in 1992, but the atmosphere is expected to be more highly-charged than ever before as the top show jumping nations in the world battle it out for the right to remain amongst the elite in their sport.

This season's Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series has turned into an epic battle, because four of the 10 competing countries will be relegated to the Promotional League following the last leg in Dublin next week.  After six of the eight competitions have been completed it could hardly be a closer-fought affair, and this Friday's penultimate clash will be pivotal in deciding who stays in and who goes out.  One country that is definitely destined to say farewell to superleague jumping in 2011 however is Poland.  With no points accumulated after six courageous competitive efforts, and now unable to field a team, they have withdrawn from both Hickstead and the final leg in Dublin.

UNASSAILABLE
The French are unassailable at the head of the leaderboard and the USA looks secure in second place but, in the strangest twist, the next three countries - Ireland, Great Britain and Germany - all share the same score and are only 7 points ahead of Spain in sixth place.   If any of those teams should slip up now in the closing stages, then they could be overtaken by The Netherlands, Switzerland or Sweden and could find themselves facing life in the Promotional League next season.  For this to happen the Dutch, Swiss or Swedes need a lot of luck and some sensational performances, but in this unpredictable sport surprises are always just over that next jump or around that next corner.....

The home team from Great Britain has a tremendous record as winners on their home turf, but it is Germany that returns to defend the title this week.  The Germans beat the French in a two-way jump-off against the clock last July when Janne-Fredericke Meyer was the heroine of the day, producing the only double-clear of the competition before going clear once again in the jump-off to make it a back-to-back double for her country which clinched the Prince of Wales Cup for the tenth time.  Meyer is not included in Otto Becker's German selection this time around however as the listed riders include Jorg Naeve, Philipp Weishaupt, Lars Nieberg, Daniel Deusser and Mario Stevens.

SELECT
Laurent Elias will select his French line-up from Nicolas Delmotte, Olivier Desutter, Julien Epaillard, Marie Pellegrin-Etter and Kevin Staut.  Remarkably, individual European Champion Staut has not missed one leg of the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ this year, alternating between pathfinder and anchorman roles throughout the series.  Should Pellegrin-Etter be selected for this Friday's competiion there could be an interesting dynamic as she may well be competing against her husband, Daniel Etter, in the Swiss team.  And Pellegrin-Etter's recent run of form, which includes fourth place in the Grand Prix in Falsterbo, suggests this is very likely.  Joining Daniel Etter in the Swiss squad are Jane Richard, Steve Guerdat, Werner Muff and Pius Schwizer.

George Morris' US squad includes Rich Fellers, Robert Kraut, Todd Minikus, Cara Raether and McLain Ward while Irish team manager Robert Splaine has made just a single change to the side that scored an emphatic and historic win at Aachen two weeks ago.  Cian O'Connor is on hold for next week's Dublin event so US-based Shane Sweetnam, who has been campaigning the European circuit this summer and who lined out earlier in the season, has been called back into action alongside Shane Breen, Dermott Lennon, Billy Twomey and Denis Lynch.

Spain's Marco Fuste will choose from his five-man squad that includes Manuel Anon Suarez, Sergio Alvarez Moya, Julio Arias Cueva, Pascal Levy and Fernando Fourcadez Lopez while Rob Ehrens has Marc Houtzager, Harrie Smolders, Gerco Schroder, Nathalie Van der Mie and Jur Vrieling in his Dutch selection.  Meanwhile Swedish Chef d'Equipe, Gosta Asker, will be hoping that Rolf-Goran Bengtsson, Peder Fredricsson, Malin Baryard-Johnsson, Svante Johannson and Henrik Van Eckerman can produce the kind of sparkle that won their home leg of the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series.

The draw for the seventh leg of the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ will take place on Thursday, and you can watch all the action live on FEI TV on Friday afternoon, beginning at 13.45 local time.

For further information on the British fixture at Hickstead go to website www.hickstead.co.uk

Facts and Figures
Hickstead presents the seventh leg of the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series.
The defending champions are the German team who won in both 2008 and 2009
Due to the withdrawal of the Polish team from the last two legs of the series at Hickstead and Dublin, just nine teams will line out in Friday's competition.
The trophy awarded to the winners at Hickstead is the Prince of Wales Cup.
Germany has won the British Nations Cup on 10 occasions, but the home team has taken the honours 34 times.

2010 MEYDAN FEI NATIONS CUP™ - STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 6 AT AACHEN:

1.    France        -    43.5
2.    USA            -    31.5
3.    Ireland        -    28.5
4.    Great Britain    -    28.5
5.    Germany        -    28.5
6.    Spain        -    21.5
7.    Netherlands    -    17.0
8.    Switzerland    -    15.0
9.    Sweden        -    14.0
10.    Poland        -     0

MEYDAN FEI NATIONS CUP™
A Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ event is organised as a five-star Nations Cup, i.e. a competition in which official teams representing nations compare their merit. At each event the teams gain points according to their placing. At the end of the 2010 season the team with the highest points wins the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ and the four teams with the lowest points are relegated to the FEI Nations Cup series (Promotional League). Two teams from the Promotional League will join the Top League in 2011.
 
The complete rules, latest news, results, standings and photos are on www.meydanfeinationscup.org

The World’s Top 10 Teams: France, the USA, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, The Netherlands, Sweden, Great Britain, Spain and Poland.

The World’s Best Eight Venues:
La Baule (FRA), Friday 14 May; Rome (ITA), Friday 28 May; St. Gallen (SUI), Friday 4 June; Rotterdam (Ned), Friday 18 June; Falsterbo (SWE), Friday 9 July; Aachen (GER), Thursday 15 July; Hickstead (GBR), Friday 30 July; Dublin (IRL), Friday 6 August.

IRELAND PULL OFF SENSATIONAL WIN IN GERMAN NATIONS' CUP

 
The Irish Show jumping team (pictured above) last night (Thursday) pulled off one of their most sensational results in recent memory, by winning the German Nations Cup at Aachen.

Ranked ten-to-one outsiders with the bookies before the competition, Ireland's quartet of Billy Twomey, Dermott Lennon, Cian O'Connor and Denis Lynch held off the home side Germany who finished second, to lift the trophy in front of a packed audience of over 60,000 spectators.

Ireland were in joint first place on four faults with four other teams at the halfway stage, but a clear from Cork's Billy Twomey riding 'Tinka's Serenade', followed by a further two clears from Co Down's Dermott Lennon with 'Hallmark Elite' (pictured)  and Meath's Cian O'Connor on his new mare 'K Club Lady', meant that Tipperary's Denis Lynch  and 'Lantinus', who knocked just one fence in the first round, did not need to jump in the second round as Ireland's four fault score could not be beaten.

Victory on what is regarded as one of the most difficult and forbidding courses in the world not only brought the capacity crowd to its feet, but also catapulted Ireland clear of the Meydan Superleague relegation zone, and up to joint third place on the ten team league table, with just two rounds remaining at Hickstead in England and Ireland's famous Dublin Horse Show.

Horse Sport Ireland Chairman Joe Walsh, who was in Aachen to watch the Irish team commented last night that ; "Last nights victory was a fantastic day for Irish show jumping and It was a privilege to to hear the national anthem played and see the tricolour raised at what is one of Europe's biggest sporting occasions. Joe Walsh went on to congratulate the riders, the owners and of course Team Ireland's  Show Jumping Manager Robert Splaine."

FULL REPORT BELOW AS IRISH STORM TO VICTORY IN AACHEN

The Irish team claimed the Mercedes-Benz Prize, Part of the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ when storming to victory in Aachen, Germany tonight.  This sixth leg of the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series was a classic contest, with five top teams tied for the lead at the halfway stage.  But it was the men in green who stood firm while their rivals crumbled in the closing stages, and Robert Splaine's side produced two of the three double-clears in this sensational Nations Cup clash.

The host country finished second, German chances seriously hindered by an unfortunate first round from Ludger Beerbaum and his young mare Gotha, while the USA hung on for third place ahead of the struggling Swiss and the French who shared fourth.  The Netherlands slotted into sixth while last week's winners form Sweden had to settle for seventh spot this time around, and the British put up a big score for eighth place.  Poland and Spain sat it out after round one, the Spanish side reduced to just three team members when Julio Arias was a late withdrawal.

Today's result has shaken up the leaderboard, but the French still hold the strong advantage they established with their hat-trick of wins early in the season.  The USA has improved to second place but the Irish have rocketed up from sixth to third ahead of Britain in fourth, Germany in fifth and Spain now in that uncomfortable sixth spot.  The same four teams continue to occupy the bottom-four relegation zone in the 10-nation series.  Just three points separate The Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden but for Poland there is no escape from the reality of returning to the Promotional League in 2011, as they have still not collected a single point to date.

DID NOT DISAPPOINT
Frank Rothenberger's 12-fence track did not disappoint.  Riders come to Aachen knowing that nothing less than their best will do on this hallowed ground and he demanded big, bold jumping from the horses and intelligent riding from their pilots.  This was not a course for the faint-hearted, and experience would count for a great deal. Yet the two Irishmen who never touched a pole were both riding horses with little mileage at this level of the sport.  With characteristic patience, 2002 World Champion Dermott Lennon has nurtured the talent of his 10 year old gelding Hallmark Elite and tonight they really showed their class in both rounds while Cian O'Connor's new ride, K Club Lady who has only been in his yard since April, made the course designer's questions seem very elementary indeed.  This daughter of Landgraf was competing with an amateur rider in Spain until O'Connor spotted her a few months ago, but she has taken to the challenge of bigger fences with consummate ease.

Irish pathfinder, Billy Twomey, collected just four faults on his first tour of the arena with Tinka's Serenade - one of the many victims of the penultimate triple combination.  This, the water at fence nine and the triple-bar at fence four proved influential throughout the competition.  Irish anchorman, Denis Lynch, looked set for a clear until lowering the very last, and with four faults on the board the Irish shared the lead with the USA, France, Switzerland and Germany at the halfway point.  The real battle was played out between these five sides as round two got underway.

CLINICAL EFFICIENCY
The result was produced with clinical efficiency however when Twomey, Lennon and O'Connor put zero scores on the board.  Lynch didn't even have to line out a second time and so can look forward to defending Sunday's Grand Prix title with a fresh horse.  Although Penelope Leprevost and Mylord Carthago produced the third of those precious double-clears the French were shaken by two 13-fault rounds from master-craftsman Michel Robert whose mare, Kellemoi de Pepita, lost her confidence and concentration after hitting the odd-looking triple bar in round one, and they finished with a 16-fault score along with the Swiss whose pathfinder Steve Guerdat collected 20 faults with Jalisca Solier to leave them vulnerable. 

The all-girl US team that won in Rotterdam last month were expected to prove difficult to beat, but only Ncole Simpson and Tristan managed a clean sheet in the second round, and with four faults from Lauren Hough (Quick Study), Candice King (Skara Glen's Davos) and Laura Kraut (Cedric) their total of 12 would only be good enough for third.  German riders of course were hoping to shine in front of their home crowd but Beerbaum's 18-fault first-round result undermined their situation - his talented mare frightening herself so much over the triple bar fence that he was forced to pull her away from the following oxer before going on to lower the second part of the tricky double two fences later and picking up a lot of time faults.  The German ace of course returned a clear second time out, but by then Marco Kutscher and Cash had put four faults on the board and Janne-Frederike Meyer, a fantastic find for the German team this season, had added a single time penalty to her single mistake at the first fence in round one and there was no point in Marcus Ehning bringing Plot Blue out again.  The Irish had it in the bag, and Germany was already assured of runner-up spot with a nine-fault total.

A GREAT THRILL
"I'm absolutely delighted!" said Robert Splaine afterwards. "It's a great thrill to be Chef of the winning team and I'd like to thank my riders very sincerely, they did a great job today" he said.  This was Ireland's fifth win in the 81-year history of the Aachen Nations Cup - they previously headed the line-up in 1937, 1979, 1995 and 2003.  Lennon thanked Splaine "for having enough faith to put me back on the team - I have not gone so well in the last few weeks but I knew my horse was coming good" he added with typical understatement.

Cian O'Connor said the track was "one of the biggest we've seen in the Meydan series this year.  Some of the oxers were unbelievably wide and you needed to get up a rhythm so the horses could jump really well".  Denis Lynch said his team-mates "did a fantastic job - and we are very proud to win.  The goal for the week was to be in the top three so to win is a huge bonus" he explained, and Twomey pointed out that "we've been knocking on the door all year - its great to get a win under our belts, now hopefully we can push on from here".

As so often happens in this Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series however, it was US team manager, George Morris, who had the last word.  "I’d like to congratulate the Irish, it was no surprise they won today, the Irish by nature and by blood are the greatest horse people in the world. They are very well mounted and it’s always very frightening when they are well mounted. Robert Splaine does a super job, so it was not an unexpected victory" he pointed out.  Although he couldn't stop himself from adding "I'm very proud of my girls".

As the 2010 series moves to Hickstead in Great Britain in two weeks time the relegation battle is still far from over, but tonight the Irish can rest assured that their chances of staying amongst the elite nations of international show jumping is looking a lot better than it did at the beginning of today's class.  For the Dutch, the Swiss, the Swedes and the Polish team however, it is is a very different story indeed.....

RESULT:
1.    Ireland 4 faults:  Tinka's Serenade (Billy Twomey) 4/0, Hallmark Elite (Dermott Lennon) 0/0, K Club Lady (Cian O'Connor) 0/0, Lantinus (Denis Lynch) 4/DNS.
2.    Germany 9 faults:  Cash (Marco Kutscher) 0/4, Cellagon Lambrasco (Janne-Frederike Meyer) 4/1, Gotha (Ludger Beerbaum) 18/0 , Plot Blue (Marcus Ehning) 0/DNS.
3.    USA 12 faults:  Quick Study (Lauren Hough) 0/4, Skara Glen's Davos (Candice King) 0/4, Tristan (Nicole Simpson) 4/0, Cedric (Laura Kraut) 4/4.
4.    Switzerland 16 faults:  Jalisca Solier (Steve Guerdat) 8/12, Cantus (N Schurbenberger) 4/4, Campione (Werner Muff) 0/4, Carlina (Pius Schwizer) 0/4.
4.    France 16 faults: Mylord Carthago (Penelope Leprevost) 0/0, Kellemoi de Pepita (Michel Robert) 13/13, Lord de Theize (Olivier Guillon) 4/8, Kraque Boom (Kevin Staut) 0/4.
6.    The Netherlands 24 faults: Audi's Alpapillon-Armanie (Vincent Voorn) 12/8, Eurocommerce New Orleans (Gerco Schroder) 7/0, Exquis Walnut de Muze) Harrie Smolders)  4/8, Opium VS (Marc Houtzager) 0/5.
7.    Sweden 31 faults:  H&M Actrice W (Malin Baryard-Johnsson) 4/8, Caramell KS (Svante Johansson) 4/9, Frodo (Henrik Von Eckermann) 8/5 , Quintero La Silla (Rolf-Goran Bengtsson) 1/9.
8.    Great Britain 35 faults: Murkas Pom D'Ami (Peter Charles) 4/5, Chamberlain Z (David McPherson) 4/17, Intertoy Z (Scott Brash) 25/4, Peppermill (John Whitaker)    1/0.
9.    Poland 17 faults in FIRST round: Bischof L (Andrzej Lemanski) 4, Torado 2 (Krzysztof Ludwiczak) 12, Trojka (Antoni Tomas zewski) 8, TMN Coriana (JaroslawSkrzyczynski) 5.
10.    Spain 18 faults in FIRST round:  Herald (Pilar Crecrecia Cordon Muro) 4, Victory V. Hazelarenhoekj (Julio Arias) DNS, Lord du Mont Milon (Jesus Garmendia Echeverria) 9, Mme Pompadour (Sergio Alvarez Moya) 5.
The NEXT leg takes place in Hickstead, Great Britain on Friday 30 July.  For details on the British fixture check out website www.hickstead.co.uk or contact Press Officer Peter Jeffery at email jeffery.communications@btopenworld.com or telephone +44 1273 834 175.

2010 MEYDAN FEI NATIONS CUP™ - STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 6 AT AACHEN:

1.    France        -    43.5
2.    USA            -    31.5
3.    Ireland        -    28.5
4.    Great Britain    -    28.5
5.    Germany        -    28.5
6.    Spain        -    21.5
7.    Netherlands    -    17.0
8.    Switzerland    -    15.0
9.    Sweden        -    14.0
10.    Poland        -     0

Facts and Figures:
There were three double-clear rounds - from Ireland's Dermott Lennon (Hallmark Elite) and Cian O'Connor (K Club Lady) and from Penelope Leprevost (Mylord Carthago) from France.
The two teams that failed to qualify for the second round of today's competition were Poland and Spain.
The Spanish team was reduced to a three-strong side due to the late withdrawal of Julio Aria and Victory V. Hazelanenhoekj.
This was Ireland's fifth nations cup victory in Aachen.
The Irish previously won in 1937, 1979, 1995 and 2003.
Five teams - Ireland, USA, France, Switzerland and Germany - were sharing the lead at the halfway stage on a four-fault total - an unusual occurrence in nations cup jumping.
A massive total of 42,500 spectators watched the competition unfold in the world-famous Soers arena tonight.

Quotes:
Irish Chef d'Equipe Robert Splaine - " I’d like to congratulate Aachen, Frank (Kemperman) and all his team, Meydan and Mercedes"
Irish team member Billy Twomey - "the course was really big and difficult today, the latter part was most difficult, the combination coming home seemed to catch a lot of people".
US Chef d'Equipe George Morris - "I thought the Germans on paper were the favourites to win today - just to be in this company is stellar".

MEYDAN FEI NATIONS CUP™
A Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ event is organised as a five-star Nations Cup, i.e. a competition in which official teams representing nations compare their merit. At each event the teams gain points according to their placing. At the end of the 2010 season the team with the highest points wins the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ and the four teams with the lowest points are relegated to the FEI Nations Cup series (Promotional League). Two teams from the Promotional League will join the Top League in 2011.
 
The complete rules, latest news, results, standings and photos are on www.meydanfeinationscup.org

The World’s Top 10 Teams: France, the USA, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, The Netherlands, Sweden, Great Britain, Spain and Poland.

The World’s Best Eight Venues:
La Baule (FRA), Friday 14 May; Rome (ITA), Friday 28 May; St. Gallen (SUI), Friday 4 June; Rotterdam (Ned), Friday 18 June; Falsterbo (SWE), Friday 9 July; Aachen (GER), Thursday 15 July; Hickstead (GBR), Friday 30 July; Dublin (IRL), Friday 6 August.

 AACHEN TEAM CONFIRMED AS IRELAND BID FOR VALUABLE POINTS

DENIS LYNCH & BILLY TWOMEY TO FLY FLAG FOR MUNSTER

A TOTAL of nine international venues will see Irish riders compete for points and prize money this weekend, with the German Nations' Cup at Aachen and the European Championships for Children and Juniors in France the main focus of attention at different ends of the experience scale.

Thursday night sees the Irish senior show jumping team face into one of its biggest challenges of the year when the eighth leg of the Meydan Superleague takes place under lights in the huge and forbidding arena at Aachen, Germany (pictured above).

Show Jumping manager Robert Splaine has this evening (Wednesday) selected his strongest possible team as Billy Twomey (Tinka's Serenade), Dermott Lennon (Hallmark Elite), Cian O'Connor (K Club Lady) and Denis Lynch (Lantinus), but the world's other top ten nations will also be putting forward their very best riders and horses for what is always seen as the toughest tournament in the series.

Splaine will be hoping for a top three finish to help hike Ireland clear of relegation danger before the final two Nations' Cups take place at Hickstead, England in July, and Dublin in early August, but being drawn first to jump at Aachen will not work in the team's favour.

Ireland will also field five combinations under Chef d'Equipe Comdt John Ledingham for the Children on Horses European Championships at Haras de Jardy in France, with an identical number competing for the Junior European Championships.

TEAM IRELAND EQUESTRIAN

WHO’S COMPETING

This Weekend – July 15th – 20th

JUMPING: AACHEN GERMANY – 5 Star Meydan FEI Nations Cup
Meydan FEI Nations Cup: Thursday 18:30 GMT
Grand Prix: Sunday 14:00 GMT
Live FEI TV: www.feitv.org
Shane Breen with World Cruise (ISH); Dermott Lennon with Hallmark Elite; Denis Lynch with Lantinus; Cian O’Connor with K Club Lady; Billy Twomey with Je T’aime Flamenco or Tinka’s Serenade.

JUMPING: HARAS DE JARDY FRANCE – European Championship Children and Juniors
CSIOCH: Noelle Barry with Vis A Vis; Wesley Byrne with Graf Red Dawn (ISH); Lydia Glynn with Illy De Quincey; Cormac Hanley with Cloon Captain (ISH); Tim MacDonagh with Cord’Alou.
CSIJ: Vincent Byrne with Cordonos; Conor Drain with Cantares Brave Z; Hayley Dunne with T’D’Arco; Richard Howley with Caran; Christina Kelly with Creata Van Ten Biessen.

JUMPING: VIMEIRO PORTUGAL – 3 Star
Grand Prix: Sunday 16:30 GMT
Gerard Clarke with Kellswater Crimson (ISH), Jakes Dream, Iquem Du Plessis and Ardragh Stein (ISH); Tom Davin with Querido CH Costerveld, Concordville, Rolympus S and Rolio VH Schaabroek.

TIPPERARY DUO BREEN AND LYNCH ARE BEST PERFORMERS AS IRELAND FINISH JOINT FIFTH IN FALSTERBO

SWEDES SPRING A SURPRISE WIN

IRELAND finished two places higher than their last Nations' Cup outing when they took equal fifth position in the Swedish Nations' Cup at Falsterbo this afternoon (Friday).

 A double clear round by Tipperary's Denis Lynch on 'Nabab's Son' was the highlight of the Irish effort, and Shane Breen with Carmel Ryan's 'Carmena Z' delivered a steady four faults in each round.

Co. Down's Dermott Lennon started the competition on a creditable four faults with 'Hallmark Elite', but their second round produced 12 faults, while Jessica Kurten and 'Castle Forbes Myrtille Paulois' went on the board with a total of 20 faults over the two rounds.

Afterwards Team Ireland Equestrian Show Jumping Manager Robert Splaine said: "This was a mixed performance today, and obviously Denis Lynch's masterful double clear round with 'Nabab's Son' saved the day for us. We have held onto our sixth place in the Meydan leaderboard, though have lost some ground on points. I have a lot of work to do from tonight with regard to our team for Aachen next week, and some hugely important decisions will also have to be taken about Hickstead and Dublin."

The Nations' Cup was won by home team Sweden on a total of nine faults, with the Netherlands finishing second on 12 faults. Ireland tied with the USA for fifth place, both on 24 faults.

Germany and Poland were the lowest place teams after the first round and did not jump in the second.

FULL REPORT FROM FALSTERBO

On an afternoon of dramatically fluctuating fortunes, the host nation of Sweden sprung a big surprise as they swept to victory in the fifth leg of the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ on their home ground at Falsterbo today.  It was against all the odds, because they had previously picked up only two points in the series and seemed to be staring relegation in the face at the end of the season.  But in typically stubborn style they didn't let the pressure overwhelm them, and three first-round clears ensured they would always be in contention while it was their Olympic silver medallist, Rolf-Goran Bengtsson, who clinched it for them in the end.  

The Netherlands finished a strong second, also shaking off some distressingly poor results in previous legs of this super-tough Meydan FEI season, while Spain and France divided third, Ireland and the USA shared fifth place and Great Britain had to settle for seventh this time out.  Switzerland finished eighth after only just managing to squeeze into the second round and, in another real turn-up for the books, the German team were sidelined at the end of round one along with the unfortunate Polish side that suffered elimination. 

The Swiss are in real trouble now, lying just above Poland at the bottom of the leaderboard, while Sweden and The Netherlands need another good result again next week in Aachen if they are to have any chance of also leaving that bottom-four relegation zone behind them. Its shaping up for an almighty battle to earn a place in the 2011 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series which will be reduced to an eight-nation contest and which will welcome two new nations after this year's Promotional League Final in Barcelona in September.

OMENS
The Swedes were drawn first to go today, and the omens were looking really bad when Ericka Lickhammer's horse Restless had to be withdrawn from the team at the last moment.  However in truly sporting fashion the visiting team managers agreed that the host nation should be allowed a late replacement - and Helen Lundback proved the perfect choice when she followed Malin Baryard-Johnsson's opening four-fault effort with H&M Tornesch with a super clear from Bukowskis Erblumme.  "We had two lame horses at the last minute actually but I was really flattered when our Chef d'Equipe, Gosta Asker, asked me to come on the team and I was more than willing to do what I could to help" Lundback said afterwards.

Once she had shown that Frank Rothenberger's big, bold track was jumpable her compatriots Peder Fredricson (H&M Arctic Aurora Borealis) and Rolf-Goran Bengtsson (Casall La Silla) followed suit and with the only zero score at the halfway stage the Swedes already had the bit between their teeth.  Holding onto the lead was never going to be an easy matter however because the Americans and French were hot on their heels with just four faults apiece while Ireland, Great Britain and The Netherlands carried eight into round two and Spain carried nine.

There was near-disbelief when the Germans found themselves ousted from the competition.  Both they, and the Swiss, had each picked up twelve faults but when time was taken into account the Swiss had covered the course quicker and so they made the cut into the final eight while their near-neighbours were obliged to sit it out with the Polish team.  Poland's day started badly and then got even worse.  Their team was reduced to a three-man side following the withdrawal of Dawid Rakoczy, and although their pathfinder Piotr Sawicki steered the lovely stallion Caballus Z round the tricky track for just two time penalties their day came to an end when second rider, Jacked Bobik (Taunus), was eliminated. 

HEAVY TOLL
As round two evolved it didn't get any better for the Swiss who added 16 more to their tally, and as the competition progressed the triple combination continued to take a heavy toll, the short distance between the last two elements proving particularly influential.  The final line, a triple bar to a big 1.60m vertical with a wide water-tray, was also difficult.  All but one of the riders opted for a four-stride distance here, but Ireland's Denis Lynch covered it effortlessly in three with the big-striding Nabab's Son to record one of only two double-clear rounds.  The other came from Switzerland's Pius Schwizer and Ulysse, but it didn't manage to improve Swiss fortunes to any real extent.

The British added 17 to their scoreline to finish with 25 on the board while the Irish and Americans shared a total of 24.  US team fortunes suffered a dramatic decline in the second round when they were obliged to add 20 faults to their first-round four and French chances were also shattered when they negated their first-round single error by adding 17 this time out. Spain added 12 more to their first-round total of nine, but when Holland's Eric Van der Vleuten (VDL Groep Utascha) and Leopold Van Asten (VDL Groep Santana) kept a clean sheet and team-mate Jur Vrieling (VDL Bubalou) hit only the last fence it seemed there might well be a third-round two-way showdown between Sweden and The Netherlands.  By now the first three host-country team members had picked up four faults on their second tour of the track so their running total was 12.  And when Dutch anchorman, Marc Houtzager riding HBC Tamino) lowered only the middle element of the triple combination that rounded up The Netherlands' score to 12 also.  It was up to the last man into the ring, Swedish anchor Rolf-Goran Bengtsson, to remove one his compatriot's four fault results from his team's scoresheet.

SAFE HANDS
With characteristic coolness Bengtsson set off with the stallion Casall La Silla and, as the previously noisy crowd held their breath he steered his way home.  They gasped when there was an audible rattle at the oxer three fences from the finishing line but their fate was in safe hands.  With consummate ease he cruised across the line to register just a single time penalty and that all-important win for his country.

"I want to thank all the other Chefs for their sportsmanship today" said Gosta Asker afterwards.  "They agreed to the late change on our team, and I'm very grateful to them for that" he added.  His own riders were effusive in their praise of their new team manager however, each one crediting him with a major role in today's important victory.  "I have a wonderful team" Mr Asker added, "because they just show up and do their job and always give their best.   They have a great attitude and they work together like real  professionals" he pointed out.

Today was a real turnaround for Swedish fortunes, but Helena Lundback insisted that their vulnerable position on the leaderboard was not due to lack of effort - "we've all been disappointed with the results up until now, we've been trying really hard but things just weren't going our way" she added.  Lundback also admitted that the tension of the closing stages was almost too much for herself and team-mate Malin Baryard-Johnsson this afternoon - "we just couldn't watch Rolf-Goran go - we hid ourselves away and we only knew what happened when we heard the crowd going wild!" she said.

There is little time for celebration however, as the next leg of the series is only six days away and takes place in one of the most formidable and prestigious show jumping arenas in the world - at Aachen in Germany.  The French go there with a strong lead over the British in second on the series leaderboard while the USA lies third ahead of Germany in fourth, Spain in fifth and Ireland in sixth.  The relegation-zone continues to be occupied by The Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and Poland.  Sweden had a great day today.  But they need another one next Thursday if they are to remain amongst the great show jumping nations of the world next season.

The NEXT leg takes place in six days time at Aachen Germany. 

RESULT:
1.  Sweden 9 faults:  H&M Tomesch (Malin Baryard-Johnsson) 4/4, Bukowskis Erbblume (Helena Lundback) 0/4, H&M Artic Aurora Borealis (Peder Fredricson) 0/4, Casall La Silla (Rolf-Goran Bengtsson) 0/1.
2.  The Netherlands 12 faults: VDL Groep Utascha SFN (Eric Van der Vleuten) 4/0, VDL Bubalou (Jur Vrieling) 0/4, VDL Groep Santana B (Leopold Van Asten) 4/0, HBC Tamino (Marc Houtzager) 4/4.
3.  Spain 21 faults: Guarana Champeix (Rutherford Latham) 4/0, Loreal D'Utah (Manuel Anon Suarez) 1/13, New Remake de Servery (Fernando Fourcade) 4/0, ProcasaJulia Des Brumes (Ricardo Jurado) 12/12.
3.  France 21 faults: Kiwi Du Fraigneau (Eric Navet) 15/9, Luccianno (Nicolas Delmotte) 4/16, Admirable (Marie Etter Pellegrin) 0/4, Sea Coast Siilvana (Kevin Staut) 0/4.
5.  Ireland 24 faults: Hallmark Elite (Dermott Lennon) 4/12, Castle Forbes Myrtille Paulois (Jessica Kuerten) 8/12, Carmena Z (Shane Breen) 4/4, Nabab's Son (Denis Lynch) 0/0.
5.  USA 24 faults:  Pavarotti (Todd Minikus) 4/8, Ublesco (Cara Raether) 0/8, Rothchild (McLain Ward) 0/4, Flexible (Rich Fellers) 8/8.
7.  Great Britain 25 faults: Billy Congo (William Funnell) 4/8, Thesaura (Mark Armstrong) 16/8, Hello Sailor (Tina Fletcher) 0/1, Fresh Direct Kalico Bay (Tim Stockdale) 4/8.
8.  Switzerland 28 faults:  La Toya (Arthur Da Silva) 16/8, Touchable (Claudia Gisler) 8/12, Uptown Boy (Janika Sprunger) 4/8, Ulysse (Pius Schwizer) 0/0.
9.  Germany 12 faults in FIRST round:  Chaco-blue (Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst) 8, Calado (Jorg Naeve) 4, Catoki (Philipp Weishaupt) 0, Noltes Kuchengirl (Marcus Ehning)17.
10. Poland Eliminated in FIRST round: Cabullus Z (Piotr Sawicki) 2 faults; Taunus (Jacek Bobik) Elim; Limbo (Dawid Kubiak) Did not start.

2010 MEYDAN FEI NATIONS CUP™ - STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 5 AT FALSTERBO:
1.    France            -    39.0
2.    Great Britain         -    27.5
3.    USA             -    25.5
4.    Germany             -    21.5
5.    Spain            -    21.5
6.    Ireland            -    18.5
7.    Netherlands        -    14.0
8.    Sweden            -    12.0
9.    Switzerland        -    10.5
10.    Poland            -     0

Facts and Figures:
The youngest rider in today's competition was 18 year old Manuel Anon Saurez from Spain who picked up just a single time penalty with Loreal D'Utah in the first round.
12 riders jumped clear in round one of today's competition.
Only 6 riders jumped clear in round 2.
There were only two double-clear rounds in the competition.  They were produced by Switzerland's Pius Schwizer (Ulysses) and Ireland's Denis Lynch (Nabab's Son).
The Polish team was reduced to just three riders due to the withdrawal of Dawid Rakoczy and Rotmistrz and Poland was eliminated when second-to-go rider Jacek Bobik was eliminated with Taunus.
The most influential fences on the course designed by Frank Rothenberger were the triple combination at fence 5 and the penultimate triple bar.

Quotes:
Helena Lundback, member of today's winning Swedish team, talking about her mare Bukowskis Erblumme "I've been working to get her in better shape recently and she's been a bit grumpy with me recently but today she gave me everything she'd got!"

Malin Baryard-Johnsson, member of today's winning Swedish team, when asked about how difficult it was to be pathfinder for her team today - "When we were drawn first to go today I thought "well that's ok we can do it" and then I was picked first to go on the team as well!  But I decided I'd just walk the course and keep to my plan and not change anything once I went into the ring".

MEYDAN FEI NATIONS CUP™
A Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ event is organised as a five-star Nations Cup, i.e. a competition in which official teams representing nations compare their merit. At each event the teams gain points according to their placing. At the end of the 2010 season the team with the highest points wins the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ and the four teams with the lowest points are relegated to the FEI Nations Cup series (Promotional League). Two teams from the Promotional League will join the Top League in 2011.
 
The complete rules, latest news, results, standings and photos are on www.meydanfeinationscup.org

The World’s Top 10 Teams: France, the USA, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, The Netherlands, Sweden, Great Britain, Spain and Poland.

The World’s Best Eight Venues:
La Baule (FRA), Friday 14 May; Rome (ITA), Friday 28 May; St. Gallen (SUI), Friday 4 June; Rotterdam (Ned), Friday 18 June; Falsterbo (SWE), Friday 9 July; Aachen (GER), Thursday 15 July; Hickstead (GBR), Friday 30 July; Dublin (IRL), Friday 6 August.

To learn more about the FEI go to www.fei.org

To learn more about Meydan, the title sponsor of the Meydan FEI Nations Cup, go to www.meydan.ae

IRELAND FINISH SEVENTH AS AMERICANS REIGN IN ROTTERDAM

The all-female US team stormed to victory at the fourth leg of the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ in Rotterdam today where, for the first time this season, the French did not have their way and had to settle for equal-fifth place.  There was an air of determination about the winning side from the start, and with three double-clears they proved untouchable. 
 
Great Britain's march back to the top end of the sport continued as they slotted into runner-up spot with a one-fault advantage over the third-place home team, and there was huge relief for Dutch Chef d'Equipe Rob Ehrens.  "Today was so much better" he said as, at last, his riders managed to shake off the run of poor results that has left them lingering in the bottom-four relegation zone for the last few weeks.  They have only moved up one place on the leaderboard however and still remain extremely vulnerable along with Switzerland, Sweden and Poland.
 
Germany finished fourth today while the Spanish shared fifth spot with the French and the Irish divided seventh place with Switzerland.  Poland finished last yet again and were joined on the sideline by the Swedish team at the halfway stage. 
 
NOT THE BIGGEST
"Not the biggest Nations Cup course I've ever jumped, but plenty difficult" was the verdict of US team member Lauren Hough on the track created by course-designer Louis Konickx.  "No it wasn't the biggest" Mr Konickx agreed, "but some of the distances asked for control - particularly the triple combination" he pointed out.
 
Located at the very end of his track, this was indeed the greatest influence on the competition as many riders struggled to get their horses re-organised following the previous triple bar.  It presented few problems for the American girls however.  They rode with confidence down the line and only Nicole Simpson faulted for the winning side in the opening round when her handsome chestnut, Tristan, lowered the oxer going away from the in-gate at fence seven. 
 
The British were stalking the USA closely at the halfway stage however with just two time penalties, while Dutch hearts were lifted by opening clears from Eric Van der Vleuten (VDL Groep Utascha SFN) and Harrie Smolders (Exquis Walnut de Muze) and they went into round two with just four faults on the board.  France carried eight, Spain and Germany carried nine, the Irish carried 12 and the Swiss trailed the field with 16 already racked up.
 
TREMENDOUS RUN
British pathfinder Peter Charles has been enjoying a tremendous run of late with Murka's Pom d'Ami, and he followed his opening clear with a single time penalty second time out to keep the pressure on the US leaders.  A mistake at the second element of the double at eight for David McPherson and Chamberlain Z and another for newcomer Scott Brash with Intertoy Z at the flimsy Bicycle fence that followed the open water gave the Americans more breathing space however, although they didn't need it. 
 
Hough's Quick Study was again keen and quick, taking on that final combination with consummate ease despite what appeared to be a deep approach, and when Candice King's Skara Glen's Davos was also foot-perfect for a second time and then Simpson notched up just a time fault they had already had the win in the bag.  Laura Kraut wasn't going to rest on her first-round laurels however.  A zero final score is always that bit nicer than a single time penalty for any team, and there was her Grand Prix qualification to take into account as well, so she returned to the ring with her Olympic team gold medal winning ride Cedric to secure that ever-so-pleasing clean sheet. 
 
NERVOUS
"I was nervous out there!" Kraut said afterwards, "but my nerves kept me warm on this cold day!"  Chef d'Equipe George Morris was delighted with his ladies who have now moved the USA up the leaderboard by three places - from sixth to third - "I always seem to have luck with girl power!" he admitted.  This was only the fourth US victory in the history of the Dutch Nations Cup since 1948.  They previously came out on top in 1968, 1978, 1997 and have now added the 2010 title to their tally.  Today's team will now go on to Aachen next month while a new rotation of US riders will contest the next leg in Falsterbo in three weeks time and then the penultimate round at Hickstead and the last competition in Dublin in early August.
 
Rob Ehrens described himself as "relieved" by the result for the third-placed Dutch but he acknowledged that there is still a long way to go before The Netherlands can be sure of inclusion in the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ next year.  "I was really happy with the younger horses today" he said afterwards, "but we have a lot to do yet - this is a very tough season".  There's no doubt about that.  With four teams destined for relegation its never been tougher, and there are only four more competitions in which to turn things around.
 
For further information on the fixture at Rotterdam go to website www.chio.nl or contact Press Officer Anita Lussenberg at Email press@chio.nl or Tel (mobile) +31621585878.  The NEXT leg of the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ takes place at Falsterbo, Sweden on Friday 9 July.  For details about the Swedish event go to website www.falsterbohorseshow.com or contact Press Officer Malin Fredricsson at email press@falsterbohorseshow.se
RESULT:
1, USA 0 faults: Quick Study (Lauren Hough) 0/0, Skra Glen's Davos (Candice King) 0/0, Tristan (Nicole Simpson) 4/1, Cedric (Laura Kraut) 0/0.
2. Great Britain 7 faults:  Murka's Pom D'Ami (Peter Charles)0/1, Chamberlain Z (David McPherson) 1/4, Intertoy Z (Scott Brash) 4/4, Peppermill (John Whitaker)1/0.
3. The Netherlands 8 faults:  Audi's Alpapillon-Armanie (Vincent Voorn) 16/0, VDL Groep Utascha SFN (Eric Van der Vleutan) 0/0, Exquis Walnut de Muze (Harrie Smolders) 0/4, HBC Tamino (Marc Houtzager) 4/4.
4. Germany 9 faults: Noltes Kuchengirl (Marcus Ehning) 4/0, Cellagon Lambrasco (Janne-Friederike Meyer) 1/0, Corradina (Carsten-Otto Nagel) 8/0, Gotha (Ludger Beerbaum) 4/4.
 
5. Spain 12 faults: Herald (Pilar Cordon) 5/1, Jarnac (Julio Arias) 4/1, Lord du Mont Milon (Jesus Garmendia Echeverria) 5/8, Mme Pompadour M (Sergio Alvarez Moya) 0/1.
 
5. France 12 faults: Topinambour (Penelope Leprevost) 4/5, Kellemoi de Pepita (Michel Robert) 0/0, Admirable (Marie Etter Pellegrin) 5/4, Kraque Boom (Kevin Staut) 4/0.
 
7.  Ireland 24 faults:  Abbervail van het Dingeshof (Denis Lynch) 8/0, Kiltoom (David O'Brien) 8/12, Castle Forbes Myrtille Paulois (Jessica Kuerten) 4/4, Carmena Z (Shane Breen) 0/8.
 
7.  Switzerland 24 faults:  Ferrari (Steve Guerdat) 12/0, Zekina Z (Jane Richard) 4/4, Campione CH (Werner Muff) 4/4, Carlina K (Pius Schwizer) 8/5.
 
9.  Sweden 21 faults in FIRST round: Lunatic (Jens Fredricson) 8, LB Paola (Henrik Von Eckermann 8, H&M Arctic Aurora Borealis (Peder Fredricson) 5, Kiara la Silla (Rolf-Goran Bengtsson) 13.
 
10. Poland 26 faults in FIRST round: TMN Corlana (Jaroslaw Skrzyczynski) 5, Trojka (Antoni Tomaszewski) 8, Rotmistrz (Dawid Rakoczy) 25, Castello (Aleksandra Lusina) 13.
2010 MEYDAN FEI NATIONS CUP™ - STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 4 IN ROTTERDAM:
1.       France                            -         33.5
2.       Great Britain                   -         25.5
3.       USA                       -                  22.0
4.       Germany                         -        21.5
5.       Spain                    -                  16.0
6.       Ireland                            -         15.0
7.       Switzerland           -                    9.5
8.       The Netherlands    -                   7.0
9.       Sweden                          -          2.0
10.     Poland                            -          0.0
 
Facts and Figures:
Today's team from the USA was an all-female selection - a rare occurrence throughout the long history of nations cup jumping which is now in its 101st year.
There were five double-clear performances in the competition and three came from US riders - Lauren Hough, Candice King and Laura Kraut - while Holland's Eric van der Vleuten and Michel Robert from France also jumped two clear rounds..
The youngest horse in today's competition was the 8 year old bay Holsteiner mare TMN Corlana, ridden by Poland's Jaroslaw Skrzyczynsi.
The oldest horse was another lady, the 15 year old mare Mme. Pompadour M representing Spain with Sergio Alvarez Moya in the saddle.
There were 8 clears in the first round but 13 in the second round while three riders picked up single time faults in round one and five collected one time fault in round two.
This was the fourth US victory in the history of the Dutch Nations Cup since 1948 - they won in 1968, 1978, 1997 and now again in 2010.
 
Quotes:
US team member Nicole Simpson - "I started riding Tristan in May of 2009 and bringing him along for this kind of competition has been my goal - he was fantastic in the WEG selection trials in Florida this year.  I'm based in California and I've had my horses here in Europe since April".
US team member Lauren Hough - "When I'm in Europe I am based with Rodrigo Pessoa in Belgium"
US team member Candice King - "I have my horse for the last two and a half years and my goal has always been this year's World Equestrian Games".
MEYDAN FEI NATIONS CUP™
A Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ event is organised as a five-star Nations Cup, i.e. a competition in which official teams representing nations compare their merit. At each event the teams gain points according to their placing. At the end of the 2010 season the team with the highest points wins the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ and the four teams with the lowest points are relegated to the FEI Nations Cup series (Promotional League). Two teams from the Promotional League will join the Top League in 2011.
 
The complete rules, latest news, results, standings and photos are on www.meydanfeinationscup.org

The World’s Top 10 Teams: France, the USA, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, The Netherlands, Sweden, Great Britain, Spain and Poland.

The World’s Best Eight Venues:
La Baule (FRA), Friday 14 May; Rome (ITA), Friday 28 May; St. Gallen (SUI), Friday 4 June; Rotterdam (Ned), Friday 18 June; Falsterbo (SWE), Friday 9 July; Aachen (GER), Thursday 15 July; Hickstead (GBR), Friday 30 July; Dublin (IRL), Friday 6 August.

To learn more about the FEI go to www.fei.org

To learn more about Meydan, the title sponsor of the Meydan FEI Nations Cup, go to www.meydan.ae

TIPPERARY DUO LINE OUT FOR IRELAND

SHANE BREEN AND DENIS LYNCH BID FOR VALUABLE LEAGUE POINTS

MEYDAN FEI NATIONS CUP™ 2010
Rotterdam (NED), 17 June 2010

FEI TV - Follow the fourth leg of the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series in Rotterdam LIVE on FEI TV - Transmission begins at 14.25 local time on Friday 18th June 2010 - www.feitv.org

FRENCH FIRST INTO THE RING AT ROTTERDAM

The defending champions from France, who have already taken a stranglehold on the leaderboard again this season, will be pathfinders as the fourth leg of the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series gets underway at the Kralingse Bos Arena in Rotterdam, The Netherlands tomorrow afternoon.  The order-of-go is as follows: 1, France; 2, Great Britain; 3, The Netherlands; 4, Sweden; 5, Germany; 6, Ireland; 7, Spain; 8, USA; 9, Poland; 10, Switzerland.

At today's Draw Press Conference, FEI Executive Commercial Director Carsten Couchouron said "the series has been galloping along since it started at La Baule in May, and it's hard to believe that we have reached the half-way stage already.  The French won here at Rotterdam last year, so this is a happy hunting ground for them - it seems the big question right now is whether any of the other teams can actually beat them!".

UPBEAT
The Dutch are lying second-last on the leaderboard going into tomorrow's competition, and as Mr Couchouron explained "that's not a comfortable place to be because four of the 10 competing nations will be relegated after the last leg at Dublin in August".

The Netherlands' Chef d'Equipe, Rob Ehrens, was upbeat about his side's chances however, although he is acutely aware of the dangerous situation in which they now find themselves. 

He said he will adopt exactly the same attitude tomorrow as he has done at each of the previous rounds despite the fact that things have not worked out well so far.  "We have a good team and they are in good shape so I am optimistic" he pointed out.  "We started well in La Baule but we have been using some new combinations - a lot of our top horses have been sold and now we have younger horses coming up" he added.  He knows how important it is to pick up some significant points with a good result tomorrow - "we are a strong, fighting country and we will fight to the bitter end.  We want to finish in the top six in this series so that we can stay in the top level for next year" he insisted.

AN OPEN AFFAIR
French Chef d'Equipe Laurent Elias graciously suggested that tomorrow's competition will be an open affair - "there are many good teams here and any of them can win" he said. Asked if he thought it was a particularly tough test this season because so many countries will be relegated he said "yes, but eight teams is the ideal number and this will allow us to have an eight-nation tournament in 2011".

The British have been strong this season and their new team manager, Rob Hoekstra, said that the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series is continuing to raise the profile of equestrian sport in Britain ahead of the London Olympic Games.  "This is our preparation for the Olympics - our priority is to stay in the series in order to be competitive in 2012" he pointed out.

US Chef d'Equipe George Morris said that remaining in the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ is "critical" from a number of perspectives, and that this year's series is being used as a selection process for the American team ahead of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ in Kentucky.  With characteristic humour, he made a point of thanking the sponsors - "as my father said to me when I was starting out in horse sport, somebody has to pay for it!  and we are all very grateful to Meydan for their support"
TRANSFORMATION
Mr Frans Lavooij, President of CHIO Rotterdam, explained that the Kralingse Bos Arena will be undergoing a transformation after the end of this year's show.  A €5 million face-lift is on the cards ahead of next year's FEI European Dressage Championships at this popular venue.  For now however it is tomorrow that everyone is thinking about.  And as Irish Chef d'Equipe Robert Splaine said "the French have been an inspiration to us all this year but every one of the Chefs will all be hoping that their teams can produce three double-clear rounds tomorrow - that will make for a good competition!"   

For further information on the fixture at Rotterdam go to website www.chio.nl or contact Press Officer Anita Lussenberg at Email press@chio.nl or Tel (mobile) +31621585878. 

2010 MEYDAN FEI NATIONS CUP™ - STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 3 IN ST GALLEN:
1.  France         -    30.0
2.  Great Britain    -    18.5
3.  Germany        -    16.5
4.  Ireland        -    13.5
5.  Spain            -    12.5
6.  USA            -    12.0
7.  Switzerland        -      8.0
8.  Sweden        -      2.0
9.  The Netherlands -         1.0
10. Poland        -      0   

Facts and Figures:
Rotterdam stages round four of the eight-leg Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ 2010
The last time the home team won the Nations Cup of The Netherlands was in 2003.
The records show the Dutch have won their own nations cup on 7 occasions in the period since 1948.
Great Britain holds the record for most wins of the nations cup of The Netherlands - they have won 14 times since 1948 while Germany has enjoyed 12 victories.
The French, winners in Rotterdam in 2009, have won the Dutch Nations Cup 11 times.

Quotes:
Frans Lavooij, President CHIO Rotterdam - "We will be building a new permanent stand here for the European Championships next year along with 40 new stables".
Julie Letherby, Meydan Hospitality Sales Specialist - "I'd like to wish all the riders the best of luck tomorrow and I am delighted to visit Rotterdam for the first time"

MEYDAN FEI NATIONS CUP™
A Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ event is organised as a five-star Nations Cup, i.e. a competition in which official teams representing nations compare their merit. At each event the teams gain points according to their placing. At the end of the 2010 season the team with the highest points wins the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ and the four teams with the lowest points are relegated to the FEI Nations Cup series (Promotional League). Two teams from the Promotional League will join the Top League in 2011.
 
The complete rules, latest news, results, standings and photos are on www.meydanfeinationscup.org

The World’s Top 10 Teams: France, the USA, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, The Netherlands, Sweden, Great Britain, Spain and Poland.

The World’s Best Eight Venues:
La Baule (FRA), Friday 14 May; Rome (ITA), Friday 28 May; St. Gallen (SUI), Friday 4 June; Rotterdam (Ned), Friday 18 June; Falsterbo (SWE), Friday 9 July; Aachen (GER), Thursday 15 July; Hickstead (GBR), Friday 30 July; Dublin (IRL), Friday 6 August.

To learn more about the FEI go to www.fei.org

To learn more about Meydan, the title sponsor of the Meydan FEI Nations Cup, go to www.meydan.ae

MEYDAN FEI NATIONS CUP™ 2010
Rotterdam (NED), 15 June 2010

FEI TV - Follow the fourth leg of the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series in Rotterdam LIVE on FEI TV - www.feitv.org

CAN THE FRENCH MAKE IT A FABULOUS FOUR?

As the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series reaches the half-way stage at Rotterdam in The Netherlands this Friday, the big question on everyone's lips is "can the runaway French be stopped in their tracks?".  The defending series champions have a commanding advantage at the top of the 2010 leaderboard after their hat-trick of victories at La Baule (FRA), Rome (ITA) and St Gallen (SUI) over the last four weeks, and Chef d'Equipe Laurent Elias is taking no chances with another crack side for this latest fixture.

The French are also the defending champions at Rotterdam where Penelope Leprevost was the heroine in 2009 when clinching the honours in a thrilling third-round head-to-head against America's McLain Ward.  The lady from Normandy has firmly established herself as a linchpin of her national side since then, and is again selected for this week's event alongside Kevin Staut, Patrice Deleveau, Michel Robert and Marie Etter Pellegrin.

BOUNCED BACK
Under the management of new Chef d'Equipe Rob Hoekstra the British have bounced back with renewed determination this season and are currently lying second on the series table, although a full 11.5 points behind the leaders.  Peter Charles and Murka's Pom d'Ami will be making their fourth consecutive appearance and are backed up by Scott Brash, David McPherson, Gemma Paternoster and the inimitable John Whitaker.  Next in line are the Germans, runners-up last time out, fifth in St Gallen and joint-third at La Baule.  Their big guns came out at the Swiss fixture but still could not contain the relentless French onslaught.  However Ludger Beerbaum, Marcus Ehning, Janne-Friederike Meyer, Carsten-Otto Nagel and Mario Stevens will be hoping to put that to rights this time around. 

The Irish are also coming out at full gallop, although Robert Splaine's plans have had to be altered over the last few days. Jessica Kuerten had been listed with Castle Forbes Cosma, but the mare pulled a muscle while jumping in Cannes over the weekend and so has been replaced with Myrtille Paulois while anchorman Billy Twomey was forced to withdraw after his horse, Blue Thunder, tied up during exercise last Sunday.  Army man Capt David O'Brien has stepped into the breach however and the line-up that also includes Shane Breen, Dermott Lennon and Denis Lynch still looks a strong one, and well capable of defending their fourth-place league position.

SITTING COMFORTABLY
The newcomer Spanish are sitting comfortably in fifth place and look set to stay there with Pilar Cordon back in action this week alongside Sergio Alvarez Moya, Manuel Suarez, Jesus Echeverria and Marta Ortega Perez while George Morris fields a new-look American selection. Beezie Madden has two legs of the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series under her belt but the remaining four - Lauren Hough, Candice King, Laura Kraut and Nicole Simpson - are all fresh faces.  Lying sixth on the leaderboard going into this crucial stage, their mission will be to lift the USA further away from the all-too-dangerous bottom-four relegation zone at the end of Friday's competition.

Surprisingly, the reigning European Champions from Switzerland have been down in that bottom-four group from the outset this season despite their very best efforts.  They will be hoping their luck is about to change as Steve Guerdat, Werner Muff, Jane Richard and Pius Schwizer set off once again in search of those elusive points.  It seems almost incredible that, in this toughest of seasons, they could find themselves demoted to the Promotional League for 2011, but this is the tremendous challenge of the 2010 series.  A total of four teams will be relegated at season's end, while just two will be upgraded from the Promotional League as the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ returns to an eight-nation format next year.

ENDANGERED
Behind the Swiss lie the even-more-endangered Swedish team that has collected only two points from the first three legs of the series.  Chef d'Equipe Gosta Asker has enlisted Olympic silver medallist Rolf-Goran Bengstsson this time around however, and supported by Erika Lickhammer, Jens and Peder Fredricson and Henrik von Eckermann he will be hoping to improve the situation dramatically.  If that is going to happen then this is the time to do it, because the second half of the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series is going to be an even more desperate struggle for survival in the top echelons of this great team sport.

The biggest surprise of all though is the fact that this week's host nation is in second-last place on the leaderboard with only a single point earned after the first three legs.  The newly-promoted Polish team, with its lack of experience and limited pool of riders but immense courage, has been lying last from the outset.  But no-one would have expected that the reigning World Champions from Holland would be just one point ahead of them at this stage.  The Dutch didn't even make the cut into the second round at both La Baule and Rome, but their stoic Chef d'Equipe, Rob Ehrens, has one of the coolest heads in the business.  He has a pool of 15 riders to choose from for this Friday's clash, and he will send out the best he can muster to rescue Dutch pride.  In front of their wildly enthusiastic home fans, he will be hoping they will truly rise to the occasion.     

For further information on the fixture at Rotterdam go to website www.chio.nl or contact Press Officer Anita Lussenberg at Email press@chio.nl or Tel (mobile) +31621585878. 

2010 MEYDAN FEI NATIONS CUP™ - STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 3 IN ST GALLEN:
1.  France         -    30.0
2.  Great Britain    -    18.5
3.  Germany        -    16.5
4.  Ireland        -    13.5
5.  Spain            -    12.5
6.  USA            -    12.0
7.  Switzerland        -      8.0
8.  Sweden        -      2.0
9.  The Netherlands -         1.0
10. Poland        -      0   

Facts and Figures:
Rotterdam stages the fourth leg of the eight-round Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series.
The French team, winners at the first three legs of the 2010 series, go into this half-way stage with an 11.5 point lead over Great Britain.
The host country is lying second-last on the leaderboard, with only one point after the first three legs.
France came out on top at this fixture in 2009.
Ireland's Jessica Kuerten produced the only double-clear jumping performance that day riding the mare Quibell who is now in retirement.

MEYDAN FEI NATIONS CUP™
A Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ event is organised as a five-star Nations Cup, i.e. a competition in which official teams representing nations compare their merit. At each event the teams gain points according to their placing. At the end of the 2010 season the team with the highest points wins the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ and the four teams with the lowest points are relegated to the FEI Nations Cup series (Promotional League). Two teams from the Promotional League will join the Top League in 2011.
 
The complete rules, latest news, results, standings and photos are on www.meydanfeinationscup.org

The World’s Top 10 Teams: France, the USA, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, The Netherlands, Sweden, Great Britain, Spain and Poland.

The World’s Best Eight Venues:
La Baule (FRA), Friday 14 May; Rome (ITA), Friday 28 May; St. Gallen (SUI), Friday 4 June; Rotterdam (Ned), Friday 18 June; Falsterbo (SWE), Friday 9 July; Aachen (GER), Thursday 15 July; Hickstead (GBR), Friday 30 July; Dublin (IRL), Friday 6 August.

Olivier Guillon and Lord de Theize pictured above, were members of the French team that secured a third consecutive victory in the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ at St Gallen, Switzerland today.  Photo: Valeria Struen.

IRELAND MOVE UP TO FOURTH AS FRENCH MAKE IT THREE-IN-A-ROW AT ST GALLEN

THE IRISH show jumping team staged a notable second-round comeback today (Friday) to climb from their half-time sixth place to finish fourth in the Swiss Nations' Cup at St. Gallen.

The points gained by today's result also saw Ireland jump two places in the Meydan Nations' Cup leaderboard, putting them in fourth position amongst the world's ten best show jumping teams.

On a course made doubly difficult due to the effects of violent rainstorms yesterday, clear rounds from any of the competing teams were not frequent, but Billy Twomey delivered one near the end of the competition with 'Je t'Aime Flamenco' to help Ireland climb past the Swiss and the Dutch.

Darragh Kenny and 'Obelix' had five faults in the first round, while Shane Breen with 'Carmena Z' also produced five in each round. Both Billy Twomey and Cian O'Connor and 'K Club Lady' racked up nine faults in the first round, but both improved second time out, O'Connor touching just one pole in his final round.

Team Ireland Equestrian's show jumping manager Robert Splaine said from St. Gallen this afternoon: "It was an absolutely top class performance today by the team on a tough course, and in very testing conditions. Billy Twomey gave us a spectacular clear round at a crucial time to leapfrog over the Swiss.

"Cian O'Connor made a great comeback in the second round with his mare, while Shane Breen delivered a solid performance in both rounds. Darragh Kenny also gave us a score that counted in the first round.

"It's worth noting that the Swiss fielded their championship team this afternoon, but we finished ahead of them. It was a very, very solid performance by the Irish team today."

FULL REPORT BELOW FROM ST GALLEN

The French team, already leading the series by a considerable margin following their double of wins over the first two legs, swept to victory again today in the third leg of the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ at St Gallen, Switzerland.

The competition came down to a two-way battle in the closing stages between the eventual winners and the crack German side that was sent out to ensure an improved position on the leaderboard.  But once again the winners were in a league of their own.  They established the advantage in the first round and held firm to clinch maximum points, while Germany finished second ahead of Great Britain in third and Ireland in fourth place.  The home team had to settle for fifth when things did not go their way, and the Spanish slotted into sixth ahead of the USA.  The Netherlands finished eighth, and this result has now dropped them down to second-last on the leaderboard, so they are in serious trouble going into their home leg in Rotterdam in two weeks time.

Sweden and Poland failed to qualify for today's second round and as the 10-nation series moves towards the half-way point at the Dutch venue, the Polish team has still not picked up any points and is joined in the bottom-four relegation zone by the Swiss, the Swedish and the Dutch.

TIGHT TIME
Course designer, Rolf Ludi, put a lot of pressure on today's competitors with a tight time-allowed that was slightly adjusted after the first few horses completed the track in the first round.  "The difference for us is that speed is not a problem for our horses, and that our riders are good at jumping fast rounds" pointed out the proud French team manager, Laurent Elias, afterwards.  They were also able to cope with the testing run from the big open water at fence four to the following FEI vertical at five, as well as the difficult offset line that included a triple bar followed by a water-tray oxer and then an all-too-fragile set of white planks.  The Meydan triple combination, just one obstacle from home, claimed a large number of victims - mostly at the oxer middle-element which was very wide.  However the biggest surprise of the day was the influence of the opening oxer which fell seven times in the first round and which also brought the first-round contribution of Dutch anchorman Marc Houtzager to an end, even before it began, when his feisty stallion Opium dislodged him with a sudden stop.

GREAT ANCHOR-RIDE
Despite a great anchor-ride five-fault result for Jan Chrzanowski and Just Cruising the Polish team clocked up 42 first-round faults and joined the Swedish side, which had collected 33, in the spectator-stand as round two got underway.  There were now two separate contests - the first between the French on four faults and the Germans close behind with five, and the other between the remaining six teams closely bunched together with less then two fences between them all.

The Americans, lying eighth with 22 faults, improved one place thanks largely to a clear from Richard Spooner and Cristallo at their second attempt, while Spain, fielding a completely new line-up, remained in sixth when adding 13 more to their tally.  The Irish were carrying 19 faults from round one, and a clear from last-man-in Billy Twomey with Je T'Aime Flamenco allowed them to drop the 16 collected by Darragh Kenny and add just nine more which moved them up from joint-sixth to fourth.  It was a deeply disappointing day for the Swiss however.  They fielded their top side and wanted to put their best foot forward in front of their home crowd, but Steve Guerdat (Jalisca Solier) was the only one to jump a clear round while Beat Mandli picked up nine faults with Louis, Daniel Etter's normally super-reliable Peu a Peu was way off-form when racking up a massive 32 and World No 1 Pius Schwizer collected 12 with Carlina.  In contrast, the British enjoyed an excellent afternoon despite the loss of Michael Whitaker in the second round after GIG Amai was reported to be on the injury list following an uncharacteristically poor first effort.  In his absence, his older brother John produced exactly what was needed when following Ben Maher's clear with Robin Hood and Peter Charles' four faults with Murkas Pom D'Ami by a foot-perfect tour of the track with Peppmill which secured third place. 

For the Dutch it was another disaster.  The reigning World Champions failed to make the cut into the second round in Rome seven days ago and  when obliged to count 24 more faults in the second round today had to settle for eighth place.  The French were flying however and when both Kevin Staut (Kraque Boom) and Penelope Leprevost (Topinambour) produced double-clears then the writing was already on the wall.   German chances of overtaking them were hampered by a mistake at the liverpool oxer at fence eight by second-round pathfinder Marco Kutscher (Cash) and although Carsten-Otto Nagel and Corradina stayed clear, four more faults from Ludger Beerbaum and Gotha gave the French even more leeway. 

Nicolas Delmotte's Luccianno put a foot in the water but that was still good enough to ensure victory so neither Olivier Guillon (Lord de Theize) nor Germany's last man, Marcus Ehning, were called upon a second time.  For Laurent Elias it was "mission accomplished" yet again, but there is nothing arrogant or over-bearing about his attitude to success.

NEVER SURE
"We are never sure we are going to win but we go out there every time with the intention of doing it and all of the team give me everything - no team manager can ask for more than that" he said.  He talked about the challenges presented to the show organisers following the torrential downpour on Wednesday night and further rain on Thursday that led to the cancellation of competitions.  "A meeting with all the Chefs was called and I would like to thank the organisers for taking the right decision about yesterday's classes - as a result we had a great competition and great sport today" he pointed out.

Kevin Staut commented on Rolf Ludi's course-building skills.  "This was a clever course, and difficult too but it jumped well" he said while Penelope Leprevost was delighted with her 10 year old Dutch-bred stallion Topinambour who is still in a learning curve at this level.  "I am very happy because I still don't have a lot of control when I have to go fast with him but he jumps so well - today he was able to complete the course with a clear round even though the time was very tight" he added.

With 30 points now on the board, the French go into the fourth leg of the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series with a 10.5 point lead over their nearest challengers, the British who have made a remarkable come-back this season.  As the halfway-point of the series approaches, the biggest question now seems to be - can anyone beat the French?? 

For further information on the Swiss fixture at St Gallen go to website www.csio.ch or contact Press Officer Peter Wyrsch at (Email) peter.wyrsch@sportinformation.ch, (mobile) Tel: + 41 79406 5207.  The NEXT leg of the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series takes place in Rotterdam, The Netherlands on Friday 18th June.  For more information on the Dutch fixture go to website www.chio.nl or email Press Officer Anita Lussenberg at press@chio.nl,

RESULT:
1.  France 8 faults:  Kraque Boom (Kevin Staut) 0/0, Topinambour (Penelope Leprevost) 0/0, Luccianno (Nicolas Delmotte) 9/4, Lord de Theize (Olivier Guillon) 9/4.
2.  Germany 13 faults:  Cash (Marco Kutscher) 4/4, Corradina (Carsten-Otto Nagel) 4/0, Gotha (Ludger Beerbaum) 1/4, Plot Blue (Marcus Ehning) 0/DNS.
3.  Great Britain 19 faults:  Murkas Pom D'Ami (Peter Charles) 1/4, Robin Hood (Ben Maher) 9/0, GIG Amai (Michael Whitaker) 17/DNS, Peppermill (John Whitaker) 5/0.
4.  Ireland 28 faults:  Carmena Z (Shane Breen) 5/5,Obelix (Darragh Kenny) 5/16, K Club Lady (Cian O'Connor) 9/4, Je T'Aime Flamenco (Billy Twomey) 9/0.
5.  Switzerland 30 faults:  Jalisca Solier (Steve Guerdat) 0/4, Louis (Beat Mandli) 9/5, Peu a Peu (Daniel Etter) 20/12, Carlina V (Pius Schwizer) 8/4.
6.  Spain 32 faults:  Guarana Champeix (Rutherford Latham) 2/9, Monark (Pascal Levy) 9/4, Rico Revel (Eduardo Alvarez Aznar) 18/5, Wisconsin (Sergio Alvarez Moya) 8/4.
7.  USA 39 faults:  Cristallo (Richard Spooner) 8/0, Rothchild (McLain Ward) 13/8, Mademoiselle (Beezie Madden) 9/12, Urico (Mario Deslauriers) 5/9.
8.  The Netherlands 42 faults:  Tyson (Leon Thijssen) 5/8, Audi's Alpapillon-Armanie (Vincent Voorn) 8/8, Exquis Walnut de Muze (Harrie Smolders) 5/8, Opium (Marc Houtzager) Elim/9.
9.  Sweden 33 faults in FIRST round:  H&M Arctic Aurora Borealis (Peder Fredricson) 8, Glory Days (Daniel Zetterman) 16, LB Paola (Henrik Von Eckermann) 12, Caramell (Svante Johansson) 13.
10. Poland 44 faults in FIRST round:  Castiglione L (Andrzej Lemanski) 29, Torado (Krzysztof Ludwiczak) 13, Castello (Aleksandra Lusina) 26, Just Cruising (Jan Chrzanowski) 5.

2010 MEYDAN FEI NATIONS CUP™ - STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 3 IN ST GALLEN:
1.  France         -    30.0
2.  Great Britain    -    18.5
3.  Germany        -    16.5
4.  Ireland        -    13.5
5.  Spain            -    12.5
6.  USA            -    12.0
7.  Switzerland        -      8.0
8.  Sweden        -      2.0
9.  The Netherlands -         1.0
10. Poland        -      0   

Facts and Figures:
This was the third consecutive victory for France in the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series - the French team previously won at both La Baule (FRA) and Rome (ITA).
Sweden and Poland did not qualify for the second round of today's competition.
There were only two double-clear performances and both of them came from members of the French team - Kevin Staut with Kraque Boom and Penelope Leprevost riding Topinambour.
Four horses jumped clear in the first round.
There was just one elimination in today's competition - Marc Houtzager from the The Netherlands who fell when his stallion, Opium, refused at the first fence.

Quotes:
Peter Stoessel, President CHIO Schweiz St Gallen - "We had a great day of sport today, and I would like to thank our sponsors, Meydan, for their support.  Without them none of this would be possible".
French Chef d'Equipe, Laurent Elias - "I congratulate the organisers here at St Gallen for keeping an open mind when things went so badly wrong with the weather over the last few days - they remained calm, and made all the right decisions".
French Chef d'Equipe, Laurent Elias - "The French team don't just go out to win - they go out to do their job correctly".

MEYDAN FEI NATIONS CUP™
A Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ event is organised as a five-star Nations Cup, i.e. a competition in which official teams representing nations compare their merit. At each event the teams gain points according to their placing. At the end of the 2010 season the team with the highest points wins the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ and the four teams with the lowest points are relegated to the FEI Nations Cup series (Promotional League). Following the Promotional League Final, the two best placed teams from that series join the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ for 2011.

The World’s Top 10 Teams: France, the USA, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, The Netherlands, Sweden, Great Britain, Spain and Poland.

The World’s Best Eight Venues:
La Baule (FRA), Friday 14 May; Rome (ITA), Friday 28 May; St. Gallen (SUI), Friday 4 June; Rotterdam (Ned), Friday 18 June; Falsterbo (SWE), Friday 9 July; Aachen (GER), Thursday 15 July; Hickstead (GBR), Friday 30 July; Dublin (IRL), Friday 6 August.

IRELAND THIRD IN ROME ROUND OF MEYDAN NATIONS CUP

FRENCH WIN AGAIN, GREAT BRITAIN RUNNERS UP

 Meydan Nations Cup - Rome back row, left to right - Patrice Deleveau, Penelope Leprevost, Kevin Staut and Nicolas Delmotte - front row, left to right - Mr Bosco Daniel, Director of Operations, Meydan, French Chef d'Equipe Laurent Elias and Sven Holmberg, FEI First Vice-President

Ireland's show jumping team produced an excellent performance today (Friday) to take joint third place in the second round of the Meydan Nations Cup series in the Italian capital Rome.
 
Mayo's Cameron Hanley improved from an eight fault score in this mornings first round with 'Southwind' to jump a clear round second time out, while Offaly's Darragh Kenny knocked just one fence in the first round but was the discard score in round 2 with 8 faults.
 
Meath born Cian O Connor lowered just one fence over the two rounds with ''K Club Lady'' while Cork' s Billy Twomey also finished with just 4 faults over the two rounds with his mount ''Tinks Serenade''.
 
This left Ireland on a 12 fault total, in joint third place with Spain of the eleven teams that took part. League leaders France took first place for the second round in a row while Great Britain claimed runner up spot.

Team Ireland Equestrian's show jumping manager Robert Splaine said after the competition: "I was very pleased with the result here today. Two of the riders, Cameron Hanley and Darragh Kenny, came from our La Baule Nations' Cup team of two weeks ago, and the other two, Cian O'Connor and Billy Twomey, made their first team appearances of the 2010 Meydan season, and performed very well indeed. It shows we have strength in quality."
 

FULL REPORT FABULOUS FRENCH MAKE IT A DOUBLE IN ROME

The French team forged further ahead on the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ leaderboard with a supremely confident second successive victory in Rome, Italy today.  In a contest that included the Italian team who were not challenging for points as they are ineligible for this year's Meydan series, it was the British who lined up second ahead of Ireland and Spain in equal-third.  Germany finished fifth ahead of the USA in sixth while Italy claimed seventh spot, Switzerland finished eighth and the Swedish team was ninth. 

Once again The Netherlands and Poland enjoyed a short afternoon as neither qualified for the second round of competition, and, in an alarming turn of events for the reigning World Champions from Holland, they are now languishing at the very bottom of the leaderboard along with the rookie Polish side and in grave danger of losing their elevated status as Meydan series contenders.

Course designer Uliano Vezzani was clear about what he was trying to achieve over his 12-fence track at the lovely Piazza di Siena showground. "I prefer athletes to make small faults rather than big crashes. The safety aspect was very important for me, first that of the horse, then that of the rider" he said before the competition, and the only real drama of the day was the unexpected first-round elimination of the star American partnership of Richard Spooner and Cristallo.

PRINCIPLE PROBLEM-AREAS
The principle problem-areas on the track were at the triple-combination at fence five and the line through the double at fence 10 - vertical to oxer - which was followed by a water-tray oxer at 11 before turning for home over the final 1.60m vertical.  The double was approached on an S-bend left-hand turn, and when Spooner asked his 12 year old Holsteiner for a massive stand-off here, Cristallo decided it wasn't going to work and slammed on the brakes, and he was still in no mood to take it on when requested to do so a second time so US faces were looking glum as the elimination showed on the scoreboard.

By the half-way point the formidable French were already sharing the lead with the surprising Spanish - both carrying just four faults - while it was a truly tight battle further down the order as Ireland, Switzerland, Germany, Great Britain and Sweden shared third place with eight faults apiece.  Italy had already clocked up 12, and the USA was lying in ninth place with a total of 16 after four-fault results for both Beezie Madden (Mademoiselle) and Mario Deslauriers (Urico) and eight for McLain Ward (Sapphire).

With 17 on the board the Dutch day was done, but Poland's learning curve is clearly continuing.  Pathfinder Andrzej Lemanski produced a superb clear jumping round with the powerful 11 year old Castiglione, collecting just a single time penalty.  However two 12-fault results and eight from Krzysztof Ludwiczak (Torado) proved too costly and they sat it out with the team from The Netherlands as round two got underway. 

SPIRITED RECOVERY
The Americans made a spirited recovery led by a brilliant clear this time out for Spooner and Cristallo who jumped the infamous double without even blinking and the USA finished on a total of 20 faults.  The Italians added 12 more to complete on 24, the Swiss lost their grip on joint-third spot when adding 20 to their tally but the Irish held firm thanks to clears from both Cameron Hanley (Southwind VDL) and Cian O'Connor (K Club Lady) and were always going to be in the running when adding just four from anchorman Billy Twomey with Tinka's Serenade.

Janne-Fredericke Meyer (Cellagon Lambrasco) produced one of just three double-clears to help her team to a 16-fault finishing score but the British really rose to the occasion when Nick Skelton (Carlo), Peter Charles (Murka's Pom d'Ami) and the veteran John Whitaker (Peppermill) all returned clean score-sheets this time out.

The Swedish team struggled in round two but put one more hard-fought point on the leaderboard while the Spanish couldn't maintain the pressure on the French in the closing stages and dropped to equal-third.  Such was the supremacy of the winning side that when Penelope Leprevost (Mylord Carthago), Kevin Staut (Silvana) and Nicolas Delmotte (Luccianno) made it all look a little elementary second time out then Patrice Deleveau (Katchina Mail) didn't need to return to the ring for a second time.

TOP OF OUR SPORT
Reigning European champion Kevin Staut put it in context when he said afterwards "we really are at the top of our sport in France right now and I'm really proud to ride in this French team.  We are full of new hopes and new dreams and we have come out this season knowing that four teams will go down from the Meydan series and so we are fully organised from the very beginning".  He complimented the course designers work - "Mr Vezzani thinks always about the welfare of the horses, he doesn't punish them but he still gets great results, that's the measure of a good course designer" he said.  And he was particularly pleased with his mare Silvana who picked up just four faults on her Nations Cup debut.

Staut's team manager, Laurent Elias said of his country's double of wins, "it not down to chance, a lot of hard work has gone into achieving these performances, including the work of the French Federation.  And we also have a great horse-breeding culture in France - we have excellent horses" he added.

The next stop is St Gallen in Switzerland next week and with the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ already nearing the halfway point it is already getting serious.  In a bizarre turn of events the European champions from Switzerland and the World Champions from The Netherlands are within the danger-zone of the last four places on the leaderboard along with Sweden and Poland.  All four nations will be hoping to made amends for that in seven days' time. 

For further information on the Italian fixture go to website www.piazzadisiena.com or contact Press Officer Caterina Vagnozzi at Email: c.vagnozzi@gmail.com, Tel:  + 39 335 6107070  + 39 335 6107070 .  The NEXT leg takes place at St Gallen in Switzerland on Friday 4th June.  For all information on the Swiss fixture go to website www.csio.ch or contact Press Officer Peter Wyrsch at peter.wyrsch@sportinformation.ch

RESULT:
1.  France 4 faults - Mylord Carthago (Penelope Leprevost) 0/0, Silvana (Kevin Staut) 4/0, Luccianno (Nicolas Demotte) 8/0, Katchina Mail (Patrice Deleveau) 0/DNS.
2.  Great Britain 8 faults - Carlo (Nick Skelton) 4/0, Murka's Pom D'Ami (Peter Charles) 0/4, robin Hood W (Ben Maher) 4/0, Peppermill (John Whitaker) 4/0.
Equal 3. Ireland 12 faults- Southwind VDL (Cameron Hanley) 8/0, Obelix (Darragh Kenny) 4/8, K Club Lady (Cian O'Connor) 4/0, Tinka's Serenade (Billy Twomey) 8/4.
Equal 3. Spain 12 faults - Herald (Pilar Cordon) 0/0, Jarnac (Julio Arias Cueva) 0/4, Lord du Mont Milon (Jesus Garmendia Echevarria) 4/4, Julia des Brumes (Ricardo Jurado) 8/8.
5.  Germany 16 faults - Cellagon Lambrasco (Janne-Friederike Meyer) 0/0, Coeur de Lion (Max Kuhner) 8/12, Lassen Peak (Rebecca Golasch) 8/0, Souvenir (Philipp Weisaupt) 0/8.
6.  USA 20 faults - Cristallo (Richard Spooner) Elim/0, Mdemoiselle (Beezie Madden) 4/0, Urico (Mario Deslauriers) 4/4, Sapphire (McLain Ward) 8/4.
7.  Italy 24 faults - Aboyeur W (Gianni Govoni) 0/, Landzeu (Giuseppe D'Onofrio) 4/4, SNAI American Blu van Eeklelec (Gabriele Grassi) 8/4, SNAI Seldana di Campalto (Natale Chiaudani) 8/4.
8.  Switzerland 28 faults - Cantus (Niklaus Schurtenberger) 0/12, Zekina Z (Jane Richard) 8/8, Uptown Boy (Janika Sprunger) 4/8, Ulysse X (Pius Schwizer) 4/4.
9.  Sweden 32 faults - Lunatic (Jens Fredricson) 4/4, H&M Actrice (Malin Baryard-Johnsson) 8/8, Glory Days (Daniel Zetterman) 0/12, Bukowskis Erbblum (Helena Lundback) 4/Ret.
10. The Netherlands 17 faults in FIRST round - VDL Groep Utascha (Eric van der Vleuten) 0, VDL Groep Santana B (Leopold Van Asten) 9, Uraya (Albert Zoer) 12, Tyson (Leon Thijssen) 8.
11.  Poland 21 faults in FIRST round - Castiglione L (Andrzej Lemanski) 1, Just Cruising (Jan Chrzanowski) 12, Torado 2 (Krzysztof Ludwiczak) 8, Alekandra Lusina (Ekwador) 12.

2010 MEYDAN FEI NATIONS CUP™ - STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 2 IN ROME:
1.    France        -    20
2.    Great Britain    -    12.5
3.    USA            -    10
4.    Germany         -     9.5
5.    Spain        -     9.5
6.    Ireland        -     8.5
7.    Switzerland    -     4
8.    Sweden        -     2
9.    The Netherlands-     0
10.    Poland        -     0

Facts and Figures:
This was the 19th victory for the French team in the 78-year history of the Rome Nations Cup.
This was the second successive victory for the French team in the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series.
11 teams competed including the host nation which, however, was not eligible for points in the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series.
9 teams went through to the second round, and once again it was both Poland and The Netherlands that did not make the cut.
There were three double-clears in today's competition - from French pathfinders Penelope Leprevost and Mylord Carthago, Spain's Pilar Cordon and Herald and Germany's Janne-Friederike Meyer with Cellagon Lambrasco.
There was one elimination - the USA's Richard Spooner and Cristallo in the first round.  However they returned to jump clear in round two.

Quotes:
Show Director Antonio Govannoni:  "Competing in a team is not easy: riders sometimes have to sacrifice their individual competition strategy, but at the same time they have the possibility of other riders helping them to achieve the desired result."
Course Designer Uliano Vezzani talking about the course before the competition began:  "It is not too big but it’s technical".
Mr. Bosco, Head of Operation, Meydan: "I would like to thank the Organising Committee and the FEI for the very warm welcome we have received here. Everything was very well organised. I would also like the thank the course designer, Uliano Vezzani, for showing us around and explaining the course to us: it gives a whole new understanding of the competition.  France did very well at La Baule and have again given an amazing performance here. We wish all the competitors good luck for the rest of the Meydan FEI Nations Cup."
Sven Holmberg, FEI First Vice-President - "this is the 78th Nations Cup that has taken place in Rome. Italy is one of the most prestigious countries in the equestrian world and I’m sure the Italian team will bounce back. The French were perfect – lining up clears as they did in the second round was really impressive and I can only congratulate them".
 
MEYDAN FEI NATIONS CUP™
A Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ event is organised as a five-star Nations Cup, i.e. a competition in which official teams representing nations compare their merit. At each event the teams gain points according to their placing. At the end of the 2010 season the team with the highest points wins the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ and the four teams with the lowest points are relegated to the FEI Nations Cup series (Promotional League). Following the Promotional League Final, the two best placed teams from that series join the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ for 2011.

The World’s Top 10 Teams: France, the USA, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, The Netherlands, Sweden, Great Britain, Spain and Poland.

The World’s Best Eight Venues:
La Baule (FRA), Friday 14 May; Rome (ITA), Friday 28 May; St. Gallen (SUI), Friday 4 June; Rotterdam (Ned), Friday 18 June; Falsterbo (SWE), Friday 9 July; Aachen (GER), Thursday 15 July; Hickstead (GBR), Friday 30 July; Dublin (IRL), Friday 6 August.

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Meydan Fei Nations Cup.

MEYDAN FEI NATIONS CUP™ 2010
Rome, 26 May 2010

Watch it LIVE on FEI TV - Coverage of the second leg of the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series in Rome begins at 15.05 CEST on Friday 28th May.  Go to www.feitv.org for live coverage, event reports, highlights programmes and interviews.

FRENCH OUT IN FRONT AS MEYDAN FEI NATIONS CUP™ ARRIVES IN ROME

The 2009 title-holders from France hold the lead as the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series moves to Rome this week where the host-country makes a guest appearance on home ground.   This brings the total of competing nations to 11 for the second leg of the prestigious eight-round tournament which concludes at Dublin in early August.  And it promises to raise the competitive temperature considerably, as Italy is already making a spirited come-back to the top level of team sport through good results in the Promotional League series.  Relegated at the end of the 2009 season they are fighting their way back with real determination, and a win in Athens just over a week ago has put a shot across the bows of the opponents they will face in this Friday's top-level contest.

Italy holds the record for the greatest number of wins - 27 in total - at the Piazza di Siena, the charming venue located in the gardens of the Villa Borghese which lies at the heart of the Italian capital city which has been home to top-class show jumping for 78 years.  The French however have the distinction of lying second on the Italian Nations Cup Roll of Honour, having lifted the trophy on 18 occasions.  Their last victory was in 2006 and on current form they could prove hard to beat.  Chef d'Equipe Laurent Elias has recalled Kevin Staut and Penelope Leprevost who were both members of his winning side at the opening leg at La Baule two weeks ago and has added Patrice Deleveau, Simon Delestre and Nicolas Delmotte to the mix.

DEFENDING CHAMPIONS
The USA are defending champions in Rome having topped the line-up in 2009, and team manager George Morris fields the same squad as he brought to La Baule where they were pipped for the win by just one fence. Richard Spooner is the only member of last year's winning side, but he is ably-supported by some of the most experienced names in the sport including Mario Deslauriers, Beezie Madden, McLain Ward and Hillary Dobbs.  The Americans have been in exceptional form since descending on the European circuit this year and will provide formidable opposition.

Lying a comfortable third on the leaderboard to date, Otto Becker's German selection includes Rebecca Golasch, Ulrich Kirchhoff, Max Kuhner, Janne-Freiderike Meyer and Philipp Weishaupt while new British team manager Rob Hoekstra made a great start with his side that finished fourth at the opening French fixture.  He brings Peter Charles out again, and the Liverpool-born rider is this time joined by Ben Maher, Nick Skelton and the Whitaker brothers Michael and John. 

MAIDEN VOYAGE
On their maiden voyage in the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series the Spanish did themselves proud when finishing fifth earlier this month.  A centre-page spread in one of the top Spanish newspapers announced their launch into top-level nations cup jumping just days beforehand, and they rose magnificently to the challenge.  Team manager Marco Fuste was well-pleased with his side's result and he has named the same four riders - Pilar Cordon, Julio Arias Cueva, Echevarria Garmendia and Sergio Alvarez Moya - along with Ricardo Jurado.  Irish team manager Robert Splaine has decided to rest his star combination of Shane Breen and Carmena Z who produced one of the six double-clear performances at La Baule and to bring them back next week for the third leg of the series in St Gallen.  In the meantime he recalls Cameron Hanley and Darragh Kenny while giving Cian O'Connor, Billy Twomey and Capt David O'Brien their first taste of Meydan action for the year.

Switzerland's Rolf Grass will be hoping for a more competitive performance this time out.  The reigning European champions finished seventh in the first leg, and only World No 1 Pius Schwizer returns to action this Friday when he will be joined by Jane Richard, Christina Liebherr, Niklaus Schurtenberger and Janika Sprunger.

The last four teams on the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ leaderboard will be relegated this season so any finishing spot below sixth place is not good news.  Therefore Gosta Asker's Swedish team which finished eighth on their inaugural 2010 outing know only too well they need to do better this time around.  Malin Baryard-Johnsson and Helena Lundback will line out once more, this time in the company of Daniel Zetterman, Erika Lickhammer and Jens Fredricson. 

MAKE AMENDS
Surprisingly, the Dutch finished second-last of the 10 nations at La Baule and Chef d'Equipe Rob Ehrens is determined to make amends this week.  His line-up is completely changed, and he will expecting a significantly better result from Leon Thijssen, Leopold Van Asten, Eric Van der Vleuten, Albert Zoer and new recruit Annet Williem.  Already lying last on the series table, Poland's Rudi Wassibauer sends out Jan Chrzanowski, Andrzej Lemanski and Aleksandra Lusina once again and they will this time be joined by Krzysztof Lukwiczak and Jaroslaw Skrzyczynski.  The Polish team manager has been saying that he knows the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series is a big step-up in level for his riders, but under pressure in La Baule they showed great courage and raw talent and he is determined to give them every opportunity to grow in skill and experience over the coming months.  If they continue to cope with the exceptional test of character they faced last time out then they just might spring a surprise or two themselves over the next 10 weeks.  Despite the worst possible draw when first to go in the opening leg they didn't flinch, with Lemanski picking up just four, and Lusina and Chrzanowski collecting only eight faults apiece in the first round. 

The Italian team cannot collect points in Rome this week but they will surely be out to impress. Under the guidance of new team manager Markus Fuchs they have quickly developed a steely spirit which earned them team silver at last summer's European Championships and it looks to be here to stay.  In front of their home crowd, Natale Chiaudani, Giuseppe D'Onofrio, Gianni Govoni, Gabrielle Grassi and Lorenzo Toscano will be the toughest of opponents. 

The draw for order-of-go in Friday's competition takes place tomorrow (Thursday) at 16.15 local time and you can watch all the action LIVE on FEI TV from 15.05 CEST on Friday afternoon.  For further information on the Italian fixture go to website www.piazzadisiena.com or contact Press Officer Caterina Vagnozzi at Email: c.vagnozzi@iol.it, Tel: + 39 335 6107070.

2010 MEYDAN FEI NATIONS CUP™ - STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 1 AT LA BAULE:
1.    France            -        10
2.    USA                -          7
3.    Germany          -          5.5
3.    Great Britain     -          5.5
5.    Spain               -          4
6.    Ireland              -          3
7.    Switzerland       -          2
8.    Sweden            -          1
9.    Netherlands      -          0
10.   Poland            -          0

Facts and Figures:
This is the 78th annual horse-show at the Piazza di Siena in Rome
Italy holds the record for most wins at the Italian fixture - 27 in total since 1926.
The venue is located at the Villa Borghese in the heart of Italy's capital city.  It is recognised as one of the most charming horse-show locations in the world.
For the fourth consecutive year a special sand surface is laid in the main arena.  Technological advances ensure that the naturally undulating surface is levelled through the use of a laser.
There is a 20cms height difference from the centre of the arena to the sidelines, and this guarantees excellent drainage in the event of heavy rainfall.
Course designer for 2010 is, once again, Italy's Uliano Vezzani.
The team from the USA won the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ in Rome in 2009.
A total of 11 nations will compete in Rome this Friday - the 10 teams included in the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series along with the host country of Italy.

MEYDAN FEI NATIONS CUP™
A Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ event is organised as a five-star Nations Cup, i.e. a competition in which official teams representing nations compare their merit. At each event the teams gain points according to their placing. At the end of the 2010 season the team with the highest points wins the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ and the four teams with the lowest points are relegated to the FEI Nations Cup series (Promotional League). Following the Promotional League Final, the two best placed teams from that series join the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ for 2011.

The World’s Top 10 Teams: France, the USA, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, The Netherlands, Sweden, Great Britain, Spain and Poland.

The World’s Best Eight Venues:
La Baule (FRA), Friday 14 May; Rome (ITA), Friday 28 May; St. Gallen (SUI), Friday 4 June; Rotterdam (Ned), Friday 18 June; Falsterbo (SWE), Friday 9 July; Aachen (GER), Thursday 15 July; Hickstead (GBR), Friday 30 July; Dublin (IRL), Friday 6 August.

The complete rules, latest news, results, standings and photos are on www.meydanfeinationscup.org

To learn more about the FEI go to www.fei.org

To learn more about Meydan, the title sponsor of the Meydan FEI Nations Cup, go to www.meydan.ae

Irish Show Jumping Squad for the first leg of the Meydan Nations' Cup Series Friday May 14, 2010 pictured at La Baule, France : L to R: Niall Talbot, Darragh Kenny, Cameron Hanley, Shane Breen and Shane Sweetnam.  ( photo by Erin Cowgill)

IRELAND SIXTH IN SUPER LEAGUE OPENER - MAGNIFICENT BREEN AND CARMENA Z DELIVER ANOTHER TEXT BOOK DOUBLE CLEAR

Ireland's showjumping team finished a credible sixth place at the first round of the Meydan Nations Cup at La Baule in France this evening. (Friday May 14th).
 
The Super League competition features the top ten teams in the world, at eight rounds of action throughout Europe, concluding at the Dublin Horse Show in August.
 
Tipperary's Shane Breen got the Irish off to the perfect start in round one, with a clear round aboard Waterford owned stallion 'Carmena Z, however Kildare' Niall Talbot and Offaly's Darragh Kenny both knocked two fences each to put the pressure on last to go for Ireland Cameron Hanley. The Mayo rider kept his cool delivering a clear round with 'Southwind VDL' to leave Ireland in 5th at the halfway stage.
 
In the second round Shane Breen and Carmena Z again jumped a magnificent clear round but an injury to Niall Talbot's horse meant the Kildare rider had to retire. Offaly's Darragh Kenny and Mayo's Cameron Hanley both knocked a fence each to leave Ireland on 16 faults in 6th place overall.
 
The French team took first place on home soil with Spain finishing as runners up.
 
The next round of the Meydan Nations Cup takes place in Rome in a fortnights time. 

Irish scores

Shane Breen; Carmena Z 0.00/0.00
Niall Talbot; Tequi d'I 8.00/Retd
Darragh Kenny; Obelix 8.00/4.00
Cameron Hanley; Southwind VDL 0.00/4.00

MEYDAN FEI NATIONS CUP™ 2010
La Baule, 13 May 2010

Watch it LIVE on FEI TV on Friday 14th May from 15.15 to 19.10 CEST
Extensive coverage of the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ is available on FEI TV, the official video website of the Fédération Equestre Internationale. Simply check www.feitv.org for live coverage, event reports, highlights programmes and interviews.

THE CHEFS ALL AGREE - THIS IS GOING TO BE THE TOUGHEST SEASON EVER....

The Polish team, complete newcomers to the top-level of nations cup jumping, are drawn first to go in the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series which kicks off at La Baule in France tomorrow afternoon.

And with four of the 10 competing countries due to be relegated at the end of this season all the Chefs d'Equipe were in complete agreement about one thing during this afternoon's draw press conference - this is going to be a very tough season indeed.

The order of go for tomorrow's first leg is as follows: 1, Poland; 2, Sweden; 3, Switzerland; 4, Spain; 5, The Netherlands; 6, Ireland; 7, USA; 8, France; 9, Great Britain; 10, Germany.

50 Years
La Baule celebrates 50 years of international show jumping this year, and the Stade Francois Andre arena in the heart of the elegant French seaside town as always presents a strong challenge for the opening round the eight-leg series.  Not only the riders who will be tested tomorrow however.  A number of new team managers have been appointed this season, and they will be keen to show that their federations have chosen the right man for the job.

Former rider Heinrich Hermann Engemann is guiding the German side.  "This season is going to be difficult because so many teams will be relegated" he pointed out.  "I hope we have a lucky start here, it has not been easy to find a good team but we come with a mixture of young and experienced riders" he added.

America's George Morris described nations cup jumping as "the pinnacle of our sport", and while he recognised the extra pressure created by the culling of four nations at season's end, he warmly welcomed the return to an eight-nation tournament in 2011 when two teams from the Promotional League will join the best six from the 2010 Meydan FEI series.

Positive Mood
The French are the defending champions, and Chef d'Equipe Laurent Elias was in positive mood.  "Our secret last season was that we worked really well together as a team, and I hope we can do the same this year" he said.  It was Switzerland who took the honours at La Baule last May, and Swiss Chef d'Equipe Rolf Grass said that, like the German team manager, he has brought "a mixed side that I hope will do well".

Robert Splaine said that his Irish riders made a good start to 2010 when finishing third in the nations cup at Wellington in Florida and then winning at Lummen in Belgium a week ago.  "I've used early shows to see if some horses were ready to step up" he said, and Shane Breen's brilliant double-clear in the team event and victory in the Grand Prix at Lummen has earned him a starting spot.  Splaine said he needs to keep some of his top combinations fresh for the challenge of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games later in the year however as Ireland will be looking for Olympic qualification in Kentucky - "it's not going to be easy to stay in the Meydan series, but we will be doing as good a job as we possibly can" he insisted.

A Happy Chap
The Netherlands' Rob Ehrens described himself as "a happy chap!".  His planning is all in place, he knows its going to be a difficult year as the Dutch will be defending their world championship team title in Kentucky - "we are looking at a tough few months ahead and I hope we survive, but we've timed everything to be ready for a good result at La Baule and now we will have to wait and see" he added.

Dutch-born Rob Hoekstra replaces long-time British Chef d'Equipe Derek Ricketts this season.  He rode for The Netherlands as a junior and for Great Britain as a senior rider and is a former Hickstead Derby champion, heading the line-up with Lionel in the prestigious event in 1999.  He has been living in England for 30 years and is really looking forward to guiding the British side into the future.  "We have a slight advantage" he admitted today, "because we don't have to qualify for the London Olympic Games in 2012" and he said one of his main priorities in his new role is "to give our younger generation the opportunity to come through".

Staying Upbeat
Austrian-born Polish Chef d'Equipe Rudiger Wassibauer probably has the hardest job of all over the next 12 weeks as the series moves on to Rome (ITA), St Gallen (SUI), Rotterdam (NED), Falsterbo (SWE), Aachen (GER), Hickstead (GBR) and finally to Dublin (IRE), but he's staying upbeat about it.  "Just to be here is a great success for us, although we expect to have a short life in this league of competition" he admitted.  "I'm optimistic but realistic - I see our participation in the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ as a fantastic opportunity for our young people and for the sport of show jumping in Poland".

Spain's Marco Fuste has greater hopes for his side which also joins the top level sport for the first time tomorrow.  "We are looking forward to a great year during which we will make the sport in our country bigger and we will continue to progress as a team.  It's a big step for us but we are going to fight to stay in the series - I promise you, we will put up a very good fight!" he said.  And Sweden's new Chef d'Equipe, Gosta Asker, who was appointed last January, also said with determination that his side will be giving it everything they've got.

Don't miss a beat - you can watch the first leg of the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ LIVE on FEI TV tomorrow - the action begins at 15.15 local time, and its going to be a thriller all the way....   

For further details on the first leg of the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ go to website www.labaule-cheval.com

Facts and Figures:
CSIO La Baule celebrates 50 years of official show jumping in 2010
The show is staged at the Stade Francois Andre which was donated to the town of La Baule in 1930 by Francois Andre whose family created the Lucien Barriere chain of luxurious French hotels
The first unofficial show took place that year
In 2004 the show organisers undertook an extensive renovation of the stadium
196 new stables have been built in recent years and there are also 77 older permanent boxes 
Once again, Frenchman Frederic Cottier is course-designer at the 2010 fixture

MEYDAN FEI NATIONS CUP™
A Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ event is organised as a five-star Nations Cup, i.e. a competition in which official teams representing nations compare their merit. At each event the teams gain points according to their placing. At the end of the 2010 season the team with the highest points wins the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ and the four teams with the lowest points are relegated to the FEI Nations Cup series (Promotional League). Following the Promotional League Final, the two best placed teams from that series join the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ for 2011.

The World’s Top 10 Teams: France, the USA, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, The Netherlands, Sweden, Great Britain, Spain and Poland.

The World’s Best Eight Venues:
La Baule (FRA), Friday 14 May; Rome (ITA), Friday 28 May; St. Gallen (SUI), Friday 4 June; Rotterdam (Ned), Friday 18 June; Falsterbo (SWE), Friday 9 July; Aachen (GER), Thursday 15 July; Hickstead (GBR), Friday 30 July; Dublin (IRL), Friday 6 August.

The complete rules, latest news, results, standings and photos are on www.meydanfeinationscup.org

To learn more about the FEI go to www.fei.org

To learn more about Meydan, the title sponsor of the Meydan FEI Nations Cup, go to www.meydan.ae

MEYDAN FEI NATIONS CUP™ 2010

Watch it LIVE on FEI TV:
Extensive coverage of the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ is available on FEI TV, the official video website of the Fédération Equestre Internationale. Simply check www.feitv.org for live coverage, event reports, highlights programmes and interviews.

CUTTING-EDGE SPORT IN THE 2010 MEYDAN FEI NATIONS CUP™ SERIES

As the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series gets underway in La Baule, France next week there could hardly be a more cutting-edge to this century-old sporting series.  For the second consecutive season a total of 10 countries will do battle, but the competition will be more ferocious than ever because four will be relegated following the final leg in Dublin, Ireland in early August in order to re-create an eight-nation tournament in 2011. 

The French come out this season as defending champions, but they know only too well just how difficult the forthcoming battle will be.  They dominated the early years of the highly-popular Samsung Super League which preceded Meydan's arrival, but were then relegated at the end of 2006 and were forced to face the long climb back to the top of the game.  They made a spirited return to take the inaugural 2009 Meydan FEI title under the quiet guidance of Chef d'Equipe Laurent Elias, but their story underscores the thin line between success and failure in this super-tough team sport. 

The ability to pull together, especially when things are not going according to plan, plays a major role in the story of Nations Cup jumping.  It is a test of grit and determination as well as a demonstration of horsemanship, sportsmanship and national pride.  The heady mix of all those elements creates a supremely challenging environment for both horse and rider.

The Greatest Challenge
The greatest challenge of all this season may be faced by the teams from Poland and Spain, who have emerged from the 2009 Promotional League to take their place amongst the best of the best.  The Spanish were highly impressive at the Promotional League final in Barcelona last September, but the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series offers sport at a considerably higher level, and both of the new nations must raise their game if they are to have any chance of staying in the top rank. 

Consistent results from the outset are key to remaining in the elite series.  In previous years one bad result could often be offset by better performances elsewhere, but with four teams under threat, this time around the pressure will be intense from the very start.  The promotional/relegation system, first introduced in 2003, is relentlessly unforgiving.

The Full Line-up
The full line-up of teams for 2010 is France, the USA, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, The Netherlands, Sweden, Great Britain, Poland and Spain, and the host country is clearly taking the opening round in La Baule very seriously indeed.  The star-studded longlist of French riders includes reigning European Champion Kevin Staut, horseman par excellence Michel Robert and his talented pupil Penelope Leprevost, who propelled herself onto centre stage when clinching victory in the Rotterdam leg of the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ last summer before jumping double-clear with Jubilee d'Ouilly to help seal yet another great French win in Aachen two weeks later.

The USA finished a close second at the end of last season, having recorded back-to-back wins in Rome (ITA) and St Gallen (SUI) and team manager, George Morris, has huge strength in depth in his side again this year.  The Americans were in sensational form at the recent Rolex FEI World Cup™ Jumping final in Geneva, and 1984 World Cup champion Mario Deslauriers brings his stunning stallion Urico with which he finished in sixth place.  Hillary Dobbs, aged just 22 and riding the diminutive Quincy B, finished 19th at the Geneva final, while Richard Spooner and Cristallo slotted into 16th. With double Olympic team gold medalists Beezie Madden and McLain Ward also on call, the US challenge is a powerful one.

A Force to be Reckoned With
Germany sends out Philipp Weishaupt, Lars Nieberg and Alois Pollmannn-Schweckhorst along with Alexander Hufenstuhl and Rebecca Golasch while the Swiss look a force to be reckoned with as World No. 1 Pius Schwizer is joined by Steve Guerdat, Hansueli Sprunger and Theo and Werner Muff.  Shane Breen and Cameron Hanley lead the Irish attack along with US-based Shane Sweetnam, who produced consistently good results in this series last year.  And they are joined by Swiss-based Niall Talbot and 22–year-old Darragh Kenny, who has been kicking up a storm on the US circuit since basing himself with Missy Clarke and John Brennan in Vermont last season.

The Dutch squad includes Nathalie van der Mei, Piet Raijmakers Jnr., Gerco Schroder, Harrie Smolders and Vincent Voorn, while Sweden sends out Malin Baryard-Johnsson, Helena Lundback, Svante Johansson, Jens Fredricson and Alexander Zetterman.  The Swedes have endured fluctuating fortunes at top Nations Cup level in recent years, but their instinct for survival and dogged determination has served them well.  They finished second to the Swiss at La Baule last May when Johansson produced a particularly spirited performance from Saint Amour.

Fascinating
The British representatives include the 1995 individual European champion Peter Charles, Michael Whitaker, Mark Armstrong, Scott Brash and David McPherson.  It will be fascinating to see how the Polish squad of Jan Chrzanowski, Aleksandra Lusina, Andrzej Lemanski, Tomasz Klein and Marek Lewicki fare at the French opener, but they finished third at the Promotional League final in Barcelona last September and, when offered the opportunity to up their game to the next level, they welcomed it with open arms. 

The Spanish were easy winners that day, their result boosted by a classy double-clear from Pilar Lucrecia Cordon and her lovely horse Herald and backed up by rock-solid rides from Sergio Alvarez Moya and the veteran Rutherford Latham.  They looked ready to make the step up, and the Spanish team in La Baule next week will also include Jesus Garmendia Echevarria and Julio Arias Cueva.

Second Century
The sport of Nations Cup jumping moves into its second century in 2010 with all of its traditional style and enthusiasm still perfectly intact.  Over the eight legs of the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series, battles will be fought in the prestigious arenas of La Baule, Rome, St Gallen, Rotterdam, Falsterbo, Aachen, Hickstead and finally in Dublin before the 2010 title is decided in early August.  With the support of Meydan, the name behind Dubai's iconic racecourse, we can eagerly anticipate another 12 thrilling weeks of competition during which national esteem and equestrian excellence will be celebrated in time-honoured fashion - by riders on horse-back who want to do their country proud.

For further details on the first leg of the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ go to website www.labaule-cheval.com

Facts and Figures
101 years of team competition - the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series brings the sport of Nations Cup jumping into its second century
10 top nations - France, the USA, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, The Netherlands, Sweden, Great Britain, Spain and Poland
8 competitions at 8 world-class venues - La Baule in France, Rome in Italy, St Gallen in Switzerland, Rotterdam in The Netherlands, Falsterbo in Sweden, Aachen in Germany, Hickstead in Great Britain and Dublin in Ireland.
4 riders per team
2 rounds of jumping - and possibly a third-round jump-off against the clock if teams are tied at the end of the second round.
2 new nations for 2010 - Spain and Poland - who emerged from the 2009 Promotional League.
1 title-holder - the French are the defending champions and they are strong at the moment - can they do it again?

MEYDAN FEI NATIONS CUP™
A Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ event is organised as a five-star Nations Cup, i.e. a competition in which official teams representing nations compare their merit. At each event the teams gain points according to their placing. At the end of the 2010 season the team with the highest points wins the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ and the four teams with the lowest points are relegated to the FEI Nations Cup series (Promotional League). Following the Promotional League Final, the two best placed teams from that series join the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ for 2011.

The World’s Top 10 Teams: France, the USA, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, The Netherlands, Sweden, Great Britain, Spain and Poland.

The World’s Best Eight Venues:
La Baule (FRA), Friday 14 May; Rome (ITA), Friday 28 May; St. Gallen (SUI), Friday 4 June; Rotterdam (Ned), Friday 18 June; Falsterbo (SWE), Friday 9 July; Aachen (GER), Thursday 15 July; Hickstead (GBR), Friday 30 July; Dublin (IRL), Friday 6 August.

The complete rules, latest news, results, standings and photos are on www.meydanfeinationscup.org

To learn more about the FEI go to www.fei.org

To learn more about Meydan, the title sponsor of the Meydan FEI Nations Cup, go to www.meydan.ae