For the second year running, Barcelona has played host to the FEI Furusiyya Nations Cup Finals. Fourteen teams qualified for the Finals with France hoping to retain their title from last year. Today the top eight teams would go onto qualify for Saturdays Final. Italian rider Luca Maria Moneta was the first rider to tackle this difficult course, set by Santiago Varela, jumping a fantastic clear round with Neptune Brecourt. The course seemed very jump-able, but many top riders including McLain Ward, Kent Farrington and double World Champion Jeroen Dubbledam, fell victim to its tricky related distances. Defending champions France fell out of the competition early by racking up 24 faults to to finish in joint 11th place with Australia. The strongest nation of the day were none other than reigning World Champions The Netherlands. Jeroen Dubbeldam and his WEG mount Zenith SFN did collect eight faults, but his team mates Jur Vrieling, Maikel van der Vleuten and Gerco Schroder all jumped clear to land them on the top spot. The eight countries that have qualified for Saturdays Final are : The Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Italy, Brazil and Great Britain. The six teams that will compete in tomorrow's Challenge Cup are : USA, Spain, Australia, France, Qatar and Venezuela. Full Results
