Finishing on a final score of zero, the team from Great Britain consisting of Amanda Derbyshire, Ben Maher, Emily Mason, Emily Moffitt, and Chef d’Equipe Di Lampard won the $150,000 Nations Cup CSIO4*, presented by U.S. Trust & Bank of America Merrill Lynch on Saturday, March 3, during week eight of the 2018 Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF). The six teams that returned for the second round in order from most faults to least were Chile, Venezuela, Ireland, Brazil, Mexico, and Great Britain. The winning nation was represented by Derbyshire on Luibanta BH, owned by Gochman Sport Horses LLC, Maher on Jane Forbes Clark’s Tic Tac, Mason riding Explosion W for Poden Farms, and Moffitt on another Poden Farms-owned mount, Hilfiger van de Olmenhoeve. Great Britain led in the first round with a zero fault total after Derbyshire, Mason, and Maher went clear. Moffitt was the drop score with 13 faults. In round two, Moffitt came back strong with a clear round, and Mason and Maher also contributed clears. Derbyshire was the drop score with eight faults. It all came down to anchor rider Maher, the 2012 London Olympic Games team gold medalist, to produce the win for Great Britain, as Ireland was waiting with five total faults after three clear trips in the second round. Maher delivered on Tic Tac, a 15-year-old Belgian Sport Horse by Clinton x Panama du Seigneur, showing in its first time with Maher at the Winter Equestrian Festival. It was a satisfying return to the top of the podium for the rider. “We had a long talk before the weekend that we needed Great Britain to get off to a good start,” he said. “We’ve been losing for too long and I think that for any rider or any team, you can’t just go on a run of bad luck or bad results and all of a sudden come out and win a championship, so I think this year we have to start strong as a country, as a team, within the riders that we have and get off to a positive start. Now we can take this result back to Europe with us for the Super League division and look forward to Tryon for the Olympic qualification. Ireland finished second with five faults after double clear rounds from Shane Sweetnam and Paul O’Shea, and a second round clear from Denis Lynch. Their three clear performances in round two led to anchor Cian O’Connor not having to return. Third place went to Mexico on ten faults for team members Eugenio Garza, Mario Onate, Andres Azcarraga, and Nicolas Pizarro.
