In A Coruña today the first round of the FEI European Show Jumping Championships was held. In the Table C, at a height of 1.50m, Santiago Varela had built a challenging course.
Belgium in penultimate and Ireland in last.... with both countries in a neck-and-neck race, it remained exciting until the last combinations in the arena! Reigning Belgian champion, Gilles Thomas came in penultimate with Ermitage Kalone (Catoki). The pair finished with 1.37 points. Everything was thus in the hands of the last combination at the start; Darragh Kenny and the 13-year-old gelding, Eddy Blue (Eldorado vd Zeshoek). In the end, the last combination hit a beam.
Taking first place in the standings was Daniel Coyle with Legacy (Chippendale Z). They were the only combination to clear the course with 0 penalties. Richard Vogel with United Touch S (Untouched) rode the course 0.03 seconds slower than Coyle, finishing second in the standings with a score of 0.01. Completing the top three is Britain's Donald Whitaker in the saddle of Millfield Colette (Cornet Obolensky). With a difference of just under two seconds, they finished in third place with 0.67 points.
Frenchman Julien Epaillard and Donatello D'Auge (Cornet Obolensky) finished just outside the top three in fourth place with 0.89 points. The combination Scott Brash and Hello Folie (Luidam) complete the top five with 1.08 points.
The team standings are in Great Britain's favor for now. Germany is in second, Belgium is in third place for the moment.
