Disappointing Finish for Canada at CSIO 4* Coapexpan FEI Furusiyya Nations' Cup

Team USA won the third leg of the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping 2015 series at the Coapexpan Equestrian Club in Xalapa, Mexico today, where Team Mexico I put up a brilliant performance to finish a close second and Mexico II lined up third ahead of Canada in fourth place.
 
There were two qualification spots for the Furusiyya 2015 Final on offer to countries in the North America, Central America and Caribbean League. Following today’s thrilling competition, the leaderboard for the region shows USA in pole position on 200 points with Mexico and Canada tied on 170 points each. According to the rules, the tie is broken by taking clear rounds into account. Mexico has produced four clears over the two legs in this League, while Canada has posted three. As the CSIO Alberta (CAN) has been cancelled, the final standings show that Mexico will now join the USA in Barcelona, Spain in September.

Canada collected 17 faults in the first round and never recovered, adding 20 more second time out to complete on a total of 37.

Kicking things off for Canada in the lead position was Erynn Ballard of Tottenham, Ont. aboard Appy Cara, a 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by Angelstone Partners. They completed Brazilian FEI level 4 course designer, Guilherme Jorge's track under the 81 second time allowed, but incurred four jumping faults. The duo returned to the second round to have just one rail down and a foot in the water for eight faults.

Second into the ring was Kara Chad of Calgary, Alta. who rode Alberto II, a 12-year-old Holsteiner gelding owned by Stone Ridge Farms LLC, to an eight fault performance in both round one and round two.

Elizabeth Gingras of Edmonton, Alta. followed with Zilversprings, an 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by B Gingras Equestrian Ltd. A time of 83.18 seconds put them just over the time allowed for one time fault and four jumping faults in round one. A single rail in round two put their score at four faults.

Closing out Team Canada was Jonathon Millar of Perth, Ont., paired with Calvin Klein, Millar Brooke Farm's 11-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding. After incurring 16 faults in the opening round, they completed the second round with eight faults.

Result:
1. USA 8 faults: Kismet 50 (Candice King) 4/5, VDL Wizard (Callan Solem) 4/0, Casall (Ali Wolff) 0/0, Nice de Prissey (Brianne Goutal) 0/4.
2. Mexico I, 12 faults: Colaski (Nicolas Pizarro Suarez) 0/4, Jumex Sport Archimdes (Sofia Larrea) 4/0, Wick I (Manuel Rodriguez) 12/4, Aristotelis (Antonia Chedraui) 4/0.
3. Mexico II, 35 faults: Cartier (Salvador Onate) 4/4, Bartender (Alejandro Mills) 4/4, Luminoso LS (Gonzalo Azcarraga) 0/19, Careyes (Patricio Pasquel) 8/20.
4. Canada 37 faults: Appy Cara (Erynn Ballard) 4/8, Alberto II (Kara Chad) 8/8, Zilversprings (Elisabeth Gingras) 5/4, Calvin Klein (Jonathon Millar) 16/8.

Facts and Figures:
 
4 teams lined out at the third leg of the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping 2015 series which took place at Coapexpan Equestrian Club in Xalapa, Mexico.
 
Today’s competition was the second and final qualifying leg for the North and Central America and Caribbean region.

Photo: Anwar Esquivel

 

A new young American star emerged this afternoon, with a brilliant performance from 25-year-old Ali Wolff and her 10-year-old gelding Casall who produced the only double-clear performance of the day.