Great Britain win the Longines EEF Series Gorla!

A young British team effortlessly won the Longines EEF Series Gorla held at the Equieffe Equestrian Centre (Italy).

The heat did not affect the British Team’s brilliant performances with Joe Whitaker riding Hulahupe JR (0/4) Under 25 Oliver Fletcher on Hello William (0/0), Joe Fernyhough on Calcourt Particle (0/0) and Amy Inglis riding Wishes (0/0) who finished with no penalties at all.

After a first-round that saw Switzerland, France and Great Britain on zero faults, only the British managed to do the same in round two in which chef de piste Andrea Colombo had raised four jumps to the maximum height allowed of 1.50m.

As far as winning the Nations Cup was concerned, the decisive rounds proved to be the double clear rounds ridden by 19-year-old Oliver Fletcher, 25-year-old Amy Inglis and 21-year-old Joe Fernyhough who was at his first Nations Cup as a senior rider. The three youngsters led by chef d’equipe Tony Newbery did not allow themselves to be intimidated by the competition, their opponents or the pressure and produced a fantastic team result.

Behind Great Britain, second and third place went to France and Switzerland, both on a total of 8 faults, the same score as Italy, Belgium and Greece ranked according to total time. Spain finished seventh (20 faults).

The CSIO3* in Gorla Minore marked the end of the regional qualifiers of the Longines EEF Series, with Italy and Greece securing their places for the decisive semi-final rounds ahead of the Warsaw (POL) final on September 8-11.

The semi-final in Deauville will be held next weekend (June 23-26) with Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden competing.

The second semi-final will be held in Budapest (June 30 – July 3) with Austria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherland and Switzerland battling for places in the final.
 
QUOTES: Team Great Britain
Chef d’Equipe Tony Newbery: “I think this EEF Series is a fantastic idea to bring the youth up, to get them ready hopefully for the Division 1. I think the height of the courses is perfect and a very good level to set. We have another team competing this week and it’s a great series to give the younger riders experience. These riders were with me in the Youth Series as Young Riders and Juniors, so we all know each other very well!“

Joe Fernyhough: “This course was a very testing one too with choices, as between fences one and two, to be made about distances. Mine is a very careful horse and I think you need a good horse and to be riding well. I am very proud of my horse today.”

Oliver Fletcher: “I think it was a quite a difficult and technical course, but there was pressure on the nerves because of riding for one’s country and team also playing a massive part in it. Today luckily we all did well and it paid off! My first two nations cups were terrible which makes today even better!”

Joe Whitaker: “I thought it was a very good course and there were a lot of options but nothing that could hurt the horses. If this was your first Nations Cup there would be technicalities but nothing to affect your horse’s confidence or your own. I thought it was just right”

Amy Inglis: “It all absolutely suited our horses today and I thought it was a nice course although the second round was tough in the heat and none of us are used to seeing the sunshine!  It was tough to come out and do it again in the heat. It’s definitely a perfect step for riders like us who want to go up to the next level.”
     

Further show information:
 
Starting list and results on Longines Timing - click here
Official Show site - click here
Complete Longines EEF Series qualifier points table - download here