ROME, Italy--The U.S. finished seventh in the Nations Cup in Rome on Friday, May 29 in a competition won by Mexico after a jump-off between Mexico and Germany.

Laura Kraut on Dorado 212 - a file photo from a previous competitionThe U.S. team of Natalie Dean on Pedro van de Barlebuis, Marilyn Little on La Contessa, Callie Schott on Garant and Laura Kraut on Dorado 212 was tied for second on four faults after round one, with Little and Kraut having gone clean, Dean having four faults and Schott the discard with eight faults.

But in round two, Schott had 22 faults, Dean had eight faults and Little and Kraut each had four faults to finish seventh on 20 faults.

"We had a good showing in round one, tied for second, but it all fell apart in round two", said chef d'equipe Robert Ridland. "But we have to remember that we're in these Nations Cup competitions to choose our team for the World Championships from the 10 on the short list."

Ridland pointed out that some of the horses on the short list were not accustomed to competing in a two round competitions or to competing on grass, and that the reason for putting those on the short list in these Nation Cups was to see how they fared under those conditions.

 

AFTER ROUND one, Mexico led on zero faults, Ireland,, Germany, Great Britain and the U.S. were tied with four faults, Italy and Belgium were tied with eight and Brazil had 12 faults.

France and Sweden, with 16 faults, didn't make the second round.

After round two, Germany and Mexico were tied with four faults apiece,, Great Britain was third on eight faults, Italy was fourth on 12 faults, Belgium was fifth on 16 faults, Brazil, also with 16 faults but a slower aggregate time, was sixth, the U.S. was seventh with 20 faults and Ireland was eighth on 28 faults.

In a tie for the win, each nation chooses one rider to compete for the win.

For Germany, Richie Vogel on Gangster Montdesir went first and had a very fast time but had the last fence down. 

For Mexico, Patricio Pasquel on Chakkaloup P.S. went slowly to ensure a clean round and did go clean to win for the Mexican team of  Carlos Hank Guerreiro on H5 Shaq Attack (0/0), Pasquel  (0/4-0), Andres Azcarraga on Contendros 2 (0/12) and Fernando Martinez Sommer con Joep (0/0). 

So Pasquel led his team to a second historic victory at Piazza di Siena, following the only other one achieved way back in 1948.

That was also the year in which three of the winning pairs from Rome — Humberto Mariles on Arete, Rubén Uriza on Hautey, and Alberto Ramos on Chihuahua — won Olympic gold in both the individual and team events.

With today’s victory, Mexico repeated a success last achieved way back in 1948.

Everyone in the Mexican team was thrilled, starting with its chef d’equipe, Mark Laskin from Canada.

"I'm not just satisfied – I'm over the moon," said Lasskin. "I usually look at my team without making comparisons, and today’s performance gives us reason to be optimistic. Right up until the final moments of the class we focused solely on ourselves. We knew that in a competition like this, anything could happen. I must admit, though, that competing against the Germans undoubtedly spurred us on to perform even better. As a coach, I do trust my team a lot. I know I can count on them every day, and today they proved that they can perform well. I expect the same commitment from them for the World Championships in Aachen, where we’ll be heading with high hopes”..