last updated on June 23, 2009 12:28

In a key team event before European Championship selection British riders took on the best of the Dutch to finish in second place in the Nations Cup at CDIO Rotterdam, Holland, 18-21 June 2009. A competitive Danish team came in third.

The grand prix team competition saw Emma Hindle attain the best British score with her Olympic partner Lancet on 72.46% for individual fourth while Carl Hester riding Leibling II and Fiona Bigwood riding Wie Atlantico rode into eighth and ninth position achieving scores of 67.27% and 66.93% respectively. Jane Gregory and Lucky Star finished in 11th place with 66.17%

“This is another good result for the team despite not fielding some of our biggest hitters here today” commented team captain Richard Davison “We were second here last year and also runner up in the Saumur Nations Cup in May this year. Achievements like these really help to put us on a competitive footing behind the Dutch and German teams and instil confidence coming up to the Europeans.”

“Emma rode an excellent test and though Jane and Carl showed some good work there were small areas of their tests that pulled the marks down so that the final percentages didn’t fully reflect the overall quality. Both will be looking to improve on that. Fiona’s is a new partnership rapidly coming together, judging by these and her 68% in Lingen I’m confident they will be a 70% plus combination in the near future.”

As Davison looks forward to the next team show at Aachen in a couple of week’s time he is confident that the results here put the British team in a very good position to move forward.

Pictured above: Fiona Bigwood and Wie Atlantico and Carl Hester and Liebling II enjoy their lap of honour. Photo courtesy of Lewis Harding

>> Full results are available here
>> The Alltech FEI European Championships take place on 25th - 30th August
>> The British team for the Europeans will be announced on Friday 14th August