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| Emilie Martinson and Cabellero jump clear for Denmark. By FEI |
The five-star Spanish fixture was dogged by appalling weather conditions, which led to the transfer of several of the classes from the main arena to the venue's sand ring, and
riders today faced the unusual task of jumping their two Nations Cup rounds over two different courses in two different arenas. But nothing could throw the Danish contingent off their stride and, boldly leading the way at the halfway stage, they stood firm to confidently earn their place in the top-level series next season.
"We are a small country, but this is a young team with some good new horses and we made qualification for the Top-Level series our goal from the start of the year so we are delighted with what we have achieved," said Danish anchor-rider Tina Lund, 29.
The winners finished with 12 faults, while Spain and Canada each completed with 16 and were only separated by the clock, the host country slotting into runner-up spot. Italy was fourth ahead of Norway in fifth, Austria in sixth, Finland in seventh and Hungary in eighth place.
Torrential rain led to the postponement of Friday night's Grand Prix, which was eventually staged in the sand ring on Saturday, originally put in place as the training area for the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992.
By then, however, it was clear that, despite every effort, the main grass ring would not stand up to two rounds of competition today, so the first round took place on sand before riders moved onto the grass for the closing stages in front of a capacity crowd.
There were eight first-round clears. Both Denmark and Norway had two apiece. However, it was the Danes who held the advantage with a four-fault score line going into round two after clean runs from pathfinder Andreas Schou (Uno'S Safier) and Tina Lund (Zamiro), and only single errors from Emilie Martinsen (Caballero) and Thomas Sandgaard (Rubber Ball).
The Norwegians were hampered by a 12-fault result from their final rider Stein Endresen (Hoyo de Monterey) meaning Geir Gulliksen's eight faults with L'Espoir had to be included. Norway was, however, lying joint-second with Canada, Italy and Spain with just those eight faults as round two got underway.
The final battle was played out between the Spanish, Canadians and Danes after Norway plummeted down the order when adding 16 more to their tally and the Italians also lost their grip by adding 12.
A clear from the final Spanish partnership of Jesus Garmendia and Moon Mail secured their total at 16, but Spain was not competing today for a place in next year's elite series. The host nation was competing only for the honour and glory, as it was relegated from the Meydan FEI Nations Cup series last August and must now attempt to re-qualify through the 2010/2011 FEI Promotional League Series.
Canada's Jenna Thompson and Zeke had produced one of those important first-round clears, but left two on the floor over the second-round grass track as did Denmark's pathfinders Schou and Uno'S Safier. A clear round produced by the Canadian partnership of Yann Candele and Atlete van'T Heike was mirrored by Denmark's Emilie Martinsen and Caballero and the status quo remained.
Next in for Canada was Keean White with Celena Z who faulted only at the first fence, which proved influential in the closing round. But when Thomas Sandgaard and Rubber Ball jumped clear for Denmark, all the pressure was on the final Canadian duo of Ian Millar and Star Power.
A clear from the 63-year-old master would ensure his country would finish on a score of 12 and force Lund to return to the ring to decide the end result. However, the living legend's nine-year-old gelding clipped the vertical at fence seven on to bring Canada's total to 16, so Lund's contribution was not required as the Danish total stood at just 12.
"Coming from the sand to the grass was difficult for a lot of the horses and some of them jumped a bit spooky in the second round," said Tina Lund.
Emilie Martinsen had been most impressive with her Champion du Lys 10-year-old stallion Caballero on only her second Nations Cup outing, picking up just four faults over the two rounds.
"She has just been crowned Danish champion and this is such a good horse. I'm really pleased for her" said Tina Lund. "Andreas's stalion is only young, too, and he was fantastic, while Thomas [Sandgaard] also did a great job. And my own mare, Zamiro; well I can always rely on her."
Tina also paid tribute to Danish chef d'equipe Achaz Von Buchwald.
"He has been our chef now for about five years and he has done a lot for the team," she said. "For 10 years before that we had not won a Nations Cup, but now we are winning a lot and we owe him a great deal for bringing us back to our best."
The Danish team will need to be at their best to cope with life in the 2011 Meydan FEI Nations Cup series in which they will lock horns with Belgium, France, the USA, Great Britain, Ireland, Germany and The Netherlands. But Tina said she and her team-mates are eagerly anticipating the challenge.
"We want to be up there with the top nations and now we have earned our place," she said. "We know it won't be easy, but we are looking forward to it and we will be giving it everything we've got."
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