Dublin Nations Cup: Two Double-Zero Rounds for Germany and a Victory for the U.S.
U.S. Show Jumping Team Wins Nations Cup in Dublin; Germany Finishes Fourth
from Dominique Wehrmann 
René Dittmer and Cody—a 2-0 win for Germany today in Dublin.
Photo: Archive, Sportfotos-lafrentz.de In the end, the scoreboard read zero. The U.S. show jumping team won the Nations Cup in Dublin with a perfect score. Karl Cook and Caracole de la Roque paved the way as “pathfinders” in both rounds and were just as flawless as Paris Sellon and Chad Blue PS, who rode after them. Natalie Dean and Mr. Boombastic knocked down a rail in the second round, which served as their discard result. Team manager Robert Ridland had selected the two veterans, Laura Kraut and her 2021 Olympic silver medalist, Baloutinue, as the closing pair. They knocked down a rail in the first round, but in the second round they delivered the decisive clear round that secured the victory.
Hosts in second place
The day had gotten off to a great start for the Irish hosts—Daniel Coyle on Farrel, Jordan Coyle on Chaccolino, and Shane Sweetnam riding Coriaan van Klapscheut Z—all three pairs rode clear rounds, allowing Cian O’Connor to leave his Kentucky TN in the stable for the time being.
The second round started out similarly—the two Coyles crossed the finish line without any knockdowns this time as well. But Shane Sweetnam knocked down a pole. So O’Connor and Kentucky had to go after all. But they, too, had a knockdown.
As a result, Ireland finished with four penalties and took second place.
Time made all the difference
Both Switzerland and Germany had eight penalty points each. But the Swiss had the better overall time, so Otto Becker’s quartet had to let the Swiss take the top spot on the podium.
Janika Sprunger on Orelie (0/8), Romain Duguet on Hunger Games du Champ du Bois (8/4), Barbara Schneider on Canice (4/0), and Steve Guerdat on Iashin Sitte (0/0) made up the Swiss team.
Unfair: Germany had two pairs that went double-clear— René Dittmer on Cody and Jörne Sprehe on Toys. Unfortunately, however, all the faults occurred in the first round. Both André Thieme on Paule S and Daniel Deußer and Pepita van’t Meulenhof knocked down two poles. But in the second round, Paule S jumped just like a Derby winner should. So Pepita didn’t even have to go back into the course.
You can find all the results here.
