The equestrian realm was in for heightened excitement for the week as the persisting Winter Equestrian Festival joined the Nations Cup for a celebration of the sport. With week 8 of WEF taking over Wellington, the show jumping’s most prestigious team challenge chimed in to captivate the audience with a thrilling display. In the process, it was flowers and fireworks for the host nation by the last day.

The Wellington Nations Cup week took off on the 28th of Feb for a CSIO4* showdown. Following days of race to the top and individual brilliance, team USA stood to climb the podium as the last day of the team event announced an end.

US Equestrian celebrates podium finish

Led by Chef d’Equipe Robert Ridland, celebrated equestrian names, inclusive of Karl Cook, Laura Kraut, Zayna Rizvi, and McLain Ward made the roster for Saturday. The team put up a team total of 24 / 202.77 to secure a third-place finish against nine other nations. “The @netjets U.S. Jumping Team steps up to the podium after securing third place🥉 in the $150,000 FEI Jumping Nations Cup CSIO4* in Wellington, Fla.!” the team wrote on Instagram sharing stills from the victory moment.

Laura Kraut took the first charge going 68.4 for round 2 for 4 penalties. Zayna Rizvi led next for 66.13 in round one and 8 penalties while remaining unqualified for the next. While Karl Cook landed 67.47 following the lineup, McLain Ward put up 65.84 and 66.9 for each round. The culminative scores etched a total of 12 points for the team, leading them to a bronze finish.

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On the top of the podium sat Ireland following their 10 / 210.51 excellence. With zero faults in round one, the team reigned dominance from the get-go. It was further followed by Canada going 20 / 204.93. With the team results in place, the spectators have a thrilling individual showdown to turn to for a neat end to the Nation Cup week.

More to look forward to for the enthusiasts

The Nations Cup success will be followed by a $200,000 CSIO4* Grand Prix on Sunday, March 3rd. The qualifying round, $32,000 Adequan CSIO4* for the same was held on Thursday dominated by Britain equestrian fame, Ben Maher. Following along the champion by a second was the USA’s Karl Cook for silver and Charlotte Jacobs of the USA again for a bronze. While Maher stopped the clock at 69.44 seconds for $10,000, Cook recorded 70.38 aboard his 2023 Pan-American Games companion, Caracole de La Roque.

“As you see this week there’s a lot of people that fly in, especially for this week, so to start it like this is a confidence boost,” Maher said. Following along Maher posted 67.42 and 67.39 for just 4 faults by round two. He will wish to keep the momentum up as he heads to Grand Prix at 10 a.m ET on Sunday morning.

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