United States Emerges Victorious in $770,000 Longines League of Nations™ Ocala at World Equestrian Center – Ocala
The United States team of Lillie Keenan, Laura Kraut, Aaron Vale, and McLain Ward emerged victorious on home soil in the $770,000 Longines League of Nations™ Ocala CSIO5*-LLN on Saturday evening, March 22, at World Equestrian Center – Ocala (WEC) in Ocala, FL.
A total of 10 teams competed in the opening round of the Longines League of Nations™ Ocala, with the top eight returning for the second round in the evening with only three riders each and no drop score.
At the halfway stage, the United States held the lead with a perfect score of zero faults while Germany was second with one time fault. Ireland, the defending champions, were tied for third with Great Britain on eight faults, while Belgium counted nine. France, Italy, and Sweden all made the cut for the second round but an uncharacteristic performance from The Netherlands left the team in ninth position on 20 faults. Switzerland was out of the running early when its first two riders, Edouard Schmitz and Janika Sprunger, were eliminated, thereby eliminating the entire team.
Coming back for the second round under the lights in front of a packed WEC Grand Arena crowd, the pressure on each team was immense. Without the safety net of a drop score, every fault counted over the course set by Ireland’s Alan Wade. By the third and final rider rotation, a battle was shaping up between Germany and the U.S. Lead-off riders Christian Kukuk and Keenan had both produced double clear rounds for their respective countries, while Andre Thieme and Kraut had each incurred four faults, keeping them neck and neck.
Only one fault separated the show jumping powerhouses as their final riders entered the arena. Sophie Hinners (GER) impressed by producing another clear, one of only four on the night, with Iron Dames Singclair to keep the pressure on the U.S. Riding in the anchor position, as he has done on so many occasions, Ward delivered another clear round for the home side to clinch victory.
The United States won with a total of four faults, while Germany settled for second with five. Belgium completed the podium with 13 faults, while the Irish, also on 13 faults, placed fourth when its three riders clocked in with a slower combined time. France finished fifth with 16 faults; Great Britain sixth with 16 faults in a slower combined time; Italy seventh with 25 faults; and Sweden ended with a total of 31 faults for eighth place.
“I’ve said it many times before: I love the format that the League of Nations has, specifically for the excitement,” said long-time U.S. team chef d’equipe Robert Ridland. “Of course, it’s always nice to be on the right end of the excitement, and it was great that Laura added to that just to make sure McLain had some real pressure on him going out there, but how things can change in that second round. We have a veteran team here and these are horses that have done it before. There’s a reason why we picked the team we have here. It’s our home nations’ cup, and we had some incredible competition that we had to beat. It doesn’t get any better than that.”
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