NEW Zealand scored their second victory of the FEI Nations Cup Eventing 2014 season with a fine team win in a thrilling and competitive final leg at Boekelo CCIO*** in The Netherlands.

An all-female British team ran the Kiwis close to the wire, coming second by just 1.6 penalties but it wasn’t quite enough to regain their position at the top of the leaderboard.

Britain remained in second place overall, four points behind the series champions Germany, who clinched overall victory despite an unusually off day at Boekelo where France’s Thomas Carlile shone to take the individual honours on Sirocco du Gers.

The British team were in the lead after dressage, with the USA in second place and The Netherlands third, but an exciting day’s cross-country over what Australian team member Paul Tapner described as “the best Sue Benson course I’ve seen” considerably re-arranged the leaderboard.

Ireland finished in fifth place with Nick Turner’s team of Joseph Murphy (Westwinds Hercules), Jonty Evans (Double Dutch), Austin O’Connor (Kilpatrick Knight) and Padraig McCarthy (Simon Porloe), although the latter withdrew before the show jumping.

There were 54 clear rounds from the 85 cross-country starters but the ground was soft and it took until the very last rider on course, Ireland’s Joseph Murphy on the nine-year-old Ramiro B gelding, Westwinds Hercules (ISH), to be the only rider in the competition to finish cross-country on his dressage score, in the optimum time of 10 minutes 30 seconds.

The British achieved four good clear rounds, but time penalties eroded their lead, especially when anchorwoman Laura Collett, third after dressage, added 18 on Grand Manoeuvre, dropping the team to third.

Meanwhile in more good results for Irish horses at Boekelo, British rider Georgie Strang came third in the individuals on the Irish-bred Cooley Business Time. The nine-year-old bay Harlequin du Carel gelding was bought by Cooley Sport horses and Kate Rocher of Dassett Eventing from breeder Brianne Stanley, before being sold to John Newton as a gift to his wife for her birthday in 2011. This is the horse’s first attempt at a CCI*** and he added just 3.2 time to his impressive dressage score of 47.70 to finish third. This has been a highly successful season for the pair which also included a top 10 finish at Blenheim eight and nine-year-old CIC*** class.

Britian’s Oliver Towend also put on a good performance to finish 13th on the Ramiro B gelding Cooley Master Class (ISH) while Liz Halliday and the Cooley sourced Fernhill by Night jumped a double clear to finish 23rd and end the season on a high.

CROSS-COUNTRY THRILLER

A thrilling finish awaited cross-country fans in the CCIO*** team event when the Australians also produced four clears and their faster times pulled them up from sixth to second, with Tapner rising to second place individually on Indian Mill after incurring just 0.4 of a time penalty.

However, bold rounds from New Zealand’s Lucy Jackson on the experienced Willy Do, eventual individual runner-up, and her team mates Tim Price (Bango, 12th) and Boekelo first-timer Jock Paget (Bullet Proof, 29th) gave the Kiwis the slenderest of advantages, with just 0.7 penalties separating the top three teams at the end of cross-country.

The USA, who were down to three riders, dropped out of the reckoning when the dressage leader, Clark Montgomery, had a run-out at the very last fence when Loughan Glen swerved sharply left-handed.

Germany was down to three riders when world champion Sandra Auffarth retired The Blue Frontier during the Dressage. Andreas Dibowski finished ninth on Hans Dampf,but Peter Thomsen had a run-out with Unessa 6 at fence 7 and Andreas Ostholt withdrew Pennsylvania 28 before jumping.

There was no margin for error in the jumping phase for the three top teams and Australia slipped down the order when Tapner had an unfortunate 24-fault round.

The Netherlands produced the best performance, with three clear rounds which elevated the team from sixth to third and Alice Naber-Lozeman, sixth on ACSI Peter Parker, took the Dutch national title.

Suspense was maintained right to the end when Britain pressed New Zealand to the wire thanks to a clear from Gemma Tattersall and Dinky Inky and two four-fault rounds, but Jackson, who had to go clear to clinch the New Zealand win, produced a brilliant round when it mattered.

A total of 15 nations took part in this year’s series. Germany, Britain, and France each contested seven out of nine legs, but Germany’s five consecutive wins at Strzegom, Aachen, Malmo, Montelibretti and Waregem, made them invincible in the final reckoning.

Team results

Boekelo CCIO***

1 New Zealand, 177.2

Lucy Jackson/Willy Do, 49.2; Tim Price/Bango, 58.5; Jock Paget/Bullet Proof, 69.5; (Annabel Wigley/Frog Rock, WD before Jumping)

2 Britain, 178.8

Emilie Chandler/Coopers Law, 57.9; Gemma Tattersall/Dinky Inky, 59.1; Laura Collett/Grand Manoeuvre, 61.8; (Sarah Bullimore/Lilly Corinne, 62.2)

3 The Netherlands, 197.5

Alice Naber-Lozeman/ACIS Peter Parker, 54.5; Tim Lips/Bayro, 60.7; Theo Van De Vendel/Zindane, 82.3; (Raf Kooremans/MC B Vulcano, EL Cross Country)

4 Australia, 197.5

Christopher Burton/Haruzac, 59.6; Sam Griffiths/Favorit Z, 67.3; Paul Tapner/Indian Mill, 70;6; (Kevin McNab/Casperelli, 84.2)

5 Ireland, 203.7

Joseph Murphy/Westwinds Hercules, 65.0; Jonty Evans/Double Dutch, 65.6; Austin O’Connor/Kilpatrick Knight, 73.1; (Padraig McCarthy/Simon Porloe WD before jumping)