VICTORY in the second leg of the Longines FEI Nations Cup at La Baule went to the Brazilian team of Luiz Felipe de Azevedo Filho (Chaccomo), Felipe Amaral (Germanico T), Yuri Mansur (Vitiki) and Pedro Veniss (Quabri De L Isle), when finishing on a score of seven. Veniss and the striking chesnut stallion Quabri De L Isle delivered a cool clear under pressure to clinch the victory – an historic first Nations Cup win for the Brazilian team in its 12-year history at the five-star French show.

The Netherlands took second (eight faults), Switzerland was third (nine faults), Spain finished fourth, and Germany took fifth.

Rodrigo Pessoa’s team put in a solid performance to finish sixth over a tricky, technical course and, as a result, remain in second place on the Longines FEI Nations Cup league table, earning 55 points to sit comfortably behind the leaders Switzerland.

The Irish team were in joint fourth at the halfway stage on five faults. Mark McAuley and Utchan De Belheme kept all the poles in place in the opening round as did Cameron Hanley and Quirex who finished on just a single time fault. Paul O’Shea and Skara Glen’s Machu Picchu finished with four faults, while Cork’s Shane Sweetnam and Indra Van De Oude Heihoef were the discard score with eight faults.

Just one fence separated the top six teams heading into the second round. Sweetnam and Indra Van De Oude Heihoef repeated their first round performance, while McAuley and Utchan De Belheme had an unlucky four faults. Two fences down for O’Shea and Skara Glen’s Machu Picchu meant that Ireland had to count one of their eight-fault rounds. A crucial clear from Hanley on the nine-year-old Quirex ensured Ireland remained on a 17-fault total.

GRAND PRIX

Cork’s Shane Sweetnam put in an impressive performance when finishing fourth in the five-star Longines Grand Prix last Saturday. Riding the 12-year-old stallion Chaqui Z, he was one of only seven combinations to proceed to the jump-off. Fourth to go against the clock, they were on target for a clear, but as final fence fell and crossing the line in 39.07 seconds, their hopes of a win were dashed. Despite the four faults, the pair proved to be the fastest of the four-fault scores in the second round to leave them in fourth overall.

French rider Patrice Delaveau took the top prize of almost €50,000 with Aquila HDC, clear in 38.58. America’s Kent Farrington continued his comeback from a broken leg to finish second with Gazelle, while Belgium’s Gudrun Patteet took third place with Sea Coast Just The Music.

Sweetnam also claimed fifth place in the 1.50m when he delivered a clear with Don’t Touch Du Bois, in a time of 71.01. Taking the win was French rider Simon Delestre and Sultan De Beaufour, who were clear in 69.09.

Cameron Hanley was also in the ribbons when taking fifth in the 1.50m jump-off class. Riding his own 13-year-old gelding Aiyetoro, he finished with one fence down in the jump-off.

Sweden’s Peder Fredricson and Hansson produced the only double clear of the competition to take the victory. In second place, French rider Alexandra Paillot and Tonio La Goutelle was fastest of the four-faulters in 47.12, ahead of March Ehning and Calanda 42, who also had a pole on the floor in a time of 47.56.