United States Equestrian Team Wins Samsung Super League Title at Barcelona, Spain

PHOTO CREDIT: The United States Samsung Super League Championship team. Chef George Morris, McLain Ward, Lauren Hough, Laura Kraut and Jeffery Welles. Photo by Ken Braddick- HorseSport USA

BARCELONA, Spain, Sept. 19 - The United States Equestrian Team won the world’s top show jumping team series, the Samsung Super League, with a strong second place finish on Sunday in Barcelona, Spain.

The U.S. team won two of the eight competitions in only their second year of Super League competition, and claimed the cash prize of $127,000 for the championship team.

The U.S. team that clinched the title consisted of Jeffery Welles of Ridgefield, Conn. on Kimmel Yeager Equine’s Armani, Laura Kraut of Oconomowoc, Wis. on Anthem, owned by the Summit Syndicate, McLain Ward of Brewster, N.Y. on Double H Farm’s Oasis, and Lauren Hough of Wellington, Fla. on Casadora, owned by the Casadora Group.

Kraut rode in seven of the competitions, including the two victories at La Baule, France, and at Aachen, Germany, while Ward and Welles competed in two events and Hough only in the finals at Barcelona.

George Morris, who took over as the U.S. team Chef d’ Equipe on May 1 when the first Super League event was held this year, was ecstatic with the result saying it should invigorate show jumping at all levels in the United States after a generally lackluster record in the past 20 years.

Attendance was estimated at 7,000 people for the final at the Real Club de Polo, a beautiful sports facility in the heart of Barcelona. The weather was sunny and warm on Sunday after two days of heavy rain.

The Barcelona Super League event was won by the Netherlands, which had been in the cellar after seven events. Instead, Belgium will be dropped from the Super League and its place taken by the winner of the broader-based Nations Cup series that is presently led by Sweden.

Germany and Britain were the two nations considered most likely to challenge the United States for the title. But Germany finished fourth and Britain sixth.

Kraut, the team anchor on Sunday, rode her long time partner Anthem for the first time in the series. She rode the last round with no rails knocked down to cement the championship for the United States.

“We were really excited about this week,” she said. “We never expected to win. All year, we weren’t thinking of winning the whole thing but hoped we could come to this final with its double points and assure ourselves of staying in the Super League for 2006. After we won at Aachen and went to the top of the leader board we thought, what a bummer that Barcelona has double points. Some other team could overtake us,” laughed Kraut.

Ward joked about adding excitement to the series by the bad fall he sustained in Hickstead, England, which broke his collar bone. Ward continued to ride in the series despite the injury. “The win in the championship is huge,” he said, “It’s the biggest team event in the world, and it’s been eight years since we’ve won it. I think this win shows that the United States is right up there with Germany to challenge at the top of the sport. I’m a big believer in our system. I’ve said all along that we can win our way.” Ward added, “Our next task is to be world champions next year at Aachen, Germany.”

Welles, who rode two clear rounds Sunday and was on the winning team with Kraut and Ward at Aachen, showing there for the first time in perhaps the world‘s largest and most competitive horse event, said the championship is a “great thrill. My horse jumped super so I’m very happy,” he said.

Hough said she “felt a lot of pressure” when she was selected for the team for the first time in this year’s series, as so much was at stake. “It was a super day. We all buckled down and did our best,” Hough said. “There were a few little mistakes here and there, but in the end we came through and won the final, which was what we came here to do,” she said. “All in all, it was a great day for the United States.”

All riders lauded Morris’s role as Chef d’Equipe, with Kraut saying she hoped the championship would “solidify” his position and make him want to stay on as Chef.

“I was positive coming into this show,” Morris said. “It was a bit of a new group under a championship situation, with a couple of green horses, but we have great riders and I was confident that we could stay ahead for the title.”

“These victories, especially on a consistent basis will begin to show with the trickle down effect,” explained Morris. “It will show from the top to the bottom as people get on the bandwagon. This will help improve our base at home, but most importantly it will bring new people on board. It will snowball. More and more people will want to go on tours, so it’s a very good day for American show jumping,” he added.

Samsung Super League Final Standings

2 - GERMANY -46.0

3 - GREAT BRITAIN -41.0

4 – SWITZERLAND - 40.0

5 - NETHERLANDS - 38.5

6 - FRANCE – 29.0

7 - IRELAND - 22.0

8 - BELGIUM - 20.5

Official Results - FEI Samsung Super League of Spain – Barcelona, Spain 09-18-05

1 NED - NETHERLANDS (Chef: EHRENS Rob) 4 4 8

34 BMC NASSAU DUBBELDAM Jeroen 4 0 42000 €

74 OLIVER SMOLDERS Harrie 0 4

157 NAIROBI THIJSSEN Leon (4) (8)

135 EUROCOMMERCE MILANO SCHRÖDER Gerco 0 0

2 USA - UNITED STATES (Chef: MORRIS George) 8 4 12

69 ARMANI WELLES Jeffery 0 0

100 CASADORA HOUGH Lauren 4 4

121 OASIS WARD Mclain 4 (4)

24 ANTHEM KRAUT Laura (4) 0

2 SUI - SWITZERLAND (Chef: GRASS Rolf) 4 8 12

3 LA TOYA III FUCHS Markus 0 4 24000 €

136 L.B. NO MERCY LIEBHERR Christina 0 0

86 RIOT GUN MC NAUGHT Lesley 4 (12)

33 UNIQUE X CH SCHWIZER Pius (8) 4

4 GER - GERMANY (Chef: GRAVEMEIER Kurt) 16 4 20

53 DIAMONDS DAYLIGHT POLLMANN-SCHWECKHORST 8 0 13500 €

88 HOFGUT LIEDERBACH’S INGMAR AUFRECHT Pia-Luise (16) 0

111 ARGELITH STAKKATO BITTER Eva 0 4

143 ABOYEUR W ENGEMANN H. 8 (8)

4 IRL - IRELAND (Chef: LEDINGHAM John) 8 12 20

64 WORLD CRUISE BREEN Shane 0 4 13500 €

162 IRISH INDEPENDENT ECHO BEACH O’CONNOR Cian (16) 8

131 KILLOSSERY CAREY Capt. Shane 4 (16)

94 ANASTASIA III TWOMEY Billy 4 0

6 GBR - GREAT BRITAIN (Chef: RICKETTS Derek) 12 12 24

56 MOZART DES HAYETTES WHITAKER Michael (5) 0 7500 €

128 AK LOCARNO 62 WHITAKER Ellen 4 8

165 OMELLI GREDLEY Tim 4 4

21 NICOLETTE II WHITAKER Robert 4 (16)

7 ESP - SPAIN (Chef: GUERDAT Philippe) 20 8 28

126 GUARANA CHAMPEIX LATHAM Rutherford 0 0 5100 €

160 LA REVE DU NABAB ALVAREZ Sergio 8 4

45 DANCEUR DE CAVEIRE TORRES Cristino 12 4

15 MAJESTIC MUÑOZ ESCASSI Alvaro (16) (RET)

8 FRA - FRANCE (Chef: BONNEAU Jean-Maurice) 20 20 40

61 FIRST DE LAUNAY HN ANGOT Florian 0 8 3300 €

155 OBELIX GODIGNON Herve 12 8

18 CROCUS GRAVERIE BERTRAN DE BALANDA G. (12) 4

80 CIGALE DU TAILLIS ANGOT Eugenie 8 (8)

8 BEL - BELGIUM (Chef: SOMERS Lucien) 16 24 40

50 CLINTON DEMEERSMAN Dirk 8 8 3300 €

12 VERELST GOLIATH VAN DIJCK Marc 4 4

106 ANDIAMO Z CLEEREN Kristof (EL) (RET)

147 PARCO PHILIPPAERTS Ludo 4 12