BARCELONA, Spain --Chef d'Equipe Robert Ridland's philosophy of teaming one or two veterans with one or two young, up-and-coming riders paid off yet again as the team of Lillie Keenan, Spencer Smith, Schuyler Riley and Laura Kraut on Friday, Oct. 1 qualified the U.S. team for the Finals to be held Sunday, Oct. 3.
Lillie Keenan on Skyhorse (Photo by Libby Law Photography)Keenan of New York, N.Y., on Skyhorse was the first in the ring for the U.S., which drew to go in the 13th place of the 15 teams that had qualified for Barcelona, and she set a strong start for the team with only 1 time fault.
"It wasn't our plan to have Skyhorse go tonight, but he came through for us," said Keenan.
The tight time of 80 seconds meant that as large number of riders incurred a time fault.
Smith of Wellington, Fla., on Quibelle was second to go for the U.S., and while riding on only his second senior Nations Cup, had one rail and a time fault for 5 faults, and Riley, also of Wellington, on Robin de Ponthual, also had five faults.
It was tight when Kraut of Royal Palm Beach, Fla., on her Tokyo Olympic silver medal mount Baloutinue entered the ring, as a rail with a time fault would eliminate the team, but again Kraut came through with just one rail for 4 faults, leaving the team on 10 faults, still in the fight if the last two teams didn't go clean..
The two teams following Kraut, who could have also finished on 10 faults with clean last rounds, each had faults and the U.S. was in, tied for sixth.
“AS WE ALL KNOW, finishing ninth is not a whole lot of fun, and we’ve had experience with that,” said Ridland, who must have breathed a sigh of relief as the last two teams that could top the U.S. had faults. “We live to fight another day."
The top eight teams qualified for the Final, with the losing seven to go in a class Saturday evening.
In the competition Sunday, the same four U.S. riders will compete, but all eight teams will begin on 0 faults.
"The strategy on Friday is totally different than on Sunday,” said Ridland. “On Sunday you’re trying to win the whole thing. On Friday, you’re trying to beat seven other teams. That’s the only objective.”
With Friday’s strategy, Ridland said that Keenan’s time fault was intentional, in order to have a greater chance to leave all the jumps up by taking a little extra time.
“What Lillie did was spot on and exactly what we planned for," said Ridland. "Each one of them was just a minor little glitch on the course. It was a solid performance by everybody.”
Germany, with only 2 time faults, was the best in the first round, with the hometown Spanish team finishing in a popular second with 3 faults, and The Netherlands was third with 4 faults, followed by Brazil 5, Sweden, 9, Ireland and the U.S. with 10 each, and Belgium, 12.
The final round will be held Sunday at 3 p.m. in Barcelona, which is 9 a.m. Eastern standard time and can be seen on FEI-Tv, which has been taken over in this country by ClipMyHorse.
