Brits enjoy brilliant start to 2018 with a win in Florida Nations Cup

Photo: Sportfot

Team GB have kicked off the 2018 series with a convincing win in the Nations Cup in Florida, USA.

Senior debut

Despite fielding a relatively inexperienced team, they finished on a zero score after Ben Maher (Tic Tac) and senior team debutant Emily Mason (Explosion W) both produced double clears.

Clear rounds also came from pathfinder Amanda Derbyshire (Luibanta BH) and Emily Moffitt (Hilfiger van de Olmenhoeve). Emily had an unfortunate 13 faults in the first round, but went on to produce a fault-free round second time out.

Both riders are based in Florida, as Emily is half-American and divides her time between Britain and the USA. Aged just 19, she has represented the USA in the U25 Nations Cup, but now competes for Great Britain and is trained by teammate Ben.

Amanda previously worked for Nick Skelton, before moving to Florida three years ago where she now runs Baxter Hill Farm.

Unbelievable composure

However, the stand-out performance of the afternoon came from Emily Mason, who posted one of the few double clear rounds of the competition, despite jumping on her first Nations Cup. She certainly impressed the commentators, who described her composure as “unbelievable”.

“This has just been an amazing start to the year and I couldn’t be more pleased with them all,” said World Class Performance Manager Di Lampard. “They have all delivered their corner giving tremendous performances and to say I am delighted would be an understatement”.

Ireland finished in second place on five faults while Mexico was third on 10 faults.

For more world-class showjumping from sunny climes don’t miss the 2018 Global Champions Tour and Global Champions League, when they come to Horse & C0untry. The action kicks off with GCL & GCT 2018: Mexico City on 28 March at 8pm, which you can stream online via Horse & Country TV and Amazon Video. The show will then be available to watch on Catch Up.