USA Finishes Third in Meydan FEI Nations Cup at CHIO Aachen

Aachen, Germany - It was a night of great show jumping, and the United States had a solid third place finish in the Mercedes-Benz Preis, part of the Meydan FEI Nations Cup in historic Aachen, Germany. The "all-girls" team and their Chef d'Equipe George H. Morris were pleased with their placing as they finished on a total of 12 penalty points behind Germany with nine and the winners, Ireland, with just four faults.

The USA started out strong with a clear round from Lauren Hough of Wellington, FL, on Quick Study, an 11-year-old Belgian gelding by Quick Star x What A Joy. That same feat was repeated with the next rider, Aachen newcomers Candice King of Wellington, FL, and Skara Glen's Davos, a 10-year-old Zangersheide gelding by Carthago Z x Pericles XX.

King said afterward, "I was thrilled. I had a great Rotterdam, so that helped me feel a lot more confident coming into Aachen. It's been a lifetime dream to come here to Aachen, and I'm finally here at 40 years old! With a young horse, I was just really pleased. It felt like he jumped great. I was just a little unlucky; I didn't quite get to that one vertical in the second round. I was close to having a double clear. I'm very happy."

Nicole Simpson of Thousand Oaks, CA, was also competing for the first time in the Nations Cup in Aachen. She and Tristan, a 10-year-old Dutch gelding by Lancelot x Ferro, had just one rail down in the tricky triple combination coming home.

"I think that our horses and riders jumped very well. A little bit of luck sometimes goes into it," Simpson remarked. "We had two seasoned horses and two up-and-coming horses on the team. It's very much an honor to be here for the team for the first time at Aachen."

Anchor rider Laura Kraut, also of Wellington, FL, had an unfortunate fault at the open water to finish on four faults with Cedric, a 12-year-old Dutch gelding by Chamberlain x Carolus.

Of her experience at Aachen, Kraut said, "I'm lucky enough to have been here a number of times, and it's just an honor and a thrill to be part of it."

Following the first round, the American team sat in a five-way tie for first place with a total of four faults with Ireland, France, Switzerland, and Germany. Their solid trips in the second round would help them rise above two of those teams.

Hough and Quick Study, owned by Laura and Meredith Mateo, had a rail in the double combination to start out the second round for the American team. King and Skara Glen's Davos, owned by Skara Glen Stables and Ira Gumberg, also contributed four faults.

Simpson and Ilan Ferder's Tristan helped the team with an all-important clear round as the third American combination, while Kraut and Cedric, owned by Happy Hill Farm and Peter Wetherill, had just a rail at the triple bar.

"It was a great night of showjumping," said Hough. "I think in general we're pretty pleased with our third place result. We had a couple of unlucky four fault rounds. I was pleased with my horse. I thought he jumped very well."

The U.S. finished with eight faults in the second round after a drop score and had a total of 12 over the two rounds.

Chef d'Equipe Morris was pleased with the results. "I'm always proud of my girls," he smiled. "We had a little thing here and a little thing there, but to be in this company was stellar. It's fabulous to be here and I'm lucky to have been participating here for so many years."

With their third place finish tonight, the USA has moved into second place in the Meydan FEI Nations Cup standings with 31.5 points, behind France with 43.5 points.

All five U.S. Riders in Aachen - Hough, King, Simpson, Kraut, and Beezie Madden - are qualified to compete in Sunday's prestigious Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen.

The U.S. Drivers had another solid day as well. James Fairclough and his team finished third in the Dressage Test 8a for Four-in-hand, Rating Competition for Individual & Team Classification with a score of 71.7%, while Tucker S. Johnson was eighth with a score of 69.7%.

Earlier in the day, Laura Kraut and Alberto finished eighth in the Sparkassen-Youngsters-Cup.

For information, live results and coverage, please visit: www.chioaachen.com.

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