Fellers 2nd, US 4th in St. Gallen

By June 4, 2011

Rich Fellers and Flexible came in 2nd in the Longines Grand Prix of Switzerland. (Photo by Beatrice Scudo)

On June 3 the Netherlands galloped off with first place at the Nation’s Cup in St. Gallen, finishing on a mere 5 faults. Rich Fellers and Flexible placed second at the Longines Grand Prix of Switzerland.

In the third round of the FEI summer Cup series, Great Britain and the home team of Switzerland tied for second on 8, which put the U.S. into 4th with 16 faults. It was a double for the Dutch team, which won a week prior, in Rome (where the U.S. finished 7th).

After round three, the Netherlands sat atop the leaderboard at No. 1 overall, the U.S. fifth.

In St. Gallen, the U.S. team consisted of Christine McCrea and Romantovich Take One (0/0); Rich Fellers and Flexible (0/4); Margie Engle and Indigo (4/8); and Charlie Jayne and Athena (4/12).

Two days later, Fellers and Flexible powered through a deluge of rain to impressively to score right behind Great Britain’s Nick Skelton in the Longines. Christine McCrea rounded out a successful U.S. effort with a fantastic third-place effort on Romantovich Take One.

Out of the 36 starters, 10 went advanced to the jump-off. Five went clear again so the clock decided the winner. Skelton’s flashy grey Carlo outran Flexible by a little more than a second, but Fellers and Harry and Mollie Chapman’s Irish Sport Horse stallion’s time of 44.83 proved his incredible can-do spirit in the soaking conditions.

McCrea and Candy Tribble’s Romantovich Take One closed out the top three places with a time of 46.93. Fellers’ triumph was all the more sweet in that it fell just a day before his wife Shelley’s birthday! The next stop on the Nation Cup series is Falsterbo, Sweden, on July 8.

Jur Vrieling and Bubalu, one-fourth the winning team from the Netherlands.

FEI Nations Cup 2011 Tour – Standings after Round 3,  St Gallen (SUI)
1. Netherlands – 23.5
2. Ireland – 19.0
3. Belgium – 18.0
4. Great Britain – 16.0
5. USA – 11.5
6. Germany – 11.0
7. France – 11.0
8. Denmark – 4.0

Complete results: www.csio.ch/
For more information, visit www.usefnetwork.com/ or www.fei.org/disciplines/jumping/press-releases/fei-nations-cup%E2%84%A2-2011-round-3-st-gallen

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