By Duane Fonseca

Putting precision ahead of pace, Katharina Rhomberg won Austria the opening leg of the FEI Nations Cup in the UAE even as the Emirates team secured its place at this year’s Longines FEI Jumping Nationals Cup Final in Barcelona. Six countries sent teams of four to compete in the CSIO5* event in Abu Dhabi with Austria and Great Britain taking things to an extreme and forcing a jump-off that was eventually won by Christoph Obernauer aboard Kleons Renegade with a time of 33.68secs.

Obernauer’s time was quicker than the 34.69s posted by Joe Whitaker aboard Hulahupe Jr., the pair dropping a pole in the tie-breaker which paved the way for an Austrian success. Rhomberg was the only rider to ride without fault throughout partnering Cuma with times of 77.13s and 75.32s over the first two rounds. Apart from Rhomberg and Obernauer, the Austrian team comprised Gerfried Puck (Chef d’Equipe) and Bianca Babanitz.

Puck said: “It’s an amazing result for the Austrian team!” Whitaker was joined by William Funnell, Tim Gredley and Donald Whitaker on the British team, while the team from Ireland wh finished third was made up of Michael Duffy, Jessica Burke, Shane Breen and Trevor Breen. Saudi Arabia finished fourth in the Nations Cup while the UAE were fifth.

While Rhomberg won the individual honours, Donald Whitaker was second, while Burke took third. Seventh placed Abdullah Al Muhairi was best placed among UAE riders on the leaderboard, partnering Chacolu he set times of 75.10s (4) and 74.62s over the first and second rounds respectively. Nations Cup events will resume after the Bordeaux and Omaha World Cup Finals at the end of April in Mexico, with legs in the United States, Canada, Switzerland, Poland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Great Britain, and Ireland before the big show in Spain.