Lorenzo De Luca for Italy.
Italy’s Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup victory on Friday, July 22nd at the Dublin Horse Show has greatly improved their chances of remaining in the Europe Division 1 Nations Cup League with one more qualifying leg to go.
They earned the maximum 100 qualifying points at Dublin, boosting them to 8th overall in League standings, but they will need to also put in a strong performance in six days at Hickstead CSIO5* in the United Kingdom. That leg of the League is the final chance for nations to improve or retain their qualifying positions for the Nations Cup Final at Barcelona this September.
Ireland will not compete at Hickstead, but its final score of 323.33 points puts them safely inside the qualified group for Barcelona. They lie 2nd in the league, with The Netherlands ahead of them in 1st place on 335 points.
Sweden, which performed strongly in Dublin on Frida to tie with the United States for 3rd place, is also 3rd in overall League standings on 310 points. France lies 4th on 265 points, and Swizterland is in 5th on 245 points. Great Britain will be under pressure to perform well next week when they are the host nation at Hickstead, as they lie in 6th place on 200 points. The Czech Republic is 7th on 180 points.
Only seven nations from Europe Division 1 will qualify for the Nations Cup Final, so while Italy had plenty of reason to celebrate on Friday, they must immediately turn to their plan for next week, as another stellar performance will be required if they hope to ride in the Final.
See the complete cumulative spreadsheet of the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup Europe Division 1 standings at this link.