THE 2020 LONGINES FEI JUMPING NATIONS CUP

The $230,000 CSIO5* Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup USA at the Palm Beach Masters Series played out like a big-screen blockbuster.

BY CATIE STASZAK | PHOTOS KATHY RUSSELL

THERE WAS ATMOSPHERE.

The crowd spilled over the railing around the perimeter of the expansive grass arena at Deeridge Farms. They sat on lounge chairs, couches, bar stools, and on the grassy berm on the south side of the arena; they parked caravans of golf carts under mature shade trees; and they crowded together on the ledge of the Be Proud statue, with the symbolic letters providing an omen for the result that was set to come on American home soil.

THERE WAS DRAMA.

Then it rained. The heavens opened up as Margie Goldstein-Engle’s and Royce’s first round got underway. Jumping second in the order, following a 4-fault first-round performance from Jessica Springsteen and RMF Zecile, Engle liked the way her horse felt as she navigated Alan Wade’s 1.60 meter track. Royce was jumping for the first time that week and felt fresh. Engle didn’t get as ideally straight as she would have liked to an oxer, and the rail fell, but that would be the only mark against them. They crossed the finish timers, the typical signal of a completed round, but Royce’s performance was just beginning. Cantering past the ingate, Royce was caught off guard by motion in the crowd, and he darted sideways. Engle, who had loosened her reins, was thrown off balance. She tried to re-center herself in the tack, but the two were no longer in sync. Royce darted left, while Engle exited right. A tough-as-nails Engle immediately jumped to her feet, but Royce continued his show, galloping two additional laps around the arena before being caught.

Team USA finished the round on a score of 8, two poles behind Ireland and a rail behind Great Britain. A win was attainable but seemed slightly out of reach.

THERE WERE HEROINES.

The second round of the Nations Cup sent the scoreboard reeling. Jessica Springsteen, the youngest member of the Team USA squad, set out to turn the tides. She improved upon her 4-fault score in round 1 with a confident clear, and momentum shifted. Engle and Royce then returned and replicated the performance.

“After Jessica went and had a really nice round, and was clean, I knew that we still had to fight to try to get clear rounds,” Engle said. “It’s a lot of changing that usually happens in the second round.

“After he ran around the ring for a while, he was much quieter in the second round!” she added. “I took my time, and I just made sure when I went to that oxer [where I had the rail in Round 1], that I came out and got a bit straighter to it.” Then Laura Kraut made her statement. The member of Team USA to jump clear in the first round, Kraut, aboard veteran partner Confu, gave their squad a second; they were one of just two doubleclear performers on the day.

“You hate to be overconfident, but I was feeling good. Confu was jumping well down here [in Florida],” Kraut said. “I had an unlucky fence in the [CSIO5* Longines Grand Prix two days before], and I said to myself, ‘Alright, that’s an omen that you need to do two clear rounds on Sunday.’”

THERE WAS A SCRIPT…

With one rotation remaining, the class suddenly became a two-team race for gold. Great Britain, with the smallest squad of just three riders, sat somewhat surprisingly at the top of the leaderboard on just four faults—despite having no drop score.

With three second-round clears of their own, Team USA did not need a fourth rider to jump. Team anchor, two-time Olympic gold medalist Beezie Madden, sat out the round—but laid in wait as U.S. Chef d’Equipe Robert Ridland wrote his script.

“We did script it that way,” Ridland joked. “I told Laura, we don’t want Beezie going in the second round. That was exactly what the script was.”

It came down to Great Britain’s final rider. Amanda Derbyshire had three options: a clear round would secure victory for the British; two rails would give the win to Team USA; a single rail would require a jump-off.

She and Cornwall BH came home on 4 faults, and the afternoon reached its climax.

…AND A HOLLYWOOD ENDING.

Madden, fully loaded with a fresh horse that had jumped just one round, entered the arena first for a two-horse jump-off between herself and Alexandra Thornton. With ice flowing freely through her veins, Madden delivered a clutch performance. Brimming with confidence, Madden and Darry Lou boldly delivered a clear performance, crossing the timers of Wade’s shortened course in 33.11 seconds.

“For sure, I didn’t want to leave the door too open for Thornton to be faster than me,” Madden said. “I think my horse [Darry Lou] actually kind of rises to the occasion when I put a little pressure on him.

“I have to say, right from the first jumps in the schooling area, he was jumping better than in the first round,” she added. “He wanted to play a little after fence 1, and I kind of had to kick him in the belly and be like, ‘Let’s get down to business here!’ But he really came through.”

The crowd held its collective breath as Thornton took her turn, knowing exactly what she needed to do to secure victory. On this day though, she would come up short. She and Cornetto K equaled Madden’s clear but were a bit slower, finishing in 36.34 seconds.

And when Team USA returned to the arena to take the podium, they got the reception they deserved.

“This is the pinnacle of the sport: the Nations Cup,” Ridland said. “This is what the sport is all about.”

With a hard-fought, unforgettable victory on home soil, the book closed Sunday afternoon on an unforgettable day of showjumping.

Here’s hoping we get a sequel. It is an Olympic year, after all.