Julia Krajewski and Ero de Cantraie. Photo distributed by Boekelo Press Office.
The morning of Boekelo cross country was bright with promise; the morning light made the live feed look nearly cinematic as the first horses left the start box. In the end, it would be a day deliciously devoid of some of the drama we’d seen here the last couple of years — torrential downpours and muddy conditions in 2024 and a whole lot of flag drama last year, to name a couple — and the yield was the cream risen to the top and the shine of newly-minted future stars.
While the standings beneath them shuffled due to the cumulative influence of the Boekelo cross country course, the top three of the morning emerged from Saturday’s conclusion unscathed (though impacted by the early withdrawal of second-placed Marcio Carvalho Jorge and Castle Howard Casanova; Marcio posted on social media that the horse was not feeling 100% and prompted his decision to withdraw). It was 2024 winner and Olympic gold medalist Julia Krajewski who was the first of the three to see on Bernd Heicke’s Ero de Cantraie. We knew this horse had the gift of speed in him and today he delivered the class performance that never truly looked under much pressure on the way around.
Julia and Ero added one second of time to their score and will go ahead to show jumping with a 24.3 and without a pole in hand over Gemma Stevens and Chris and Lisa Stone’s Chilli Morning IV. Gemma, along with third-placed Yasmin Ingham and Kinda Corvette, was one of 22 riders to make the optimum time of 10:00 and remains on her dressage score of 25.4. A whisker separates Gemma from 2022 World Champion Yasmin Ingham, on a 26.0.
From there, the members of tonight’s top 10 are largely new after cross country. Fast clears were rewarded handsomely; the number was about on par with what we saw here last year, which is handy information given the reversal of the cross country that we hadn’t seen for nearly a decade.
Allie Knowles is the highest placed U.S. individual, riding Katherine O’Brien’s Montpellier Scais to a clear finish with just six seconds of time added and in 10th overnight. Allie also moved from 21st to 16th with LS Crown Royal. Jack Curtis also delivered a smashing 4*-L debut with Luska Candy Clover, showing their grit and the education they’ve gained in their lengthy partnership to stop the clock a mere two seconds over the optimum time. They halved their starting position, jumping from 26th to 13th thanks to today’s effort.
Lauren Nicholson was the trailblazer for the Defender USA team with Jacqueline Mars’ Landmark’s Jungle Gold, skipping around with four seconds of time to put a good buzz on for the Americans. Lauren moved from 33rd up to 19th overnight with her round on “Richy”. Hallie Coon picked up a bit too much time to hold her place on a day when fast rounds were valuable, but delivered a clear nonetheless with Katherine Coleman’s Sirius SB; this is Hallie’s first 4*-L with the 12-year-old Hanoverian. He’d previously podiumed at the level with Katherine, but this is still a cementing partnership with Hallie, who’s had the ride for this season.
The U.S. team couldn’t quite make a threat on the top two spots on the Nations Cup Final podium (though Great Britain and Germany did swap places) but are within three rails of moving up tomorrow. The more realistic approach, though, is probably to focus on delivering their own clear rounds, as Ireland breathes down their neck just 1.3 penalties off the podium and will be wanting to regain some ground after show jumping was the team’s undoing at World Championships this summer.
On Sunday, the 79 remaining pairs will be inspected by the Ground Jury and veterinary delegates at 8:30 am local time / 2:30 am EST. Show jumping will then begin at 10:30 am local time / 4:30 am EST. To see the show jumping schedule in your local time, use the widget below or reference this website. Orders of go for show jumping will be made available here, as are live scores and full reporting from the phases completed to date.
Time converter at worldtimebuddy.com
Sunday’s show jumping live stream will also be available for free on the FEI’s YouTube channel here. You can also view it (along with cross country replays) on ClipMyHorse.TV here.
Military Boekelo / FEI Eventing Nations Cup CCIO4*-NC-L (Netherlands): [Website] [Entries/Timing/Scores] [Live Stream] [FEI YouTube Free Live Stream]
