A large crowd followed the riders competing in the Nations Cup on Friday afternoon in the National Riding Hall.
Representing 12 nations, the teams competed in the order determined by Thursday’s draw. The Netherlands opened the competition, and Great Britain’s representative was the last to enter the course. Hungary was drawn in 11th place in the starting order.
Among the 12 numbered obstacles set up by Italian course designer Elio Travagliati, the riders faced a double jump and a triple combination. The most challenging obstacle proved to be the 11th blue-and-yellow Longines EEF, but the Longines combination and the water jump also gave quite a few competitors a hard time.
Of the 48 riders, 12 completed the course clear in the first round—including two Hungarians.
The Hungarian team’s first rider, Balázs Horváth, set the tone for his teammates with a confident clear round on Cornetto du Lys. This was the first Nations Cup appearance for the grey stallion, owned by the Hungarian Equestrian Federation.
The team’s closing pair—Tamás Mráz, currently Hungary’s most successful rider on Viva Cent—was similarly successful.
The two newcomers to the national team, Anna Simicska and Aliz Alasztics, also performed well on two stallions bred by László Vincze: Kansas VL and My Way VL. Anna Simicska made a mistake at the water jump, and Aliz Alasztics had a fence down at the Chain Bridge obstacle, so they both finished the first round with four penalty points each.
Since the worst result of each team is discarded according to the competition rules, the Hungarian team awaited the second round in second place, behind the Czech team, which had completed the round without zero points, with a total of four penalty points.
Results after the first round:
- 1. Czech Republic 0
- 2. Hungary 4
- 3. Germany 4
- 4. Ireland 4
- 5. Austria 4
- 6. Netherlands 4
- 7. Slovakia 12
- 8. Poland 12
- 9. Switzerland 12
- 10. Great Britain 12
- 11. Brazil 20
- 12. Italy 23
In the second round, the riders entered the course in the reverse order of their results. This made no difference for the Hungarian team, as they once again started in eleventh place.
In the second round, only a few rider and horse pairs managed to improve their performance. Four duos achieved the coveted double clear round:
- Oliver Pisarik (CZE) – Elixir de Hus
- Jur Vrieling (NED) – VDL Mattias
- Mark McAuley (IRE) – Clooney van Spalbeek Z
- Maximilian Lill (GER) – Kommandant 10
Among the Hungarian riders, Aliz Alasztics achieved the best result in the second round: with elegant riding, she contributed to the team’s success with a beautiful clear round. The other three pairs, Balázs Horváth and Cornetto du Lys, Anna Simicska and Kansas VL, and Tamás Mráz and Viva Cent, all finished the round with eight penalty points each. The Hungarian team ultimately closed the Nations Cup in sixth place, in the middle of the field, with a total of twenty penalty points.
The German team claimed victory, with the Czech Republic in second place and the Dutch team in third.
Lucas Gonzalez, head of Longines’ Eastern European office, presented Longines watches to the riders and the chef d’equipe of the winning team.
Representing the European Equestrian Federation (EEF), EEF Executive Committee member Peter Cholakov congratulated the riders. Kristóf Szotyori Nagy, president of the Hungarian Equestrian Federation, Dorottya Stróbl, event director, Márk Imre Dombóvári, head of department at the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, also congratulated the competitors.
In recent years, it has become a tradition at the Nations Cup awards ceremony to present gifts to the winning team’s grooms as well, in recognition of their dedicated work behind the scenes. This time, they received gift cards from Harcour, the official partner of the Longines EEF Series.
At the press conference, German chef d’equipe Ralf Runge said he was extremely proud of his team and the way they worked together and supported one another. As he pointed out, the German riders were hungry for victory, so his job wasn’t really difficult. He also thanked the organizers of the Budapest leg.
The final results:
CSIO3* Longines EEF Nations Cup / CSIO3* Longines EEF Nations Cup
1. Germany
Csapatkapitány / Chef d’Equipe: Ralf Runge
Tobias Meyer – Caillou 57
Justine Tebbel – Cote de Pablo
Britt Roth – Jeffrey 19
Maximilian Lill – Kommandant 10
2. Czech Republic
Csapatkapitány / Marketa Svenkova
Nikola Bielikova – Carison
Oliver Pisarik – Elixir de Hus
Sara Vingralkova – Rock’n Roll MXL
Ales Opatrny – Vivo de Muze PS
3. The Netherlands
Csapatkapitány / Vincent Voorn
Finn Boerekamp – Just Penelope JW van de Moerhoeve
Logan Fiechter – Lieverella
Mel Thijssen – Arnold 46
Jur Vrieling – VDL Mattias
4. Ireland
5. Austria
6. Hungary
Chef d’Equipe: Szotyori Nagy Kristóf
Horváth Balázs – Cornetto du Lys
Simicska Anna – Kansas VL
Alasztics Aliz – My Way VL
Mráz Tamás – Viva Cent 2
7. Great Britain
8. Slovakia
9. Poland
10. Switzerland
11. Brazil
12. Italy
Photo: CSIO Budapest / Krisztina Hajdu