"Beezie had some bad luck at that fence. I was just trying to leave the rails up and be as cautious as I could be...and hope nothing goes wrong," said Eric.
George was upbeat about the way things turned out.
"We had a top team...I think they were nip and tuck. It just boiled down to a little bad luck. Most of the turf is off now and the grass is down to the dirt. It looked like Beezie's horse lost his legs a little bit."
France was far behind the leaders with 31 penalties total. It might have been a different story if Katie Monahan Prudent weren't mounted on her son, Adam's, junior jumper, but her grand prix mare had come up with a big ankle that morning and couldn't make the Cup.
Chef d'equipe Jean Maurice Bonneau said he was proud his squad was the top European team. They were two penalties ahead of Ireland, last year's winner. The class marked the return to the ring after more than a year of Carling King, Kevin Babington's star, but he was rusty in the first round, accumulating 13 penalties, before returning in the second round to have only a single knockdown.
Before the Cup got under way, longtime U.S. team stalwart Michael Matz was honored for his selection to the Show Jumping Hall of Fame. The ceremonies for everyone else are being held during halftime at the Budweiser American Invitational in Tampa April 1, but Michael, now a racehorse trainer, will be busy elsewhere that day, fielding a runner, Barbaro, in the Florida Derby.
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- New Hall of Famer Michael Matz, with former groom Karen Golding and former Chef D'Equipe Frank Chapot
- © Nancy Jaffer 2006
He's given away all his riding clothes, with the exception of one pair of boots, but he still enjoys coming to the shows occasionally and seeing old friends. He had an ear-to-ear grin as he accepted the glass trophy signifying his deserved entrance into the hall.
We enjoyed a quick talk before he went in the ring, when he told me, "I loved showing internationally," and cited the great Jet Run, not unexpectedly, as his best horse. But the most memorable moment in his career, which included the World Cup title and an Olympic team silver medal among zillions of other honors, was the evening he carried the American flag to lead the U.S. team into the closing ceremonies at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
The Nations' Cup was the start of a fabulous weekend as the Winter Equestrian Festival's Wellington Finale wraps up its action in this venue, with many of the horses moving on next to Tampa on Florida's West Coast for two shows there.
Tonight, we have the Challenge of the Americas, a dressage quadrille competition, and tomorrow is the $150,000 U.S. Open Jumper Championship. I'll tell you about both on Monday morning, so be sure to come back to EquiSearch for my next postcard.
Until then, I'll be busy!
