Egypt’s Nayel Nassar speeds to Longines victory on Lordan in Wellington

Press Release FEI | Jumping – Showcasing their six-year partnership, Egypt’s Nayel Nassar and Lordan successfully executed an aggressive track in a ten-horse jump off to win the $216,000 Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Wellington.

The USA’s Laura Kraut finished in a close second aboard Zeremonie, while Spain’s Sergio Alvarez Moya and Arrayan slotted into the third position. With the win in Wellington, Nassar overtook Mexico’s Enrique Gonzalez in the Western Sub-League standings, earning the young, Eygptian rider an advantageous qualifying position for the Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final in March.

“I thought the first round was quite big when I walked it,” Nassar said. “I was going to fit in extra strides throughout the course but I watched Lauren [Hough] go before me on a small horse [like Lordan] and they cruised right up there so I quickly changed my plan at the in gate.”

From a starting number of 40 entries, only a quarter of the field went clear in the first round over a challenging course built by Ireland’s Alan Wade. “I try to build something fair for the whole field,” Wade said at the close of the first round. He then predicted that a tight rollback in the jump off would be a deciding factor in separating the winner from the pack.

In the jump off, Nassar entered the outdoor turf field eighth in the final order, after watching Alvarez Moya deliver a solid double clear to knock USA’s Adrienne Sternlicht from the lead position. “I knew I had to make up time from [fence no.] 1 to 2,” said Nassar, who went on to boldly angle the latter, a large oxer off a bending line.

Crowd favourites and Olympians stacked the opening order, including Beezie Madden (USA), Ben Maher (GBR), Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (GER), and Ian Millar (CAN). But the large, technical course forced rails to drop from these top names. And in the case of Michaels-Beerbaum, a crash through the final oxer—in a round that would have, otherwise, been clear—forced her elimination when she fell off Comanche.

Following today’s event, Nassar (EGY) has taken hold of the top position in the Western Sub-League standings. In the Eastern Sub-League, Kent Farrington (USA) remains in the lead. The final events for the Western and Eastern Sub-Leagues will take place in Thermal California (11 February 2017) and in Ocala, Florida (12 March 2017), respectively.

“I actually think Lordan’s better indoors—he’s a little horse with a lot of impulsion,” said Nassar in regards to how his horse will handle the ring at this year’s World Cup™ Final. “Big jumps out of a corner aren’t an issue for him, and I heard that the Omaha ring isn’t too small, either. He really grows under the lights and will rise to the occasion.

Result:
1. Lordan (Nayel Nassar) EGY 0/0 38.15
2. Zeremonie (Laura Kraut) USA 0/0 39.92
3. Arrayan (Sergio Alvarez Moya) ESP 0/0 39.95
4. Cristalline (Adrienne Sternlicht) USA 0/0 41.64
5. Caletto Cabana (Wilton Porter) USA 0/0 44.89
6. With Wings (Karen Polle) JPN 0/4 40.73
7. Seringat (Cian O’Connor) IRL 0/4 42.38
8. Heros (Amy Millar) CAN 0/4 44.06
Full results »

Quotes:

Alan Wade (Course Designer): I thought it was great sport this afternoon. At the start of the week we had a lot of athletes here so we had to cut from 100 down to 40 for today. The materials and the ground that I had to work with allowed me to [build for] five-star combinations here. Today, we saw thrills and spills, we saw excitement, and saw the skill of athletes and top horses. That’s why I love show jumping so much.”

Nayel Nassar (1st): “Lordan is just hitting his stride. I’ve always wanted to come back out here [to Florida]; I just needed a proper horse. I thought a couple of my sales horses were better suited for out here, so it made sense for the string that I have to be here. Also, there aren’t enough FEI events in California and I’m getting back up in the ranking list.”

“Honestly, it doesn’t get much better than this. I didn’t expect this. It’s his first show of the year. He’s such an incredible trier, and I know him like the back of my hand at this point. We jumped clear in the first round, we were just going to give it a go in the jump off. I was lucky enough to watch Sergio go right before me and I knew what we had to do and I just let it rip and he answered the questions.”

“In 2015, [Lordan] didn’t jump any classes [due to injury]. Honestly, it gives you a new sense of appreciation. I’m just happy to go in the ring with him now, whereas before, I just wanted to win with big ambitions. It just put things into perspective. He’s such an incredible partner and I’ve known him for so long, now I just feel blessed any time I get to go in the ring.”

Laura Kraut (2nd): “I really tried to [catch him]. Nayel was a student of mine in 2012 and he won the Under 25 Final on that horse. I knew he was going to be the one to try to beat. I even got to see him go and I couldn’t beat him.”

Sergio Alvarez Moya (3rd): “It was a fantastic show. My first time for me here. A pleasure for me to do so well. I give everybody thumbs up and hope we can ride here more often.”

LONGINES FEI WORLD CUP™ JUMPING 2016/2017 NORTH AMERICAN LEAGUE, EASTERN SUB-LEAGUE:
Standings after Leg 6 in Wellington, Florida:

1. Kent Farrington (USA) 72
2. Laura Kraut (USA) 60
3. Audrey Coulter (USA) 45
4. McLain Ward (USA) 44
5. Lauren Tisbo (USA) 36
6. Keean White (CAN) 36
7. Christian Heineking (GER) 34
8. Ljubov Kochetova (RUS) 34
9. Georgina Bloomberg (USA) 34
10.Jonathan McCrea (USA) 33

Full Standings for Eastern Sub-League »

Social media: #FEIWorldCupNAL #RidetoOmaha #FEIWorldCupFinals #TwoHearts #Longines @LonginesEq

Source: Press Release FEI

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