It was a home win for France in the first round of the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup in the seaside resort of La Baule last weekend.

With grandstands absolutely packed to the gunnels the stadium erupted when current European champion, Kevin Staut with the 12-year-old bay stallion Kraque Boom jumped the crucial clear to secure their win.

The entire competition proved to be one that kept the thousands of spectators present glued to their seats with everything left to play for until the last with Great Britain alongside France and the United States in joint first place after the first round.

With the United States taking second place with a team total of eight faults, it was Great Britain with Germany who shared third place on 12 faults.

For Britain, it was anchorman Peter Charles with Olga White’s consistent 11-year-old bay gelding Murka’s Pom d’Ami who produced a foot perfect double clear in both rounds ensuring Britain’s third place.

Clear rounds were also produced by Michael Whitaker and Beatrice Mertens bay gelding GIG Amai in addition to Scott Brash making his debut at this level of competition with the black gelding Intertoy Z. Mark Armstrong with his own bay mare Thesaura also produced an impressive first round, but an unfortunate error in the second round really showed what an extremely honest and scopey mare she is when she jumped herself out of trouble in a particularly short striding treble.

Speaking from La Baule, World Class showjumping performance manager and chef d’equipe Rob Hoekstra commented: “I am highly delighted with the team today, not only in their performance but also in the way they have pulled together as a team of five out here in La Baule. The four riders competing were a true mixture of experience and youth, I consider it a great start to the season and we now look forward to Rome.”

The next leg of the Meydan FEI Nations Cup takes place in Rome at the Piazza Di Sienna during the CSIO 5* show, May 27-30. Further information on the series can be found by visiting www.meydanfeinationscup.org

LEADINGawards:

Rank Country Penalties

1 France 4

2 USA 8

3 Great Britain 12

3 Germany 12

5 Spain 14

6 Ireland 16

7 Switzerland 17

8 Sweden 25