HICKSTEAD, England, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Brazil made history here on Friday by beating all European powers to win the eventh leg of the FEI Nations Cup Jumping 2017 Europe Division 1 series at Hickstead.
Brazil, made up of Marlon Zanotelli, Pedro Veniss, Yuri Mansur and Pedro Junqueira Muylaert, put up a perfect performance in the second round to add to their first-round score of just four faults.
They overtook the Germans who fell apart in the closing stages to finish a full 10 faults ahead of the eventual runners-up from The Netherlands, while Switzerland and Ireland filled the next two places when posting 16 and 17 faults apiece.
Germany, last year's overall champion in Barcelona, finished seventh with 32 faults.
The victory tasted sweeter since it was the first time for Brazil to compete at the world-famous British showground, and the first time for each of the four horses and riders to tackle the notoriously difficult Hickstead fences. And on a truly tough afternoon when wet and windy weather led to Kelvin Bywater's 12-fence track being relocated for the second round in order to ensure better ground, they didn't just come out on top but they did it emphatically.
Zanotelli said after the win, "We are definitely going to celebrate tonight because tomorrow is a whole new day and it's not often that you can win a competition as big as this so we have to be happy when it happens."
There were six Division 1 teams in action along with the Brazilians who compete in the South America League and the hosts from Britain who have been fighting hard since relegated to Europe Division 2 last season.
Italy is leading the standings after seven legs, followed by Netherlands and Switzerland. Seven of the eight teams from the division will qualify for the 19-team Final, to be held in Barcelona in September.
