REIMS, France – Annie Cook of Woodside helped lead the way for the four members of the 2012 Show Jumping European Young Rider Tour who took second June 1 at the CSIOYJ Reims.

The U.S. entered the two-round competition in an enviable position having drawn fifth of six teams to contest the 1.45m track. The team of Cook, Alise Oken, Chloe Reid and Lydia Ulrich capitalized on their strong draw to jump to take the reserve finish.

Cook and Ulrich both jumped double-clears in the Nations Cup competition. Cook guided Signe Ostby’s Banba to two fault-free efforts as the second U.S. rider in each round. As the anchor rider, Ulrich (Rochester, N.Y.) stared down the face of pressure to also produce a double-clear performance with Beth Congel and Up The Creek Farm’s Santos Utopia.

The U.S. team entered the second round of competition tied for third place with the Dutch team on a score of eight faults. In the first round, Oken (Charlotte, NC) and Hi Hopes Farm’s Kaid Du Ry provided the drop score with a 12-fault performance. However, they recovered to produce a clear in the second round, allowing the U.S. to add no faults in that final round. Riding in her first Nations Cup, Reid (Washington, D.C.) displayed composure and poise jumping two eight-fault rounds with Chloe D Reid LLC’s Toulon.

“We had two double clears, which was fantastic,” said an elated Chef d’ Equipe Michele Grubb. “I was thrilled with their performances. All the girls rode really well under pressure.”

Grubb was also very impressed with the caliber of competition at the CSIOY Reims Nations Cup.

“It was a tough class and nail-biting to the end,” said Grubb. “It was great down to the very last riders.”

Earlier in the day, Cook and Reid sped to fourth and fifth placings, respectively, in Conseil Chevaux Champagne/Ardenn competition. Riding Signe Ostby’s Landkorn 5, Cook jumped a clear round stopping the timers in 57.55 seconds for fourth place. Reid finished less than .2 seconds behind her teammate in fifth place on Gevi International B.V.’s Eurocommerce Damascus.

Jennifer Goddard and Sydney Shulman have also been busy jumping in Reims as part of the 2012 Show Jumping European Junior and Young Rider Tour. On Thursday, Goddard (Fort Solanga, NY) piloted Stateside Farm’s Unique to ninth place in the Prix Fromagerie Rouzaire. Shulman (Greenwich, CT) is competing in the CSIOJ junior classes this week. On Friday, she was twelfth in the PX Haras Nationaux with Maria Werner’s Zimza La Bim.

Last Sunday, Cook, Oken, Reid, Ulrich and Goodard were scheduled to finish their competition week in Reims in the CSIOY Grand Prix.

The 2012 Show Jumping European Junior and Young Rider Tour will next head to CSIOJY Hagen in Germany, held July 13-17. Grubb believes that her team will be up to the challenge, after having displayed such resiliency and gaining valuable experience today in France.

“We were tied for third after the first round, so we really pulled ourselves up in the second round,” said Grubb. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t quite get there for the win but we’ll be ready in Hagen.”

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