Twelve fences at Gassin. Eight teams to Barcelona
Sunday's last Longines League of Nations qualifier at Haras de Gassin went to France on four penalties. Grégory Bodo (FRA) set 12 obstacles and 15 efforts, with 75 seconds on the clock. Fourteen combinations left every fence standing in round one. That is the FEI report from 20 September, written by Kirsty Pasto.
We had already written the format: four go, then three, no spare score in round two. See last week's Gassin note. Sunday showed why that second round bites.
What Bodo actually built
Bodo did not hide the test. Abdel Saïd (BEL), clear in round one on Wathnan Bonne Amie, called it quite big, fair with the time, and tough and technical to the last fence. He also said the builder had feeling. Simon Delestre, whose clear locked the home win, called the course delicate. You could not make a mistake.
Brazil were the only nation on zero after round one. Marlon Modolo Zanotelli (Charly Heart), João Victor Castro Aguiar Gomes de Lima (Cashpaid J&f) and Pedro Junqueira Muylaert (Gemme Villers) all went clear, so chef Pedro Paulo Luz Lacerda sat Stephan de Freitas Barcha and kept him for round two. Switzerland and the Netherlands missed the top eight. Their 2026 League of Nations season ended there.
Round two is three scores, no discard. France's Nina Mallevaey, Antoine Ermann and Delestre all came home clear. Brazil matched them until Zanotelli and Charly Heart lowered fence 11. Four faults. France finished on four. Brazil took second on eight in 216.32 seconds. Belgium the same eight faults, 217.44 seconds, third.
Chef Edouard Couperie said there was real pressure with three riders, and that he likes this format. If you write a club team night off a Nations Cup card, put that second-round rule in the schedule. Three to count, no drop, or you will argue it in the secretary's tent.
Who goes to Barcelona
France top the qualifying table on 290. Germany and Great Britain sit together on 275. Then Brazil 270, Ireland 265, Belgium 245, the United States and Italy 230. Those eight go to the Final in Barcelona on 4 October. Switzerland 225 and the Netherlands 195 stay at home.
France also won the opener in Abu Dhabi in February. Two legs from four. The Final is a different job: same four-then-three pressure, a different designer, and eight nations that already know how this series rides.
The FEI report does not split Great Britain's Gassin score. Their 275 on the table is what is published.
What to steal for 80 cm
Copy the skeleton, not 1.60 m. Twelve numbered fences if your arena can take them. A combination that makes 15 efforts. A time allowed you measured, not guessed. If you run two team rounds, say whether round two is three to count.
Watch fence 11 in the replay. That is where Brazil's zero became four. Late verticals after a long related distance do the same work in a county 1.10 m. Walk the last line twice.
Open last week's Gassin format note, then draw Sunday's two-round card in the designer before you copy it onto a club team sheet. Barcelona is 4 October. Watch how the Final designer uses the same three-to-count rule.
