Padraig McCarthy was on the Irish team that scored an historic win in Boekelo last year and, while he feels a repeat could not be dismissed this weekend, he said the ground conditions at the Dutch fixture could make for a different scenario.

Five months after a trade delegation to China led by Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney heralded the opening of the country as a possible market for Irish horses, the major obstacles of quarantine and a direct flight have yet to be resolved.