Five days from today Ireland’s dressage team will commence their bid for honours and a possible Tokyo 2020 place when the European Championships get under way in the Dutch city of Rotterdam. The Championships feature Dressage, Show Jumping and Para-Dressage, and it will be the dressage competition that gets the whole affair underway on Monday.

Tipperary rider Trevor Breen won the Hickstead Derby for the second year in a row yesterday, describing it as “surreal”, after posting the only clear round from 37 starters.

Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) is awaiting confirmation that it can field a five-strong eventing squad at the Olympics.

IRELAND’S eventers will be hoping a good performance in today’s cross-country will push them up the leaderboard at the European Championships in Luhmühlen, Germany, having finished a poor eighth of 10 countries after the dressage phase.

HORSE SPORT Ireland (HSI) has opted to send the full complement of six horses to compete in the eventing competition of the Alltech World Equestrian Games in Kentucky, USA.