Splaine looking for solid start

IRELAND show jumping team manager Robert Splaine is not one for bombast, so it was not surprising yesterday to learn that his aims in today’s French nations cup are modest.

Not one to look into the past — shrewd, considering Ireland finished last at La Baule last year — Splaine yesterday, said neither a win nor loss figured in his prediction.

“Mid-division is my ambition. More would be fantastic ... but, on the other hand, I love to stay away from the bottom,” said the Corkman. As someone acutely aware of La Baule’s ability to question, Splaine is conscious that the top prize is a big ask.

“Knowing the tradition of La Baule and the standard of competition, a win will be very tough. But we have great riders and I would not put it past them to do the business. On the other hand, there a couple of combinations that are not tested at this level, so that makes any prediction a difficult one.”

The four-man team selected by Splaine for the task is: Shane Breen (World Cruise), Shane Carey (Killossery), Edward Doyle (Effective) and Conor Swail (Poncho). Asked of his decision to leave Cian O’Connor on the sidelines, the manager said: “His horse Irish Independent Echo Beach jumped super and he was great at making her available, but, on the day, he just did not get the nod.”

The performance of the team will be considered a measure of Splaine as the riders and their horses. It is his first time taking charge of a team at this level and, as such, he will come under scrutiny.

While there is an air of expectancy, today’s baptism could be one of fire and there is not doubt that any sort of result will be greeted with relief. The aspiration for most will be that, despite another dearth of horsepower, Ireland will spend the season looking down the Samsung Super League table, rather than, as did they did for most of last year, peer longingly upwards.

Meanwhile, someone who could place a pivotal part in achieving Irish aspirations returned home to Germany this week following a devastating performance in the World Cup

Jessica Kürten finished runner-up in Kuala Lumpur and, while she would be entitled to rest on her laurels, she is already turning her thoughts to the second round of the Samsung league in Aachen in two weeks’ time.

Kürten expects to be part of Ireland’s cause at the German fixture, having spoken to Splaine about a month ago about competing at Aachen and Lucerne, Switzerland.

While she has not been in contact with Splaine in the interim, she is confident this will be the case, saying: “I would be very surprised if I was not going to Aachen.”

Splaine confirmed yesterday she was in for no surprises.

“I hope Jessica will be an important part of the Aachen team and also at Lucerne,” he said

Not surprisingly Kürten’s World Cup heroine Castle Forbes Libertina will be taking a well-deserved rest, with Quibell and Castle Forbes Maike taking the stage at Aachen, arguably one of the toughest assignments in show jumping.

Kürten says Maike’s history at the German fixture makes her the likely contender for the nations cup.

“She jumped amazing in Aachen in the past and was well placed. I will give her a run at Mannheim this weekend, but we will not make a decision about the Aachen team until at the show,” she said.

Kürten is not one for ‘what ifs’. Accordingly, when reflecting on last weekend’s World Cup final in Kuala Lumpur, it was the brilliance of placing second that was foremost in her mind, not the unattained possibilities.

Lying third in the last round, just a point behind joint leaders Beat Mandli (Ideo du Thot) and Marcus Ehning (Sandro Boy), she produced her fifth clear round on the 10-year-old mare to turn the screw on her rivals.

“When Beat went in and had a fence down, I said, wow, now I’m second. Of course, I was watching and hoping when Marcus went in, but his horse was brilliant all weekend, so I would have been shocked if he had knocked a fence.

“In the past, normally, the competition has not been so close. This time, there were four good horses and riders — Marcus, Beat and Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum — in top form, so, you could never really be confident of winning.”

Meanwhile, World Cup victory has seen Ehning extended his lead on Kürten at the top of the Gandini World Rankings.

However, Kürten says being number one is not a priority for her.

“I’m not worried about the gap with Marcus. If I concentrated on the number one place, I could wreck the horses. It’s amazing to be number two and we should not let our feet get off the ground. Basically, to make number one, I would have to adopt a different plan and concentrate on different shows. This could be detrimental to the horses so, being number one is not on the agenda,” she said.

German Ehning with a tally of 3,647.13, now has a cushion of almost 224 points on the Irish rider, who is on 3,423.22. Last month, Kürten had narrowed the lead to 124 points. In third place is Brazilian Rodrigo Pessoa on 2937.50.

The rankings are calculated on results for the previous 12 months and Kürten is due to shed 195 points at the end of this month. Ehning will give up the 180 points he earned in May 2005.

* BLACKROCK Charity Show takes place next Sunday, starting at 10am sharp, with a prizefund of €1,500 on offer. A 1.30m horse class forms the feature, while there will also be much interest in the 148cms Grade A Gain Qualifier.

By kind permission of Eugene O’Brien, the show will have three arenas, with the McSweeney Family Fund the beneficiary.

* FUN and great competition was the order of the day at last Sunday’s Templemartin Hunter Trials. However, a number of rider s that figured in the results have yet to collect their prizes. Thus, a trip to O’Brien Saddlery, Bandon, Co Cork, might prove worthwhile.