Hughes hopeful Ireland can get RDS confidence-booster
Ireland are last in the league and staring into the abyss that is relegation, with only Dublin and the final in Barcelona remaining. Adding to that pressure is WEG in Aachen, Germany, which falls between the two league rounds and where a good result is necessary, primarily, to ensure qualification for the Beijing Olympics.
But with a small pool of world-class horses from which to chose, team manager Robert Splaine could be in the invidious position of sacrificing a good result at WEG to ensure Super League survival if Dublin does not yield the desired result.
“We do not have unlimited horsepower, despite having a large pool of good riders, but I firmly believe we have a good chance to do well at Dublin, allowing us to go to Barcelona feeling confident,” said Hughes.
“I’ve been on the nations’ cup team twice in Dublin and we’ve won and come second and it is imperative we get a similar result. We have a strong line-up there and the fact the championship horses from the other nations will not be there is also to our advantage,” says the 38-year-old who is on the squad with Billy Twomey (Luidam and Anastasia III), Cian O’Connor (Irish Independent Echo Beach and Waterford Crystal), Cameron Hanley (Hippica Kerman) and Captain Shane Carey (Killossery).
Hughes, who returned to top-flight competition this year, following the birth of her second child on St Valentine’s Day, concedes the timeframe of Dublin, WEG and Barcelona has the potential to punish the Irish, but she feels it can be overcome.
“The time is tight between the three competitions, but I do not believe that poses a serious problem. Sure, we have limited horsepower and it is unlikely that we will have the luxury of being able to split our riders and put out completely different teams in WEG and the final. But there is a two-week gap between the end of Dublin (August 13) and the beginning of the show-jumping at WEG (August 28) and a similar gap from the end of WEG to the league final in Barcelona (September 17), which should be enough time for the horses to recover. Aside from that, I think most horses are better if they continue to jump. Recent form is essential and it will suffer from being laid off for too long. I know my horse loves to compete.”
Ultimately, she says it is not a case of concentrating on WEG or the Super League.
“We must take each competition individually. Firstly, focus on Dublin and get a good result. That is crucial. Then, tackle WEG and after that we should look at our options and see what’s available for the final in Barcelona,” said Hughes, who jumped a double clear with one time fault at Hickstead last Friday when Ireland finished fifth.
It is obvious that Hughes and her horse Heritage Transmission are approaching a peak in their form that makes them an outside chance of success at WEG. The Kilkenny woman is quietly confident of at least being on the list of five riders to be announced on August 22.
She is justified in her expectations, the consensus being that the pairing have shone brightest and, more importantly, most consistently for Ireland this season.
At the heart of her good form is Transmission, the son of Cavalier who demonstrated his potential from an early age, winning the four-year-old Discovery class at Millstreet and the same category at the RDS, where she picked up the prize named after her father, the Seamus Hughes Memorial Trophy.
“Transmission is really coming into himself now and I was delighted with him in Hickstead last week,” says Hughes of the bay gelding.
“At the start of the year, when we competed in Rome, we were not fully prepared. As a team, we had our best result this season there when fourth, but I had 16 faults in round one and a foot in the water in round two. In Lucerne, we had a four and an eight, but then I was one of three clears in the grand prix, which was a real boost.
“We were on the winning team in Lummen and then in Falsterbo, we placed second in the grand prix to Rodrigo Pessoa,” she says.
“Transmission is now aged 11 and it’s the perfect time for him to do his stuff. I feel that every round he’s been getting better and the partnership is improving. Personally, I know I also needed to get back in the ring to shake off any rustiness.”
Hughes’s comments came days after the Equestrian Federation of Ireland Jumping Committee issued a statement supporting team manager Robert Splaine in his disagreement with Jessica Kürten.
The 37-year-old Antrim woman, the world number two rider, has said she will not compete on an Irish team while Splaine is manager, following the Cork man’s failure to name her on the team for the Swiss nations cup in Lucerne.
In its statement the jumping committee said: “The EFI Jumping Committee wishes to state that it fully supports the team manager, and that the selection of horses, riders and teams is done on the basis of results and form ... The committee believes that it cannot suspend its code of practice at the behest of one rider, no matter who that rider might be.”
Kürten is ranked number two in the world largely by virtue of her performances on her horses, Quibell and Castle Forbes Libertina and while she says she wished to compete at Dublin, she rejected that she should prove herself at the show.
Hughes feels that Kürten is entitled to do as she pleases, but adds: “The controversy over her situation is not helping us, but I feel the system we have now is as clear as we can get. It’s fully transparent.”
She also says that she, like all riders, must demonstrate on the day preceding the nations cup that rider and horse are worthy of a place on the team.
“While I’m expecting to be on team in Dublin, if Robert feels otherwise, I will accept that.”
* THE Ballinhassig Farmers Hunt Equestrian Club will stage its tenth annual show-jumping event at Ballinphellig, Waterfall, Co Cork, next Sunday.
Beginning at 10.30am, there are 19 classes on the schedule, taking place in four arenas. The feature is a 1.10m horse competition, with €1,500 on offer, sponsored by Newhunt Trading, Cork. The main pony class is a 148cms 5/6/7-year-old national championships qualifier, with a €1,000 prizefund, sponsored by Dalton Civil Engineers, Clonakilty and Kelly Development, Inniscarra.
A spokesman for the organising committee yesterday assured competitors that the going would be good, as the arenas had been watered. Enquiries: 087/2528980.
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