Twomey focused on producing final flourish at world games
The Cork rider is the last Irishman standing after Cian O’Connor pulled out when K Club Lady suffered a twisted fetlock, while poor performances from Denis Lynch (Lantinus) and Dermott Lennon (Hallmark Elite) in the first round of Monday’s nations cup put an end to their aspirations and also saw the team defy predictions with an early exit.
For Twomey, though, that is history. Poised in eighth place after three rounds going into tonight’s final qualifier, means he has only one focus.
“The team situation is over,” he said yesterday. “I’m only focussed on myself. It may sound selfish, but that is the reality. Naturally, of course, I’m a proud Irishman, and want to do well for my country.”
Basically, what is good for Twomey is, by default, good for Ireland.
Three rounds to date with scores of four, zero and one fault, means Twomey is relishing tonight’s challenge and the 33-year-old is confident in the knowledge his horse is on an upward curve.
“She’s jumping them easy and, the older she gets, the better she is,” said Twomey of Sue Davies’s 13-year-old chestnut mare. “The course was full up on Wednesday, but I expect it to be more difficult on Friday. I need a bit of luck, but I’m not scared of what they build and am looking forward to the challenge.
“I still think the competition is open. It depends on how they build the course, but I’m just a fence off the winner and somebody 10 places behind me is just another fence away, so it could change very quickly.”
Twomey goes into tonight’s penultimate qualifier in the hope of being one of the four to progress to tomorrow’s final, in which competitors must also ride their three rivals’ horses.
Ireland’s eventing team also failed narrowly in their goal of qualifying for the London Olympics, when finishing seventh. Despite the loss of Patricia Ryan in the cross-country — when Fernhill Clover Mist “slipped a tendon” — and Mark Kyle (Step In Time) picking up 20 jumping penalties, jumping clears from Sam Watson (Horseware Bushman) and Geoff Curran (The Jump Jet) meant the team had a number of fences in hand going into the show jumping.
While Kyle added just a single time penalty, the lack of a discard score proved crucial, as Watson and Capt Curran picked up 16 faults and 21, respectively, to leave the team 9.4 penalties behind Belgium in the last qualifying place.
Horse Sport Ireland chief executive Damian McDonald has promised a review of Ireland’s performances.
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