SJI chairman inspects Ennis showgrounds

SHOWJUMPINGIRELAND (SJI) chairman Christy Murphy has visited Ennis to inspect the showgrounds following the decision of the organisation’s executive to cancel the national championships, which were scheduled to take place at the Clare venue at the end of August.

The championships were withdrawn from Ennis, ostensibly as a result of poor ground at recent RDS qualifiers, and Mr Murphy’s visit came following an invitation from Ennis show chairman PJ Garry to come and “clarify any misconceptions and rectify any problems that are identified”. A shortage of time to rectify the problem was also cited for the decision to cancel the championships.

Yesterday, Ennis committee member Jimmy Quinn confirmed that the SJI National Competitions Committee is to convene for a meeting on Monday, following which they will meet with the show organisers.

He praised Mr Murphy for taking up the invitation.

“Christy came down to clarify for himself as to the quality of the facilities in Ennis. He came alone and met myself and committee member Dermot Costello. It was a good-natured meeting, very positive and I would like to publicly thank him for coming. It is a big step for show jumping that the chairman has taken such an approach and I am looking forward to resolving this to our satisfaction on Monday,” said Mr Quinn.

In this column last week, it was revealed that Mr Garry, in a letter to Mr Murphy, had sought assurances that “if the national championships are cancelled this year in Ennis, that they will not go by the backdoor route to some other centre with more influence within your executive”.

Mr Garry also said: “This could end up where no one would thank you as chairman for bringing the SJI, and the only winners would be the legal profession; however, we are not afraid of this option.”

Mr Murphy yesterday confirmed he had viewed the showgrounds this week, but he reiterated he would not interfere with the work of SJI committees.

lHAVING won a Mercedes SLK convertible car in Hamburg last week for the second year in a row, Denis Lynch will be aiming to speed off with the €95,000 top prize in tomorrow’s Global Champions Tour contest in Cannes, France.

Lynch, who is third in the GCT rankings, has travelled with Lantinus. The Tipp native is joined at the fixture by Cork’s Billy Twomey, who replaces his Valencia GCT winner Je t’Aime Flamenco with Tinka’s Serenade, and Romanov.

lDARRAGH KERINS was on fire with Hot Wheels last weekend, finishing second in two grands prix at the HITS-on-the-Hudson in Saugerties, New York.

On both occasions, the Sligo native finished second to US star McLain Ward, who was in the process of scoring a GP hat-trick at the event over eight days.

Friday’s contest saw all five riders in the jump-off post clears, with Ward and Domino taking pole position midway in 44.461 seconds.

Kerins gave it a good shot when last to go, but fell short by a fraction, posting 44.934secs.

He had a chance to avenge himself in Sunday’s $75,000 class when one of three in the jump-off.

However, four faults meant he again had to take a back seat to two-time Olympic gold medallist Ward, this time on Oh'D Eole.

Both competitions were qualifiers for September’s Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix in New York at a show which will also feature the inaugural Diamond Mills $500,000 Hunter Prix Final.

lTHE pony eventing squad for the 2011 European Championships was announced this week by Horse Sport Ireland.

The championships take place in Jaskowo, Poland, from July 26-31.

The squad in alphabetical order is: Daniel Brown (Silver Fox III), Meghan Hatherell (Newtown Westie), Lucy Latta (Nono), Ana O’Brien (Ice Cool Bailey), Jodie O’Keeffe (Castleview Rakish Milly), Joshua Pim (Mr Otto).

The two non travelling reserve riders will be selected after Monart on June 26.

Eventing high performance coach Sue Shortt said that the standard of performance from our ponies has improved every year..

“Three of these riders were selected in our new performance-based selection system, while the other three riders were given wild cards. I am very happy the way it worked out and the new selection system should help to prepare the riders better to deal with the pressures involved in competing at the championships,” she said in a statement.