Twomey:Olympic places are sealed

Billy Twomey is confident that he and Denis Lynch have won two individual spots for Ireland in the Olympics, saying that, with almost three weeks to go to the March 1 cut-off date, they cannot be caught by Spain’s Sergio Alvarez Moya.

As revealed last week in this column, the latest rankings saw Twomey maintaining his place at the top on 2,035 points, followed by Lynch on 1,980 points in their quest to secure the maximum two places for Ireland, with Portugal’s Luciana Diniz (1,968pts) filling the last qualifying position.

Twomey yesterday said the gap to fourth-place challenger Alvarez Moya, on 1,765pts, was too big for him to displace the Irish.

“I think it is pretty nailed down. It’s going to be official at the end of the month, but I don’t think I, nor Denis, can be caught,” said the Corkman.

“I’ve worked out the figures myself... Gothenburg World Cup show is, in essence, the only major show with ranking points and I am 270 points ahead of Moya. It is a mathematical impossibility to catch me.

“I’m delighted, as there has been a lot of serious work gone into this and a huge commitment, but it has paid off. You need good results and Tinka’s Serenade was hitting these, particularly in Basle and Leipzig.”

It is no secret that Twomey lacked horsepower in challenging for an Olympic place, making his achievement all the more remarkable. Asked how the mare had coped with the pressure, he said: “It’s not ideal for a horse, so many top shows in a brief period. I’m short of horsepower lately, Je t’Aime Flamenco has been concentrating on his stallion duties, so I’ve only had Serenade for the big classes, but she came through it well.

“I’m also close to qualifying for the World Cup finals, so she will go to Gothenburg and that will be her last show for a while.”

Last week in this column, Shane Breen called for a level playing field when it came to Olympic selection for, while Twomey and Lynch look to have secured the places in London, it is the manager Robert Splaine who selects the contenders for Olympic glory.

“You have got to have a horse capable of doing it. Some say whoever wins the spot should go, but a horse’s experience, coupled with good form in the summer, should dictate who goes to the Olympics.

“My horse has been the best placed horse in the last two championships by a mile and she has the experience and shown she can do it. An Olympics is the ultimate championships where experience counts for an awful lot.”

* Cian O’Connor’s consistency has put him top of the FTI Riders Challenge at Florida’s Winter Equestrian Festival.

The challenge is based on results in each week’s two feature classes and, while happy, O’Connor was not indulging in trumpet blowing yesterday... except on behalf of his backroom staff.

“It’s early days yet, but it’s nice to be at the top and I must say a lot of it is due to my staff, both at home and at the show. It is they who make the success possible,” he said.

O’Connor was speaking last night after he had qualified for tomorrow’s $125,000 World Cup class with his new acquisition Blue Loyd. Up against 110 entries, he produced a clear at the expense of a single time fault to be among the 45 contesting tomorrow’s feature class.

The Meath-based rider will not be without competition from his US-based compatriots, with Richie Moloney, Cork’s Shane Sweetnam and Darragh Kerins also booking their place.

* A HSI spokesman has confirmed that its board was last week briefed by Jane Williams of the SIA Group on the findings of her review into Ireland’s disappointing performance in last year’s European Championships. The spokesman said it is anticipated that the report will be published before the end of February.

You would have to ask why it will take over three weeks to make the findings public.

* Taylor Vard will be among the four SJI representatives on the HSI board for 2012. He is taking up the position, after the Leinster nominee Ronan Corrigan stepped down. Vard will be joined by Tony Hurley (Munster), Liam Murphy (Connacht) and Gerry McCluskey (Northern Region) on the HSI board.

* Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney recently appeared before the Seanad and said it would be “helpful” if his department had control of the horse sport sector instead of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, under Leo Varadkar.

“This is not something that is being considered at this stage but the Minister would like to discuss it with his colleagues in time,” a spokesperson for Mr Coveney said afterwards.

Mr Varadkar is conducting a review of the structure of HSI and is due to meet its chairman Joe Walsh in early March.