O’Connor lays down early marker for Olympic place

Cian O’Connor laid down an early marker in his bid to represent Ireland at the Olympics with a double clear in the US nations cup on Friday night.

His clean sheet helped Ireland to second place in the $75,000 Florida contest, with the Irish total of eight faults separating them from Germany by a single error, the winner’s four-fault total coming through a zero score in round two.

Meath-based O’Connor sourced the impressive Blue Loyd in November, the gelding’s talent, however, being offset by a tendency to be headstrong.

His sympathetic approach with the 12-year-old, however, has reaped dividends at Florida’s Winter Equestrian Festival and, while the two show jumping riders to fill Ireland’s slots in London will not be decided until July 9, this latest performance by O’Connor gives warning to his rivals.

His double clear, though, was almost matched by Cork’s Shane Sweetnam (Amaretto Darco) and Richie Moloney (Slieveanorra), both of whom had single errors over two rounds, while Darragh Kerins (Lisona) contributed four faults each time out.

Manager Robert Splaine was impressed with the battling second-round display of his quartet in the 10-country contest.

“I was very pleased with all four combinations. We were unlucky in the first round and that was where we could have been stronger.

“However, we were consistent throughout and Cian’s double clear was special. It was rewarding to improve our position from third to second in the second round.”

A good weekend for Kilkenny’s Moloney concluded last night when he steered Ahorn van de Zuuthoeve to third place in the $150,000 grand prix, his double clear proving three seconds slower than British victor Nick Skelton on Carlo.

Ireland was not without a win in Florida at the weekend, with Saturday’s highlight, the $35,000 Hermès Puissance, won by Paul O’Shea and Michael Hayden’s Primo Level.

The nine-rider competition boiled down to a fourth-round head-to-head between O’Shea and defending champions Pablo Barrios on G&C Quivola. Neither rider cleared the wall, set at 7’2” (2.17m), but Barrios finished in second place after two refusals, while O’Shea and Primo Level jumped the wall, but knocked the top blocks.

In Ghent, meanwhile, 53-year-old Trevor Coyle and Jubilee d’Ouilly swept to victory by a tenth of a second in the grand prix in a 12-horse jump-off.

On the domestic circuit, John Floody steered PMR Rehy Irish All Star to victory in the HSI Bluegrass Spring Tour contest at Killossery.