OCI gives showjumping mild rebuke

THE Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) yesterday said it was “not particularly happy” that show jumping had become involved in controversy again, but said the sport was not alone in gaining headlines for the wrong reasons.

As is well documented, Denis Lynch had his Olympic nomination dramatically withdrawn on Monday by Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) after his horse Lantinus was disqualified from Aachen in Germany last Friday for failing a hypersensitivity test on its legs. It was the third horse ridden by the Tipperary man to do so in the past 12 months.

However, an OCI spokesman yesterday pointed out it was not unusual for disputes to arise in the run-up to the Olympics.

“Controversies arise in many sports at Olympic Games time, eg this time for Team Ireland, it’s athletics, cycling.and show jumping,” said the spokesman.

“The OCI essentially enters and manages the team at the Games, but it is the national federations who do the day-to-day work and nominate the athletes. The OCI is not particularly happy that show jumping is one of the issues for London, but neither is it happy that controversies have also arisen with athletics and cycling, this time around.”

Horse Sport Ireland has come in for criticism since Lynch was withdrawn and Cian O’Connor installed and it has been particularly vitriolic on social media sites, including HSI’s facebook page. However, the OCI said the governing body had been “very professional” in its handling of the affair and it felt the systems put in place by the HSI/OCI had “worked”.

Asked if the OCI would feel that equestrian sport could not afford another controversy in terms of its continuation as an Olympic sport, the spokesman said: “That’s a question for the International Olympic Committee and the FEI. Medal winners are regularly stripped of medals,” said the spokesman.

Lynch’s brother and manager Shay yesterday said the rider was anxious to appeal the withdrawal of his nomination, but they were awaiting direction from their lawyers.

“Denis and myself would welcome an opportunity to appeal, but the matter is with our lawyers, at present. We are hoping our lawyers would be ready to advise us in the next few days on the correct approach,” said Shay, with the Court of Arbitration in Switzerland the likely option for the Tipperary rider.

Asked of Denis’s feelings three days from the shock of Monday, Shay said: “He has got a considerable boost from the huge level of public support.

Lynch will not now line out as planned at the FEI Top League Swedish Nations Cup show this weekend, with Shay saying “he is concentrating now on getting some results in the Global Champions Tour in Estoril this weekend”.

He reiterated that “Denis continues to enjoy the full support of horse owner Thomas Straumann, which was never in question”.

Meanwhile, with a Lynch appeal a possibility, Ireland team manager Robert Splaine, understandably, felt it would be would inappropriate to comment yesterday.

He is hoping a good result can lift Ireland off the bottom of the league table, with his team drawn first in today’s nations cup in Falsterbo, Sweden. Shane Breen (Cos I Can) is the pathfinder, followed by Capt David O’Brien (Annestown), Shane Carey (Ballymore Eustace) and Clem McMahon (Pachino).

Third place in Aachen sees Ireland sharing last place in the league with Sweden, on 18 points, with just two points separating the pair from third-last Britain.

* Check out the link for the transcript of Wednesday’s live blog on the Denis Lynch saga on the Irish Examiner homepage, www.irishexaminer.com. =

* Tholm Keane will be bidding to extend his lead in the TRM/SJI Premier Series Grand Prix tomorrow at Cork Summer Show.

Keane’s victory last time out in Omagh has put him on 26 points, giving him a five-point advantage on Clem McMahon, while Conor Swail is on 18 points.

The show begins today and, as of last night, was set to overcome the atrocious weather of the past 36 hours.

The Cork event carries prizemoney of €30,000, with a third of this on offer in tomorrow’s Premier Series grand prix, while today’s TRM National Grand Prix curtain-raiser has €3,000 on offer.

The ground conditions were described as “a bit soft” last night, but the arenas had been protected, according to vice-chairman of the Munster Agriculture Society, Gerard Murphy. Access in and out is on hardcore, with a 400m long, 7m wide road installed in the past few days to facilitate parking at the show, which takes place at the new grounds in Curraheen, Co.Cork.

Mr Murphy said 10 arenas will be running to cater for the showing classes rescheduled from the Cork Show, which was cancelled in June.

* The inaugural international CIC one-star and two-star at Kilguilkey in Co. Cork, scheduled for July 21/22, has fallen victim to the weather.

In a HSI statement, a spokesperson for the organisers said: “Horrendous weather for the past six weeks has caused areas of the new international tracks to become saturated in water. After talking to Eric Winters (course designer) along with Nicky Kelly (FEI Steward) and Christian Persson (TD) it was agreed that we would be unable to run.

“The forecast for the next 10 days isn’t looking any different so we have had no choice. We are terribly disappointed with this outcome as a lot of time and effort and, naturally, money has been put into this event.”

A HSI spokesman said: “We are disappointed that Kilguilkey has been cancelled, as it was a new fixture.”

* It was a different story in Ennis, where the new arenas ensured the RDS qualifiers defied the weather. See the results page.