Superb weekend for Irish showjumpers
The $300,000 BMO Nations Cup in Spruce Meadows, Canada, proved a hard-fought battle for all bar Germany, with the course designed by Venezuelan Leopoldo Palacios yielding only eight clears from nine countries over the two rounds.
In front of a record crowd of almost 81,000, US-based Corkman Shane Sweetnam and Amaretto D’arco opened with four faults, followed by nine from Jennifer Crooks and SF Uryadi, while Andrew Bourns and Roundthorn Madios ended on five, before Tipperary’s Shane Breen delivered a superb clear with Cos I Can that left the quartet sharing second with Britain on a tally of nine, as Germany took control on a total of four.
Ireland’s second round got off to another good start, with Sweetnam repeating his first-round score, before Crooks racked up 20 faults to again provide the discard, her double clear from 2011 proving a distant memory. Bourns steadied the ship with just one fence down, before Breen added five for a total of 22, three better than the Netherlands, after Britain had faded. The performance earned Ireland $60,000.
German dominance was underscored by the fact anchorman Christian Ahlmann (Taloubet Z) did not have to jump second time around, as the country secured $100,000 with its first victory in Calgary since 2007.
In the European Junior Eventing Championships in Strzegom, Poland, the Pfizer-sponsored Irish team were denied gold by a superb British performance, as Antrim’s Harold Megahey claimed individual bronze on Chuckleberry.
Ireland got off to a superb start, when second after dressage, before producing four cross-country clears to narrow the gap to a mere 2.5 points on Britain, who were reduced to three members. Despite show jumping clears from Megahey and team-mate Lucca Stubington (Kilminchy Condor) — which elevated her to fourth place individually — the British finished 3.5 penalties better than the Irish. Ireland’s Tori Dixon (Shadow Light) placed ninth individually, four ahead of Katie Moffatt (Pick and Mix II).
At the Junior World Championships in Drzonkow, Poland, Arthur Lanigan-O’Keeffe claimed Ireland’s first major championship medal in modern pentathlon by taking bronze. The 20-year-old Dubliner won the fencing phase and was sixth in the swim. While he had two fences down in the show jumping, he held a 12-second lead when starting the run/shoot, but had to settle for third overall.
Meanwhile, Ireland’s Barry Capstick became the first person to win the Advanced Horse Pairs four times in a row at the British National Championships at Windsor.
In Ennis, Co Clare, Michael Duffy became the youngest National Show Jumping Champion with Killard Horizon, while Greg Broderick lifted the Speed Champion title. Waterford’s Tholm Keane and Warrenstown You 2 won the Dubai Duty Free Grand Prix.
