Judy Reynolds and Bertram Allen confident of Rio spot

Kildare dressage rider Judy Reynolds and show jumper Bertram Allen are confident they will find out in the next couple of days that they have secured Olympic places for Ireland, though Horse Sport Ireland yesterday declined to speculate if the pair or show jumper Denis Lynch had been successful in their bids.

The qualifying period closed last night and the Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) said it is hoping to be in a position to announce tomorrow those countries that secured individual places, though Reynolds was upbeat after breaking her own Irish grand prix and grand prix freestyle records with Vancouver K at the weekend in Doha, Qatar.

“Yes, it looks like we’ll be OK for qualifying, but I’m awaiting FEI confirmation on Monday or Tuesday to be sure,” said German-based Reynolds after she achieved another record score of 79.700% in the grand prix freestyle to music, earning her €20,000 as runner-up.