Nick Turner confident eventing squad will do well in Rio

Ireland eventing manager Nick Turner was anything if not confident yesterday, with not a scintilla of doubt that his selection for the Olympics can live up to the expectation that permeates Irish eventing these days.

He named Clare Abbott (Euro Prince), Jonty Evans (Cooley Rorkes Drift), Mark Kyle (Jemilla), and Padraig McCarthy (with either Simon Porloe or Bernadette Utopia) on his Rio de Janeiro team, while the doubts resulting from the cost of sending a travelling reserve were also banished, with Camilla Speirs (Portersize Just A Jiff) getting the nod.

Understandably, Turner was anxious to emphasise the positive, even if the absence of Aoife Clark from his list, in particular, was obvious.