Major league display needed to avoid drop
Unfortunately, Irish eyes will be fixed firmly on the battle at the other end of the table, as the boys in green fight relegation.
Will those aforementioned Irish eyes be smiling and will either the Dutch or Belgians be consigned to the second division?
Or, to put it another way, is it a probability or possibility that Ireland’s riders will be among the minnows of world show jumping in 2006.
Billy Twomey has no doubts that it is the latter and based his assessment on the recent nations cup in Aachen, Germany, where the last fence was the difference between Ireland finishing runner-up and last.
“It’s a possibility that we will be relegated. It’s not totally out of order that we can get a result. We were only a whisker away from being second at Aachen. Obviously, if we had been second, it would have made life a lot easier, but it’s shoulders to the wheel now and try to get a result on Sunday,” said Twomey.
Aachen is to the forefront of the Cork man’s mind, as it was he, as anchor rider, who had brought the team so close to a fervently-wished good result.
However, a breakdown in communication with the mare Anastasia III saw the pairing stop at what was the final element of the last fence treble, only to see a clear round descend into double digits and the team finish last.
The result demonstrated starkly the fine line between success and failure in the sport, but Twomey and his team-mates this weekend - Cian O’Connor, Capt Shane Carey, Shane Breen and world champion Dermott Lennon - are focused on what lies ahead.
In that regard, Twomey said there is no point on dwelling on the ‘what ifs’ in light of the controversy that engulfed the sport this summer, notably, the refusal of Jessica Kürten and Harry Marshall to ride for Ireland.
“There is harmony in the camp. We know the seriousness of the situation and there is no time for bickering.
“Of course, if everyone had been available, we could be in a different position now, but that is in the past, so, there is no point going down that road,” said Twomey, who has no problem lining out with O’Connor if he is selected tomorrow for the four-man team.
Twomey also discounted that some of the Irish horses lacked big-match experience.
“All the horses are going well and World Cruise jumped superbly in Aachen [producing the only Irish clear round with Shane Breen]. He’s maturing at every show. I know Cian is quietly confident about Echo Beach, who won a grand prix recently in Ireland,” said Twomey.
The Cheshire-based rider gave his assessment just as team-mate Lennon boosted expectations with victory in the Spanish show’s third competition on I Caesar. He rides the stallion Condios on Sunday and a similar result for the team would automatically secure Super League status for 2006.
The worst possible scenario while maintaining our spot in the lucrative league, however, would be a fifth place, but this must be combined with either Belgium or the Netherlands finishing last.
At present, Ireland prop up the league on 15 points, with the Netherlands - who are sending out their European bronze medallists - on 18.5 and Belgium on 19.
Possibility or probability aside, the only definite is that the battle ahead will be tough.
THE implementation group set up to formulate a structure for an umbrella body for equestrianism has “agreed, in principle, to proceed with the establishment of the body”.
The consensus came at the implementation group’s first meeting last Friday, said chairman Michael Dowling yesterday.
He said they would “be looking at different models” of umbrella body as part of their task.
“What comes out at the end will have to be agreeable to everybody,” he stressed.
He said the group will produce a draft document at the end of its work, which will be taken away by the relevant bodies for decision.
The implementation group will meet again in early October and are targeting a three- to six-month completion date.
NEAL FEARON (Cruz Forever) was the star as Ireland placed equal third in the nations cup at Podebrady in the Czech Republic last Friday.
It was a creditable result, with two of the horses on the team making their nations cup debut, while Robert Splaine was making his first outing as chef d’equipe.
Captain David O’Brien and Ronan McLaughlin both had two-round totals of eight on their respective newcomers Ringfort Cruise and Ortwin de Laubry, with the result further put into perspective by the fact McLaughlin was also making his first outing on an Irish nations cup team.
Brian Duff and Concord four-faulted in round one and were not called up in round two, as Ireland finished on 16 faults.
Victory went to Germany on four, with Sweden second on 12.
JESSICA KÜRTEN had four faults in the second round with Castle Forbes Libertina to finish sixth in the 1.60m grand prix at the four-star show in Chernyakhovsk, Russia, last weekend. Edward Doyle rode Effective to third place in the 1.50m grand prix at Vilamoura, Portugal.
In carriage driving, Barry Capstick placed 14th of 76 starters in the World Pairs Championship in Austria.
Sarah Wardell (Test Flight) finished 27th to claim the best of the Irish mantle in the European Eventing Championships at Blenheim last weekend.
DERMOTT LENNON has been allotted the slot at the Helsinki World Cup Show next month. Crunch time will come for the selectors on September 27, when they decide who gets the nod for subsequent World Cup shows. Jessica Kürten, who is in dispute with the selectors and has questioned the selection process, has applied for Verona, Stuttgart and Mechelen. It will be interesting to see how the selectors view the Germany-based rider’s requests, particularly Stuttgart.
AN autumn league will start at the West Cork Equine Centre, Bandon, Co Cork, on Sunday, September 25. It will run for 11 weeks culminating with the final on December 4. Enquiries: 023-49433.
CORRECTION: Auto Cruz, which was ridden by Francis Connors to third place in the final leg of the IJM TimberFrame League at Iverk Show two weeks ago, jumped a double clear and did not four-fault in the second round, as reported in this column. The mistake came about through an error in the results supplied.
