Last vestiges of O’Connor saga being dealt with one by one
This week, the Show Jumping Association of Ireland (SJAI) said it did not have the discretion to extend the three-month FEI ban imposed on the rider.
Regardless of the merits of this, the Show Jumpers’ Club Chairman Jack Doyle says it is imperative this anomaly must be closed. Stressing he did not want to focus on specific cases, he said: “This is something the SJAI should look at, but not because of Cian O’Connor. It is something they should have looked at previously. This issue has nothing to do with Cian O’Connor, except that his case highlights it. It should have been addressed 10 years ago.
“But in O’Connor’s case, it would be like closing the door after the horse has bolted,” said Doyle. In the meantime, O’Connor exercised his rights and got his domestic season off to a winning start last Saturday, riding Echo Beach to victory in the 1.40m class. The following day, in the opening round of the IJM TimberFrame Grand Prix League, the 25-year-old had to settle for fourth place with Gain Dot Com, as Harry Marshall, took the top points on All Shook Up.
The final hurdle facing O’Connor, or more accurately the selectors, is the matter of nations cup riders who have said they will not line out with O’Connor. We must wait until July to see if this cloud on the horizon of Irish show jumping turns out to be thundery.
Meanwhile the Fell family have said they are “definitely” going to apply to stage the World Cup Eventing Finals in the next few years. Their assuredness came days after they held the Irish Horse Board Land Rover World Cup Qualifier last weekend on their land in Ballindenisk.
While their aspiration may seem a bit lofty at this stage, it is understandable, the event gaining nothing but praise. The feelgood factor was abundantly evident, but none more so than when Neilus O’Donoghue won the country’s inaugural World Cup Qualifier.
It wasn’t just the victory per se, but the manner of it. The Corkman displaying a level of professionalism that saw triple Olympic champion Matt Ryan relegated to the silver position.
O’Donoghue’s beaming face left no one in doubt as to his feelings. “I have a horse that is short of match practice and I had just one run before coming here. So, it’s a huge plus to get to the end and to be in front is just fantastic. For me to win is unbelievable, as my horse is a relative novice.”
O’Donoghue said he was considering competing in the World Cup final in Malmo, Sweden, next August. “I will sit down with Elaine Reilly (owner of the horse with O’Donoghue) and lay down a plan,” he said.
The Irish Examiner-sponsored event had built like a crescendo from the outset, with Ryan on song in the dressage. The Australian found himself in familiar territory, looking down on his rivals from the top two places after fluid tests from, respectively, Royal Dragoon and Bonza Katoomba. He didn’t have to strain to see O’Donoghue, however, who was hovering in fifth place.
The cross-country saw the main Irish challenger in the six-country competition come into sharp focus as the time played the major factor. Elaine Reilly’s big-striding Edmund Burke gelding ensured O’Donoghue one of the fastest passages, adding just six time penalties to bring his score to 56.6.
Ryan, meanwhile, said he had taken it easy. Whether this was deliberate or not is debatable, but he accumulated 17 penalties with Dragoon (61.4) and 11 with Katoomba (59.4). He was now the hunted turned hunter, as O’Donoghue took over at the top. However, he had less than a fence to spare over the hungry Aussie, who was bidding to accrue his second qualifier win following his success in Portugal last month.
The denouement proved one of Irish equestrian sports most memorable moments. The show jumping phase got off to the perfect start with a clear round. That was it, however, until penultimate combination Ryan and Katoomba entered the arena after Dragoon lowered two, the sticky going and Tony Hurley’s design features proving merciless. The Sydney-born eventing legend did what was required, gathering all his experience to produce only the second clear and apply the desired pressure. Even the most patriotic of Irish would have had difficulty betting against him. O’Donoghue, however, had watched from the sidelines and, outwardly at least, he did not exhibit the demeanour of some considered second-best. Personifying the calm that had descended the arena, he and the nine-year-old proved more than a match for the test and crossed the line to put the icing on the cake for the event.
The winner focussed on the performance of Balladeer, arguably one of the most exciting prospects in Irish eventing.
“He’s the one horse that’s keeping me in this game,” said O’Donoghue, who now works for Coolmore vet John Halley in Fethard, Co Tipperary.
