Omens good after cup success and new selection process emerges
In addition, there was no ‘luck of the Irish’ about this achievement, when you consider that two of the riders had borrowed horses. Lying in second place at the half-way stage in the nine-country contest, the quartet of Kevin Babington, Darragh Kerins, Conor Swail and Jennifer Crooks proved a formidable force, reeling in Britain to win by 12 faults to 20 before some 14,000 chilled spectators at the Palm Beach Equestrian Club.
US-based Tipperary man Babington was the star of the season’s first Samsung nations cup, the anchor rider posting the only double clear of the contest with the borrowed gelding It’s Morado, a horse that normally competes at upper amateur level. Swail was also on a borrowed horse, but his second-round clear on Lavaro at a crucial time belied the combination’s lack of familiarity. Kerins, riding Galaad Du Murier, had one down in each round as a tricky course took its toll, while Washington State-based Crooks posted a creditable four round one.
