Barcelona display gives Splaine cause for optimism

IRELAND’S show jumpers were in superb form at Barcelona yesterday, giving team manager Robert Splaine cause for optimism ahead of Sunday’s crucial Samsung Super League final.

Cian O’Connor and Zanoubia opened the show with an encouraging second in a speed class. This was followed by a one-two from Captain Shane Carey (Lismakin) and Cameron Hanley (SIEC Concept), respectively, in a two-phase contest, with the former boasting a devastating nine-second winning margin.

Billy Twomey — who was drafted into the squad last week after Shane Breen’s horse World Cruise had failed to recover sufficiently from an illness that manifested itself at the World Equestrian Games — followed with a third place in a speed class on Whinny Jackson.