Strong Irish side for nations cup in Aachen
Announcing his quartet yesterday, he said: “I’m delighted that we have a strong team of horses and riders that have already achieved good international results this season and look forward to great competition over the next few days here in Aachen.”
Cork has double the interest, with British-based Mallow native Austin O’Connor selected on the 10-year-old gelding Kilpatrick Knight, while Bandon-based Limerickman Michael Ryan gets the nod with the 10-year-old Dunlough Striker.
British-based Padraig McCarthy is nominated with the 15-year-old Simon Porloe and Mark Kyle will ride the nine-year-old bay mare Jemilla.
Meanwhile, TG4 announced yesterday that it intends to broadcast live coverage of the team and individual finals at next week’s European Show Jumping Championships in Aachen.
Coverage of the team final commences on the afternoon of Friday, August 21, from 4.25, running until 6.40pm.
The individual finals will be shown on the following Sunday.
The four team members that won last Friday’s nations cup at Dublin Horse Show, Cian O’Connor, Greg Broderick, Darragh Kenny and Betram Allen, along with Denis Lynch, will represent Ireland, their main goal being to secure a place in next year’s Olympics.
At Millstreet International Horse Show, Britain filled the top two places in yesterday’s Boomerang qualifier. Laura Renwick and the Obos Quality-sired MHS Washington had a quarter-of-a-second in hand over Ellen Whitaker on Shearwater Fleur in the two-phase class. Derry’s Daniel Coyle placed third with That’s Amore.
The final of the competition, renowned for pinpointing the cream of six and seven-year-old horses, takes place on Sunday.
Earlier, Mickey Pender returned from winning team silver at last weekend’s European Pony Show Jumping Championships in Sweden to finish a close second in the Millstreet Ruby qualifier for five-year-old horses.
Aboard Rainstown Majestic, the Kildare rider finished four-tenths of a second behind Gerard Clarke on Fabio M.
The first of the international classes takes place today at the Cork venue, leading to the feature €50,000 grand prix on Sunday.
