Tholm Keane talks up merits of Iranian market
It’s not something you would expect the Waterford rider to say, in the normal course of events, but he’s speaking from experience.
Keane returned at the weekend from competing in the Iranian capital Tehran, and he says he was, firstly, overwhelmed by the welcome he received, and, secondly, surprised at the level of investment by the Iranians in equestrian activities, coupled with their hunger for knowledge.
In that regard, he says it could be a viable market for Irish horses and expertise.
“I was competing at an FEI CSI two-star show in Tehran as an ambassador for Cork-based Mervue Equine. The company does business out there and its commercial director William Twomey said they were really interested in getting riders to take part in an international show.
“The Iranians had been to Ireland previously and had visited my yard and I thought they were really nice people. I wasn’t going to Cavan Show, so I took up the invitation to go to the Middle East.”
Mention Iran, and most people think of a country controlled by Islamic fundamentalists with a hatred of everything Western, but Keane says any fears he had were allayed by Twomey, and he discovered the people could not have been more friendly.
“William had reassured me it was safe. I am not mad about travelling at the best of times, so I was no more nervous than going anywhere else. He has two big shops there, and his produce is very popular.
“Also, the Iranians are mad to import feed from Ireland and I believe Redmills and Gain are both in the market there.
“The Iranians were intent on giving a good impression, as there is so much negative press about Iran. You could sit and listen to them every night.
“They understand why they have a poor image, but it’s not a fair reflection of the people. Also, most of the women I chatted to were very highly educated and were very fashionable, nothing like the image of the burka, covered up all in black.”
Keane was impressed with the facilities. “They spent €5m on the Bam riding school nine months ago and are starting on an indoor. The have imported the best of sand for the surface.
“It was their first true international show in about 35 years; they had a one-star in June, but there were no international riders.
“They had a good bit of prize money. Show jumping has become very popular and they are buying a lot of horses from Holland and Germany. We need to be looking at it as a market, They have money and they want to bring up the standard of the equine sector. They are willing to invest in buying good horses and also training for their riders.
“Ronan Sugrue was the chief international judge at the show and he was very impressed, too, especially with their enthusiasm to learn. They are eager to learn and were picking our brains on food and training.”
Fifth place from 19 starting nations was, I suppose, respectable for the Irish show jumping team at last weekend’s Furusiyya Nations Cup final in Barcelona.
The indisputable positives, however, were the clear round by Cian O’Connor and the hugely impressive stallion Good Luck, owned Austrian/Canadian auto-parts industrialist Frank Stronach, grandfather of O’Connor’s Canadian student Nikki Walker.
Denis Lynch stole the show on Sunday, winning the grand prix on All Star to pocket over €50,000.
The Tipperary rider and Mexico’s Santiago Lambre on the grey gelding Johnny Boy were the only riders to net double clears, though Lynch was an astounding 11 seconds faster.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) confirmed this week that “an arbitration procedure is in progress” regarding the appeal brought by Horse Sport Ireland and Cian O’Connor after he was impeded by a member of the ground crew at the European Championships.
A spokesperson, in a written response to a query, said: “The parties are currently exchanging written submissions. A hearing date will be fixed at a later date.” As has been well covered, the ground-crew member walked in front of O’Connor as he turned to line up for a fence. His mount Good Luck knocked the fence, with the four faults putting Ireland 0.38 behind Spain, who thus secured the last place in the Olympics.
