Padraig McCarthy confident Irish can get competitive

Padraig McCarthy was among three Irish riders to hit the deck at the recent European Eventing Championships, yet he doesn’t feel he has anything to prove in Boekelo this weekend, except to show that it was an aberration.

The Tipperary rider was not slow to admit his displeasure at the 52.3pens he scored in dressage at the Dutch event yesterday with the 15-year-old gelding Simon Porloe, but his mindset was one of assuredness that he and his team-mates would be in the hunt as the competition progressed.

The Europeans at Blair Castle in Scotland last month were the 38-year-old’s first taste of championship competition with Porloe, owned by Christopher and Sarita Perkins.