Ireland win dramatic Swiss Nations Cup in St Gallen

The Irish Show Jumping team produced a stunning performance to win a rain-soaked Swiss Nations Cup in St Gallen today, with Tipperary’s Greg Broderick the star performer with The Irish Sport Horse, MHS Going Global.

The winning Irish team from the Swiss Nations Cup in St Gallen (l-r) Denis Lynch, Greg Broderick, Robert Splaine (Horse Sport Ireland Show Jumping Team Manager), Bertram Allen and Cian O’Connor (Photo: CSIO Schweiz)

Ireland held joint second place at the halfway stage thanks to Broderick’s clear round and four fault scores from Denis Lynch with All Star 5 and Cian O’Connor riding Good Luck.

Germany led going into the second round on a four fault total, with Ireland, Switzerland and The USA all on eight faults.

Three second round clears in-a-row from Broderick, Bertram Allen riding Molly Malone and O’Connor, saw Ireland lift the trophy on a total of eight faults, with Sweden, France, Germany and The United States tied for second.

Horse Sport Ireland Show Jumping Team Manager Robert Splaine said:

“Obviously I am very pleased with the result here in St Gallen. Our season got off to bad start with the cancellation of the Belgian round in Lummen due to bad weather and because of the way points for that show will now be calculated – based on an average of our scores in the remaining rounds, it was vital that we got a good result today which we did.

“Clear rounds are always difficult to come by and to get three in the second round and of course a double clear round from Greg Broderick and Going Global was excellent,” Splaine added. “We have a great team spirit and I am delighted for all our riders, our horse’s owners and for the country. It doesn’t make my selection next week for the Olympic Games any easier but that is as it should be, as Ireland is a very strong Show Jumping nation and I wouldn’t expect it any other way.”

The result moves Ireland up to fifth place on the Furusiyya Nations Cup league table, with only one of their four points-scoring rounds counted so far. Ireland will also compete for points at Falsterbo in Sweden and in their home round of the series at the Dublin Horse Show in July, after which they will receive a points allocation from the cancelled round in Lummen.

St Gallen Nations Cup
1st Ireland 8 faults
Denis Lynch/All Star 5 (owned by Denis Lynch & Thomas Straumann) 4/4
Greg Broderick/MHS Going Global (owned by Caledonia Stables) 0/0
Bertram Allen/Molly Malone V (owned by Ballywalter Farms) 10/0
Cian O’Connor/Good Luck (owned by Adena Springs & Ronnoco Jump Ltd) 4/0