Irish Show Jumping team named for Friday’s Moroccan Nations Cup

The Irish Show Jumping team will be in three-star Nations Cup action tomorrow (Friday) at Rabat in Morocco. Lt Col Tom Freyne will act as Team Manager and has this evening named his four team members who have been drawn ninth to jump.

The Irish team will line out as follows:

Capt. Geoff Curran with Ringwood Glen (ISH), owned by The Minister For Defence
Lt. David Power with Dollanstown (ISH), owned by The Minister For Defence
Richard Howley with Chinook, owned by HK Horses & Mr & Mrs Aitkenhead
Marion Hughes with Can Ya Makan, owned by Team Z7

Lt Col Tom Freyne said:

“We are really looking forward to tomorrow’s Nations Cup. There are some really competitive teams here so it will be tough. Uliano Vezzani is a world class course builder and having the second round under lights sets the stage for a great competition.”

Kildare’s Michael Pender is also competing in the individual classes in Rabat but at just 17-years-old is too young to be considered for senior Nations Cup selection under FEI rules.

The Moroccan Nations Cup in Rabat gets underway at 5pm Irish time and is due to be streamed live on www.frmse.ma

IRISH RIDERS AMONG PRIZES IN VILAMOURA AND HOYS

Meanwhile at Vilamoura in Portugal, Offaly’s Darragh Kenny has continued the good form which saw him win the five-star Grand Prix at Barcelona in Spain a fortnight ago. Kenny filled the top two places in Thursday’s 1m45 Longines ranking class, taking the winners prize with Catuso and runner-up spot with Fixdesign Funke Van ‘T Heike.

Ireland is also well represented this weekend at the Horse Of The Year Show in Birmingham. Waterford-born Anthony Condon has already featured among the prizes at the British venue. He finished third in the 1m45 two-phase competition with Balzac and also finished fifth in the Welcome Stakes aboard Chinook II, while Cian O’Connor slotted into seventh place with Super Sox. Condon and O’Connor are joined at HOYS by fellow Irish riders Shane Breen, Denis Lynch, Christopher Megahey, Peter Smyth and Billy Twomey.