Irish team named for Friday’s Ocala Nations Cup in Florida

The Irish Show Jumping team has been named for tomorrow’s (Friday) four-star Nations Cup at Ocala in Florida USA, which comes just over 24 hours after the season opener in the United Arab Emirates where Ireland finished sixth.

Ireland have been drawn first to jump of seven teams taking part, with Irish Team Manager, Michael Blake, selecting the following four horses and riders:

Cork’s Shane Sweetman with Chaqui Z, owned by Shane Sweetnam & Spy Coast Farm LLC
Tipperary’s Kevin Babington with Shorapur, owned by Shorapur LLC
Kilkenny’s Richie Moloney with Carrabis Z, owned by Equinimity LLC
Meath’s Cian O’Connor with Seringat, owned by Ronnoco Jump Ltd

Speaking ahead of the Ocala contest, Michael Blake said:

“We are looking forward to a strong performance on Friday. The team was honoured in the City of Ocala on Wednesday evening by the Mayor of the City with a parade of nations where a huge crowd turned out to welcome their favourite teams. Ocala has made a huge effort to bring Show Jumping back to the people and included in their spectacular event was a parade of all the American breeds of horses. It was great to see the members of all participating teams mingling with the people of Ocala. We thank Ocala for their wonderful and warm welcome.”

Ireland will line out against teams from El Salvador, Venezuela, Colombia, Canada and Mexico, with the home team from The United States drawn last of the seven teams to jump.

The Ocala Nations Cup will begin at 7pm Irish time on Friday and is available to watch live on FEITV.