26/07/08 THE Ward Union International Horse Show runs at Tattersall's in Co. Meath this weekend, finishing on Sunday with a 20,000 euro Grand Prix. National and international show jumping classes will run side-by-side, and this evening (Saturday) there will be a Speed Derby open to all comers, and pitting international show jumpers against a variety of equestrian opposition, including hunt members and the jockey Paul Carberry. After the 20,000 euro Ward Union Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon a novelty event will feature Diarmuid's Pony Kids (as seen on tv) lining up with a celebrity rider to compete in a one-off event. Each Pony Kid will be paired with a personality like Ruby Walsh, Paul Carberry, an international Army rider, a GAA star and the earlier Grand Prix winner. The fastest combined time will win the class. Sunday at Tattersall's will also see a qualifying competition for the famous Hunt Chase Final, to be held at the Failte Ireland Dublin Horse Show in August. The Tattersall's show has been ranked as a CSI Two-Star by the world governing body, the FEI (Federation Equestre Internationale).

26/07/08 KILKENNY-born Marion Hughes registered the best Irish score in the Longines Classic at Hickstead, England today (Saturday). Riding Anne Hughes and Miguel Bravo's 13 year-old Irish-bred bay gelding 'Heritage Transmission', Hughes took third place in a competition that let only two riders through to the jump-off, a single time fault denying her the chance to challenge for the trophy. Belgium's Patrick Spits took first place after a jump-off in which the only other contender, Britain's William Funnell, was eliminated. Meath's Cian O'Connor slotted another Irish-bred, the mare 'Irish Independent Echo Beach', into ninth place on five faults.

25/07/08 PONY NATIONS CUP UPDATE At end of First Round, Ireland share lead on four faults with Denmark and Belgium. 1st round: Shane Connell; MURPHY'S FLIGHT (ISH) 0 Richard Howley; OUR FOREMAN (ISH) 4 Emily Turkington; FUTURE INTEREST (ISH) 4 Jessica Burke; BEAN ALAINING (ISH) 0 2nd round: Shane Connell; MURPHY'S FLIGHT (ISH) 4 Richard Howley; OUR FOREMAN (ISH) 26 Emily Turkington; FUTURE INTEREST (ISH) 5 Jessica Burke; BEAN ALAINING (ISH) 8 Team Total 21 faults FINAL RESULT 1) GT. BRITAIN 9 faults 2) NETHERLANDS 15 faults =3) GERMANY, DENMARK 16 faults (Jump-Off for Bronze) 6) IRELAND 21 faults 13 nations competed

25/07/08 SAMSUNG Super League Nations' Cup - 6th Round in Hickstead, England Ireland are drawn 6th of 8 teams to jump. From approximately 2.30pm, instant updates on Irish Riders' scores will be available here 1st round: Eddie Macken; First Tedechine Sept 10 Cian O'Connor; Rancorrado 4 Capt. David O'Brien; Mo Chroi (ISH) 8 Denis Lynch; Nabab's Son 9 At the end of Round 1, Ireland was in joint 5th place with Netherlands on 21 faults. Britain led with 8 faults. 2nd round: Eddie Macken; First Tedechine Sept 4 Cian O'Connor; Rancorrado 4 Capt. David O'Brien; Mo Chroi (ISH) 8 Denis Lynch; Nabab's Son 4 Team Total 33 faults FINAL SCORE 1) GERMANY 24 =2) SWEDEN 28 =2) GT. BRITAIN 28 4) SWITZERLAND 32 5) IRELAND 33 6) BELGIUM 35 7) NETHERLANDS 41 8) USA 61

25/07/08 IN ONE of the most closely fought Nations' Cups of the 2008 Super League Series, Ireland finished in fifth place at Hickstead, England today (Friday). With 33 faults on the card Ireland were just nine points shy of winners Germany, who finished on 24 faults, with Sweden and Britain sharing second place on 28 penalties. Afterwards Irish Team Manager Robert Splaine said: "I suppose our final place wasn't all that bad, but I still don't think our performance was good enough. We are capable of much better. It was a very high-scoring competition on a difficult course, and the fact that 24 faults won the cup gives some indication of the problems the riders faced out there." Meath's Cian O'Connor was best of the Irish with his new horse 'Rancorrado' making its debut at Super League level, and dropping just one fence in each round. Capt. David O'Brien had eight faults in each round with the Irish-bred 'Mo Chroi', while Denis Lynch - with his Olympic horse in quarantine - had nine faults in the first round with 'Nabab's Son', but recovered well second time out to leave just one pole on the ground.

25/07/08 IRELAND'S Jessica Kurten won her first Grand Prix since returning from a five week suspension at Gijon, Spain tonight (Friday), and took home 22,500 euro as the winner's prize. The 38 year-old German-based rider, who had been suspended by the world governing body, the FEI, over a medication issue, piloted Lady Georgina Forbes's mare 'Castle Forbes Libertina', and recorded the only double clear round of the competition, with French runner-up Penelope Leprovost dropping a single pole in the final round. Earlier today at Gijon, Kurten took a sixth place with Lady Moira Forbes's gelding 'Jipey Dark' in the Accumulator competition, which was won by France's Michel Hecart and the Irish-bred gelding 'That's Life'.

24/07/08 THE Curragh Racecourse will stage its annual Equine Education Race Day on Tuesday 30th September. A variety of speakers representing various sectors of the Thoroughbred & Sport Horse Industry will make presentations in the morning, while participants will be able to stay on for a full program of racing during the afternoon. Admission is FREE and complimentary refreshments will be served. Please contact Evan Arkwright or Eimear O'Reilly at the Curragh for further information tel 045 441205 email eoreilly@curragh.ie

24/07/08 HORSE Sport Ireland Team Manager Robert Splaine this evening (Thursday) announced his team to compete in the sixth leg of show jumping's Samsung Super League at Hickstead, England tomorrow (Friday). In jumping order, the team will be: Eddie Macken; First Tedechine Sept Capt. David O'Brien; Mo Chroi (ISH) Cian O'Connor; Rancorrado Denis Lynch; Nabab's Son The line-up shows three changes from the last Super League outing at Aachen, Germany, where Ireland finished sixth earlier this month. Eddie Macken makes his return to the Irish team after an absence of ten years with the Belgian-bred 'First Tedechine Sept', replacing Edward Doyle, while Cian O'Connor will be riding 'Rancorrado'. Denis Lynch's horse 'Lantinus' is now in pre-Olympic quarantine, and he will be riding 'Nabab's Son' at Hickstead.

22/07/08 MICHEL Hecart (Fra) and his Irish Sport Horse, That's Life, scored a hat-trick of wins at the CSI4* in La Coruna. At the same show, Marion Hughes (Irl) and Heritage Transmission (ISH) finished in tenth place in the €100,000 Grand Prix. The European Championships for Young Riders and Juniors were held in Prague last week. David Blake (Irl) and Killard Horizon (ISH) finished in seventh place in the Junior Individual rankings, while Benedict Kuehnle (Irl) and Cruisings Micky Finn (ISH) ranked eleventh in the Young Riders section. The Irish Young Riders team finished in sixth place, with Cruisings Micky Finn (ISH) & Benedict Kuehnle (Irl) and Cruise With Me (ISH) & David Simpson (Irl) making up part of the team. Full results and breeding information are detailed below.

22/07/08 HORSE Sport Ireland was delighted to support the Premier Series Grand Prix at National Balmoral Show, which ran from 13th to 17th July. In addition to the prize money on offer for the Grand Prix, Horse Sport Ireland provided an addition prize fund of €1,000 to be divided between the owner and breeder of the highest placed Irish Sport Horse. Winning this prize and coming second in the Grand Prix was Tholm Keane with Ronan Tynan's Warrenstown Well Aware (ISH). This Cruising (ISH) mare was bred by Brian Connolly from Tuam in Galway. Full results and breeding information are detailed below.