19/12/08 BILLY Twomey gave Ireland its second international five-star win of the day when he was victorious in the speed class at La Coruna Spain tonight (Friday). With Cian O'Connor winning the feature jump-off class at Olympia, London a few hours earlier, Cork-born Twomey added to Friday's Irish ribbons with a 7,500 euro first place in the Spanish speed competition with the Dutch-bred stallion 'Goldex', which the 31 year-old rider owns jointly with England's Sue Davies. Twomey saw off a challenge from Patrick McEntee and 'Every Mury Marais Z', breaking the beam just a seventh of a second ahead of the Belgian rider to claim the trophy. 'Goldex' has given Twomey several top places in recent weeks, but this has been his first win during December.

18/12/08 HORSE SPORT Ireland announced today (Thursday) that it had signed a new contract with Robert Splaine as Ireland's International Show Jumping Team Manager. The contract will run for four years up to the next Olympic Games in London in 2012 but will be subject to a review clause at the end of 2010. The 47 year-old Corkman, who presided over Ireland's 2007 campaign to get back into the top level Nations' Cup series - the Samsung Super League - and then saw the country finish a highly creditable fifth in the series in 2008, has been Team Manager since 2006. Robert Splaine said today: "I am delighted to have agreed to a new contract with Horse Sport Ireland. There are major challenges ahead with the new top level Nations Cup series and the European Championships in 2009. Of course the long term goal is London 2012 but we have to qualify first and this will not be easy," he said. The Chairman of Horse Sport Ireland Joe Walsh said that he was also delighted that the new contract had been agreed. "Everyone knows that the job of being Team Manager for the Irish show jumping team has been a particularly difficult one. The re-appointment of Robert Splaine will bring continuity to the position. I would now call on all the riders to get behind the team for 2009 and beyond and to ensure that show jumping is back in the headlines for the right reasons," he said.

18/12/08 IRELAND'S two representatives at the five star World Cup show in Olympia showed they meant business tonight (Thursday) when finishing third and fourth in the first big jump-off competition of the weekend at the legendary London venue. Aileen Bryan's ten year-old gelding 'Rancorrado' produced the goods for Meath's Cian O'Connor with a double clear round and a third place, just over one-and-a-half seconds behind French winner Penelope Leprevost. Meanwhile 32 year-old Denis Lynch was a tenth of a second behind O'Connor to claim fourth place on Flaminia Straumann's bay gelding 'Upsilon d'Ocquier'. Live television action from Olympia will be available on BBC1 with highlights of the Christmas Puissance on Saturday, while the FEI World Cup Qualifier can be seen on BBC2 on Sunday. Eurosport 2 will also feature Olympia competitions during Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday broadcasting.

17/12/08 TWO major international show jumping events will see Irish riders do battle for trophies this weekend in Spain and England. Cork-born Billy Twomey, who placed well in Porto last weekend, will take 'Je t'Aime Flamenco', 'Goldex' and 'Blue Thunder' to the five-star show in La Coruna, Spain, while in London two more of Ireland's top riders will compete in one of the highlights of the international show jumping calendar when the five-star World Cup show kicks off at Olympia tomorrow (Thursday). German-based Denis Lynch will be fielding 'Upsilon D'Ocquier', 'Nabab's Son' and 'Abbervale' at Olympia, while 29 year-old Cian O'Connor comes fresh from a profitable weekend at Geneva with the same string of horses - 'Baloufina', 'Complete' and 'Rancorrado'. He will add 'Karlswood' for the famous Olympia Puissance. Jessica Kurten, who was originally listed to appear at Olympia, will not now be competing due to a three-week FEI suspension that started on December 16.

15/12/08 THE HORSE Sport Ireland National Winter Tour 2008 culminated in the Grand Final at Cavan Equestrian Centre on Saturday 13th December. Qualified horse/pony combinations were invited to attend the Grand Final to compete for the €9,000 prize fund on offer. The Grand Final started off with the 1m class, which was won by Galway rider Amanda Fahy with John Fahy's Lackyle Limited Edition (ISH). The Amateur class was the won by Pat Ronayne with his own gelding, Coolbell Carrig (ISH). The 1m10 class was one of the hardest fought classes of the day. In the end it was three-day event rider, Joseph Murphy and Electric Cruise (ISH) that took top spot. In the 1m20 class, Delyth Collins and Creevagh Miss Jones (ISH), a combination that have enjoyed considerable success in the Irish Sport Horse Studbook classes, that were victorious. The three pony Grand Final classes took place after the horse classes. There was €1,000 in prize money on offer for each of the pony classes and entries were strong. In the 128CD Grand Final, Lydia Glynn and Newtown Blue Eyes were worthy winners. The 138CD class saw Kerry Taggart take top spot on board Drishoge Springer. The final class of the day, the 148CD Grand Final, was won by Neil Maguire and Matt Dillon's pony Aroma. Full results and breeding information are detailed below. The winners of each of the seven Grand Final classes, in addition to their prize money, will be awarded training bursaries. This training will be organised through the Horse Sport Ireland Coaching Department and further details will be announced in the New Year. The National Winter Tour has proven to be a great success in its inaugural year. Horse Sport Ireland would like to thank all the venues for hosting the competitions and for ensuring the smooth running of the classes, as well as all those involved in the Tour for their assistance. HSI would also like to thank all the owners and riders for their support of the National Winter Tour and to congratulate them on their successes throughout the Tour.

14/12/08 THE IRISH were more than dominant in this morning's Speed Final at the five star show in Geneva, Switzerland, with 29 year-old Cian O'Connor leading the charge with a win on Dermot O'Rourke's eight year-old mare 'Baloufina'. Fellow Irish rider Jessica Kurten placed Lady Georgina Forbes's 'Castle Forbes Cadeau Z' in fourth, while Swiss-based Niall Talbot came fresh from last week's Italian Grand Prix victory to slot his own nine year-old mare 'Onisha' into fifth place, just over a second behind Kurten. A jubilant O'Connor said afterwards: "We've been knocking on the door each day, so it was great to get our head in front this morning." The Speed Final was the first Irish win at the Swiss show this weekend, but both Kurten and O'Connor will compete in this afternoon's rich Rolex World Cup Grand Prix.

14/12/08 TWO poles down in the jump-off denied Cork's Billy Twomey a top five place in tonight's (Sunday) Porto Grand Prix in Portugal and the Cheshire-based rider had to settle for eighth overall, but did manage to take home just under 2,000 euro in prize money. Riding his own dark bay stallion 'Je t'Aime Flamenco', Twomey saw Italy's Natale Chiaudani claim the winner's rosette with a clear round on 'Snai Seldana' in the 11-horse final round. Earlier the Corkman had a second place in the speed class with the stallion "Goldex', who in a successful weekend also gave him a runner-up spot in Friday's Small Grand Prix and a third place in Thursday's Two Phase competition.

12/12/08 HORSE Sport Ireland has announced the successful venues who will be in receipt of funding under the event improvement programme, a pilot scheme developed by Horse Sport Ireland in conjunction with Eventing Ireland to improve the standard of events in Ireland. Under the programme 60,000 euro will be shared between six successful applicants for venue improvements. The six successful applicants from 18 applications were: Ballinacoola, Ballindenisk, Camphire, Killmanahan, The Northern Region and Tattersalls. All applications were submitted to Horse Sport Ireland through Eventing Ireland's Competitions Team. Applicants were required to outline, in detail, their plans for improving the standard of their event and how the changes would contribute to Eventing Ireland's Competition Development Plan. Eventing Ireland was also requested to produce an approved calendar of events for 2009 prior to the funding being allocated. Horse Sport Ireland Chairman Joe Walsh said that the funding would improve the standard of events for participants and spectators and that people should notice a difference from next season.

12/12/08 IRELAND'S Cian O'Connor came within a whisker of winning tonight's (Friday) Credit Suisse Grand Prix at the five star show in Geneva, Switzerland, but had to settle for runner-up spot when America's Laura Kraut slipped across the line just over half a second faster in the 13 horse jump-off. Meanwhile fellow Irish competitor Jessica Kurten claimed the Grand Prix fourth place on Lady Georgina Forbes's mare 'Quibell' when finishing one-and-a-half seconds behind Kraut. Twenty-nine year-old O'Connor, who beat World No.6 Edwina Alexander into third place, rode the 11 year-old gelding 'Complete' and he said afterwards: "My horse has a huge stride and it's a great big arena but honestly I am just thrilled to be placed amongst such high-calibre opposition. Complete did himself proud for his owners Castlemartin Stud and Stephen O'Connor." O'Connor will ride Aileen Bryan's 'Rancorrado' in Sunday's Rolex World Cup Grand Prix, while Kurten is expected to line out with 'Castle Forbes Libertina'.

12/12/08 CORK-born Billy Twomey took second place in the Small Grand Prix at Porto, Portugal tonight (Friday) riding the Dutch-bred stallion 'Goldex' whose ownership he shares with England's Sue Davies. Twomey, who has been having an excellent run of form since recovering from a serious riding accident earlier this year, was narrowly beaten by Holland's Harrie Smolders in a large starting field of 74, which yielded 17 combinations through to the jump-off. Thirty-one year-old Cheshire-based Twomey had a third place with the stallion in Thursday night's two-phase competition in Porto, and through October racked up several Grand Prix wins and a collection of top five places in the international shows at Belfast and Birmingham, mostly on 'Je t'Aime Flamenco' and 'Fantasia'. Porto's main Grand Prix takes place on Sunday.