Ireland drawn seventh to jump in Italian Nations Cup as Michael Blake confirms starting quartet

Irish Development team manager Michael Blake has named his four team members for tomorrow’s (Friday) five-star Nations Cup at the Italian capital in Rome. Ireland have been drawn seventh to jump of the nine teams that will take part, with Sweden drawn first out of the hat, while the home team from Italy will be fourth into the Piazza di Siena arena.

Irish Show Jumping development team manager Michael Blake

Despite not being part of the Europe Division 1 Nations Cup series, Rome has attracted a strong list of teams which also includes Belgium, Germany, Israel, Switzerland, Netherlands and France.

The Italian Nations Cup in Rome starts at 1.30pm Irish time and Ireland will line out as follows:

Louth’s Mark McAuley with Jasco VD Bisschop – owned by Eva Lundin
Waterford’s Peter Moloney with Chianti’s Champion – owned by Team Harmony
Offaly’s Darragh Kenny with Important De Muze – owned by Kerry Anne LLC
Meath’s Cian O’Connor with PSG Final – owned by Ronnoco Jump Ltd

Ireland have also sent a team to Uggerhaine in Denmark for Saturday’s three-star Nations Cup, where Taylor Vard will be Ireland’s Chef d’Equipe. Ireland have been drawn 12th to jump of the 13 teams and line out with the same four horses and riders that emerged as winners in last Friday’s Nations Cup at Drammen in Norway.

The Irish team for the Uggerhaine Nations Cup is:
Tyrone’s Jenny Rankin with Bennys Legacy – owned by Deirdre Bourns
Laois’s Aidan Killeen with Fair Play – owned by H.P.J. Verdellen
Kilkenny’s Susan Fitzpatrick with Fellow Castlefield – owned by Sharon Fitzpatrick
Kilkenny’s Ger O’Neill with Castlefield Vegas (ISH) – owned by Martin Egan

The Irish Show Jumping team is sponsored by Devenish and The Underwriting Exchange
Equiline – Official athlete clothing supplier of Team Ireland Equestrian