Irish Olympic Eventing contenders out in force at UK event

A number of Team Ireland Equestrian’s Olympic contenders will compete at Chatsworth (GBR) this weekend. Nine of the ten Olympic Rio eventing squad riders will compete at the 3 star event, which has been identified as an important event for Olympic selection by HSI Team Manager, Nick Turner.

Chatsworth will host the first leg of the new Event Rider Master Series this weekend, a new concept aimed at showcasing eventing to global audiences. The Series offers increased prize money for riders and is linked to 3 star events already on the calendar in Great Britain. The competition has been shortened to two days, with television and live streaming in mind. Each leg is limited to 40 riders, based on world rankings. Ten Irish combinations have qualified for the first leg at Chatsworth which will start on Saturday. Live streaming of the eventing masters will be available here – www.eventridermasters.tv/watch.

In showjumping, while Ireland do not have a team in the 5 star Nations Cup show in La Baule (FRA) this year, two Irish riders, Bertram Allen and Cian O’Connor, will compete there as individuals. The key event will be the Grand Prix which takes place at 12.00 GMT on Sunday. In total over 70 riders will represent Ireland at 14 shows in international competitions this weekend in 10 different countries. All this week’s entries are now available to view by clicking on the individual shows under ‘FEI Entries & Results’. Live links to results from this week’s shows are also available. Follow your Team Ireland Equestrian riders on the HSI website, Facebook (Team Ireland Equestrian) and Twitter (@TeamIRLEq).