Irish Show Jumping squad named for Nations Cup season opener in Florida as 21-year-old Cormac Hanley gets first senior call up

Irish Show Jumping development team manager Michael Blake has named a five man squad for the first Longines FEI Nations Cup competition of the 2019 season, which takes place next Sunday February 17th at Deeridge Farms in Wellington, Florida, USA as part of the 2019 Palm Beach Masters Series.

Six teams, Canada, Colombia, Ireland, Israel, Mexico and USA will line-out, in what is the only qualifier to be held in the U.S. for the 2019 Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup Final in Barcelona, Spain, next Autumn.

The Irish squad for the Wellinton Nations Cup is as follows:

Mayo’s Cormac Hanley with VDL Cartello – owned by Heathman Farm LLC
Offaly’s Darragh Kenny with Babalou 41 – owned by Jack Snyder
Limerick’s Paul O’Shea with Skara Glen’s Machu Picchu – owned by Machu Picchu Partners LLC
Down’s Conor Swail with Rubens LS La Silla – owned by Rose Hill Farm
Cork’s Shane Sweetnam with Indra van de Oude Heihoef – owned by The Blue Buckle Group

Cormac Hanley

Ireland will be led by development team manager Michael Blake, who has handed a first senior Nations Cup call up to 21-year-old Cormac Hanley (pictured) from Claremorris Co Mayo

“I think we have a very strong squad for this first Nations Cup of the season and I am confident we can do a good job. Cormac Hanley makes his first appearance on a senior Nations Cup squad after some very good recent performances and he adds a mix of youth to what is an experienced squad. There are some very strong teams in action, including the USA who have included four of their World Equestrian Games team and we are looking forward to what promises to be a great competition,” commented Blake.

Ireland, as a European Nation, will not be eligible for league points in Wellington. Their first points-scoring outing under team manager Rodrigo Pessoa in Europe Division 1 will come at La Baule in France on May 19th.

The Irish Show Jumping team is sponsored by Devenish and The Underwriting Exchange.

Equiline – Official athlete clothing supplier of Team Ireland Equestrian