Irish Show Jumping squad named for second Nations Cup of the season in Florida

Irish Show Jumping team manager Michael Blake has named his squad for the $150,000 four-star Nations Cup which takes place next Saturday February 29th at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Florida, USA.

Ireland got their 2020 Nations Cup campaign underway with a sixth place finish at the Palm Beach Masters in Florida last weekend. The Nations Cup competition is one of the highlights of the 12-week Winter Equestrian Festival and the Irish squad selected is as follows:

Clare’s David Blake with Keoki owned by David Blake, Gwendolyn Dvorkin & Pine Hollow Farm
Offaly’s Darragh Kenny with Go Easy De Muze owned by Whiterock Farm Ltd & Darragh Kenny
Limerick’s Paul O’Shea with Skara Glen’s Chancelloress owned by Gerry Hayden, Michael Hayden, QBS Equestrian LLC, & Skara Glen Stables
Cork’s Shane Sweetnam  with Deleyn owned by Spy Coast Farm & Shane Sweetnam
Cork’s Billy Twomey with Lady Lou owned by Sue Davis & Billy Twomey

Ireland finished as runners-up at the same fixture in 2019 following a jump-off between the Irish and the eventual winners USA and Michael Blake is looking forward to what promises to be another exciting competition:

“The Nations Cup at the Winter Equestrian Festival is always a special occasion. We have some new horses to try out with an experienced group of riders and I expect us to be very competitive. The American team are on a great run having won last week at the Palm Beach Masters and i’m sure they will be hoping to retain the trophy that they won at WEF last year when we ran them very close. There are always several strong teams at this fixture and it’s a special atmosphere under floodlights which we are looking forward to.”

Following Florida, Ireland’s next Nations Cup outing will be at La Baule, France in May which is Ireland’s first points-scoring Nations Cup of the year in Europe’s top division.

The Irish Show Jumping team is sponsored by Devenish & The Underwriting Exchange

Equiline – Official athlete clothing supplier of Team Ireland Equestrian