Irish Show Jumping Team in strong position heading into Day 2 of the European Championships

The Underwriting Exchange and Devenish Irish Show Jumping team, sponsored by Equiline, put forward an excellent performance in the opening class of the Longines FEI European Championships in Gothenburg to secure fourth position heading into tomorrow’s (Thursday) team competition.

Both Shane Sweetnam with Chaqui Z and Cian O’Connor with Good Luck produced superb rounds to finish in the Top 10. The Table C, one round speed class, of 81 riders was won by Peder Fredricson (SWE) on ‘H&M All In’ in a time of 75.70 seconds. In a class that proved a complex challenge, Shane Sweetnam riding the 11-year-old Stallion Chaqui Z produced a faultless round in a time of 79.89 to finish in 8th place.

Cian O’Connor and Good Luck, a combination fresh from producing a faultless double clear in the Aga Khan Nations Cup in Dublin, produced an exceptional fast round that would have seen them take second spot had it not been for one fence down giving them a total of 80.20 seconds and a finishing position of 10th place.

Combined with Denis Lynch and All Stars’ 22nd place finish, Team Ireland are in a strong position only 2.96 penalties behind early leaders Switzerland who finished on 5.15, France are in second on 6.78, Sweden third on 7.21, and Ireland fourth on 8.11 penalties.

The second round of jumping on Thursday starts at 12.30 GMT. The 10 teams with the best scores following the first two rounds of jumping will then go forward to Friday’s final round of the team competition under floodlights at 7.30pm, after which the team medals will be awarded.

The Irish Team for the Longines FEI European Championships is:
Bertram Allen with Hector Van D’Abdijhoeve – owned by Noel Delahunty/Connaught Bloodstock
Cian O’Connor with Good Luck – owned by Adena Springs & Ronnoco Jump Ltd
Denis Lynch with All Star 5 – owned by Thomas Straumann & Denis Lynch
Shane Sweetnam with Chaqui Z – owned by Spy Coast Farm LLC & Shane Sweetnam

For the latest Irish scores as they happen from the Longines FEI European Championships see Team Ireland Equestrian on Twitter: @TeamIRLEq and on Facebook: @TeamIrelandEquestrian

Official Championship Hashtags: #FEIEuros2017 #Gothenburg2017 #jumping #ireland

Watch live on FEITV

Link to live results HERE

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