Unlucky children’s squad denied famous treble in jump-off
The Irish junior and pony show jumping squads have added to the growing lustre of Horse Sport Ireland’s youths programme under Denis Flannelly, by beating two high-class fields in FEI Nations Cup at the Future Champions show in Hagen in the last 24 hours.
And the children’s team were agonisingly close to making it a spectacular treble, only losing out in a jump-off after finishing level with Great Britain and Netherlands this afternoon (Saturday). In the end, they had to settle for third but the margins were very tight and the effort magnificent.
Following their bronze medal winning performance in Zuidwolde last week, the juniors (main photo) were victorious in a nailbiter yesterday (Friday), holding off the hosts Germany by just one fault thanks to a stunning performance by the quartet of talented youngsters.
This morning (Saturday), the pony riders mirrored their victory in The Netherlands with a flawless performance, but it needed to be that good to keep Great Britain and Germany at bay in another thriller.
Clear rounds from Alice Wachman on Coolmore Showjumping’s Killarney, Annie Boland with Mary Boland’s Calisto Blanc and Tabitha Kyle on Bp Goodfellas, owned by Gbbs International, put Ireland in the box seat at the half-way point.
They only had a time fault in hand on the Germans, however, with Belgium still in contention on five.
The rigour of the course was illustrated by the rarity of those blemish-free rounds, with teams from strong equestrian nations Britain, Netherlands and Spain finding the going tough. Indeed of the 45 rounds jumped, only 17 were clear and five of them were Irish.
Wachman and Boland recorded fantastic double clears and Jack Kent rebounded from a disappointing opening effort with Indiana Jones, to have just one rail down when getting the Irish effort under way in the second half.
When Wachman navigated the track without any error, four faulters by Fabio Thielen and Lennard Tillmann meant that the best Germany could do was five and one more clear would secure the honours for the Irish.
Boland ensured that Kyle and her prodigiously talented eight-year-old gelding would not be required, as the pony jumping graduate delivered in composed fashion on her 11-year-old, who was foot-perfect to bag the top spot on the podium (see below).
Sam Widger with the Joe McMahon-owned-and-bred Western Ranger, got the pony riders’ off to the perfect start with brilliant clear today and those efforts were matched by Charlie Flynn, on Montana, owned by Diane Fletcher and Jonathan Flynn, and Lily Tunney with Gabriel Tunney’s Fireman.
Britain and Germany replicated those feats however, so it was all to play for with the combinations returning to arena.
The Green Jackets refused to blink under pressure, as Widger and Flynn repeated their first-round heroics. When Ruben Foley and Sorcha Foley’s Cracher ensured that Ireland would remain on zero, having had just one fence down in the opener, the spotlight shone on the British and German anchors.
They could could not provide the error-free outings they needed, and so Ireland (above) prevailed, sparking joyous celebrations.
The children’s squad of Honor Bills-Everett (Godiva Quality, owned by Equinox Sporthorses), Elsie Tunney (Flexible Flight, owned by Gabriel Tunney), Georgia de Bromhead (Cassido, owned by Thomas Foley) and Lucia Keane (Elia, owned by Susan Keane) garnered invaluable experience in the white heat of battle to secure a podium position.
Double clears by Bills-Everett and Keane were the foundation of an outstanding effort by the young Irish athletes, and Tunney improved on her initial four-faulter with a clear to bring the team level with Britain and Netherlands and force a three-pronged jump-off.
The four riders tried might and main but just did not get the rub of the green, while Georgie de Bromhead in particular demonstrated great character after two difficult rounds, to have just one rail down in the tiebreaker.
Keane completed her contribution with a stupendous third clear round and Elia certainly showed no signs of tiredness by zipping around the arena in 34.91. That wasn’t enough to snatch the silver medal from the Dutch however, with both sides finishing on eight faults but the Irish just 0.89 slower.
Britain were victorious, with a jump-off tally of four faults.
“It has been another wonderful week for our young Irish athletes,” said proud chef d’equipe Denis Flannelly.
“It was brilliant to win both the junior and pony FEI Nations Cups here in Hagen and the children’s team also did themselves proud to be part of a jump-off. The athletes rode extremely well, and they needed to, as the standard was exceptional.
“The ultimate Nations Cup is the European Championships for each category, and there is no better way to prepare for the Championships than to experience the pressure of team jumping, as well as the technical challenges set on the course by some of Europe’s best designers. That is why we are trying to encourage as many young athletes as possible to travel to these shows.
“I’m extremely proud of all the athletes and what they have achieved here. Thanks too to their families, who are so invested in the process, their coaches, and to the athletes’ background teams, who all play very important roles. I’d also like to thank the team in our office at home in Horse Sport Ireland, who work so hard to support our young athletes on their journey.”