Michael Blake names Irish team for Saturday’s Nations Cup in Florida

Irish Show Jumping team manager Michael Blake has named his team for this Saturday’s four-star Nations Cup at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida, USA.

This will be Ireland’s second Nations Cup of the season and Co Clare-born Blake (pictured) will be hoping for a repeat of the performance which saw his team take victory the Nations Cup season-opener at Abu Dhabi in the UAE back in January.

Ireland have been drawn ninth to jump of the 12 teams that take part and line-out as follows:

Clare’s Eoin McMahon with Chakra 9 – owned by Beerbaum Stables
Tipperary’s Max Wachman with Berlux Z – owned by Coolmore Showjumping
Galway’s Andrew Bourns with Sea Topblue (ISH) – owned by Andrew Bourns
Meath’s Cian O’Connor with Cerruti Van Ter Hulst Z – owned by Ronnoco Jump Ltd

Ireland will be up against teams from Venezuela, Chile, Israel, Argentina, Australia, USA, Great Britain, Mexico, Brazil, Belgium and Canada. The $150,000 Nations Cup CSIO4* Presented by Premier Equestrian will feature two rounds of competition. The first round will take place at 9:30pm Irish time on Saturday night and feature all 12 teams, with the top eight teams going forward to the second round which starts at 12.30am Irish time Sunday morning.

You can watch the competition live HERE 

BREEDING
Sea Topblue (ISH) – 2011 gelding by Chacco Blue (MECKL) out of Sea Top Lady (ISH) by Lux Z (HANN). Breeders: James & John Meade, Co. Clare. Owner: Andrew Bourns. Rider: Andrew Bourns (IRL).

The Irish Show Jumping team is sponsored by Devenish and The Underwriting Exchange.
Equiline – Official athlete clothing supplier of Horse Sport Ireland