Splaine names first Irish Nations’ Cup squad for 2015

  • 11 February 2015, 15:26

IRISH show jumping manager Robert Splaine today (Wednesday) announced his squad for the first Nations’ Cup of 2015, which takes place in Ocala, Florida on Friday night.

Ireland’s squad of five, from which Splaine will select a team of four on Thursday, is as follows:

Darragh Kerins/D Elia Van Het Molenhof
Darragh Kenny/Picolo
Conor Swail/Grafton
Kevin Babington/Shorapur
Lorcan Gallagher/Diktator Van De Boslandhoeve

Splaine said today: “This  is not a Furusiyya qualifier for us, as it’s outside our region, however it is for the other teams and the USA and Canada have named their top guns.

“All five horses on our squad have never competed in a Nations’ Cup so in the bigger scheme and looking to build for the future there should be a lot to learn from Friday’s competition.”

It is also the first time Lorcan Gallagher’s name has appeared on a senior squad. He is US-based with Cork’s Shane Sweetnam, he is 23, and from County Down.

Gallagher has had some good results in Kentucky and Wellington with  the stallion Diktator Van De Boslandhoeve.

Robert Splaine

Robert Splaine