HORSE Sport Ireland has announced the team of horses that will represent the Irish Sport Horse Studbook at the inaugural WBFSH Studbooks Jumping Global Champions Trophy. This first ever Inter-Studbook team championship will be held at the Longines Tops International Arena in Valkenswaard, The Netherlands, from September 28th to October 1st 2023.

A total of 20 Irish-bred horses will represent the Irish Sport Horse Studbook across four age categories: five-, six-, seven- and eight-year-olds as selected by Horse Sport Ireland’s show jumping young horse team chef d’equipe Taylor Vard.

Potential

Speaking on the squad selected to compete in Valkenswaard, Vard said: “The WBFSH Studbooks Jumping Global Champions Trophy in Valkenswaard is taking place just four days after Lanaken finishes. We have teams comprising of five horses in all four age categories up to and including the eight-year-olds that are showing great potential.

“This has also opened an exciting opportunity for some of our young riders to take up some team positions along with some of our more experienced riders that will give them fantastic experience on such a prestigious stage, and I hope this exposure will help develop our young horses for the future.”

For the inaugural 2023 edition, a team will comprise of five horses per category. There will be two qualifying rounds and one final for each age group. During the second qualifying round, the horses start in the reverse order of the results in the first qualifier.

The final will be between the best 15 teams per category, with only three horses of the original team. These three horses are chosen at the discretion of the studbook’s appointed chef d’equipe. There is no jump-off for the horses in the five-year-old age group. The total prize money at the event will be €170,000.

The selected horses are listed below. Due to space constraints, we could not list the breeding of each horse. Visit horsesportireland.ie to see full breeding information.

The list of reserve horses can also be found on the HSI website.

Five-year-olds

Realteens Orestus (bred by Sean Keyes and Jennifer Crowley/ridden by Richard Kerins); Ceide Candy Heart (Mary Walsh/Stephen Gibbons); Cape Tribulation (Peter Killeen/Kian Dore); Glidawn Gigi (Gerard Burke/Gemma Phelan); LCC Dunard Lady Dominator (Cathy Cuffe/Annie Courtney-Cadam).

Six-year-olds

RSK Quality Cruise (bred by Charlie McElhinney/ridden by Richard Kerins); Coolcorron Lone Ranger (Robert Splaine/Robert Splaine); Kathleens Candy Clover (Kathleen O’Reilly/John Mulligan); Castleconnell Candy Man (Greg Clohessy/Paddy O’Donnell); ESI Indigo (Ennisnag Stud/Oisin Aylward).

Seven-year-olds

Curraghgraigue Jack Bro (bred by Baden Powell/ridden by Gemma Phelan); Shannondale Anzac (Martin Walsh/Alfie Bradstock); Benny’s Lass (Tom Hutchinson/Paraic Kenny); Clonterm Obolensky (Brian Duff/Oliver Glancu Jnr); Cornet Clover Girl (Seamus Carew/Sean Monaghan).

Eight-year-olds

WEC Mermus Rua (bred Ray Brown/ridden by Paddy O’Donnell); DHF Alliance (Paul Douglas/Comdt Geoff Curran); Tranquility Bay (John Mulvey/Joanne Blair); CBI Karhari (Aidan Carroll/Jonathan Gordon); Kilcorig Elyshium (Nigel Jackson/Paddy O’Donnell).