EXCITEMENT is building in anticipation of next week’s Dublin Horse Show. The five-star event is the highlight of the Irish show jumping year with a Grand Prix worth €200,000 and of course everyone’s favourite, the Nations Cup for the Aga Khan Trophy.

This is the first year the Irish show jumping team will be guided by Brazilian chef d’equipe Rodrigo Pessoa. A past competitor at the show, Pessoa will be very aware of the importance of a win on home soil for the Irish spectators and riders.

He has already named his team for the upcoming European Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden, at the end of August as Bertram Allen (Hector van D’Abdijhoeve), Cian O’Connor (Good Luck), Denis Lynch (All Star 5), Shane Sweetnam (Chaqui Z) and reserve Mark McAuley (Miebello).

This is the same team that represented Ireland in the 2016 Aga Khan with the exception of Sweetnam who replaces Greg Broderick and MHS Going Global.

Who could forget the heartbreaking moment last year when the Nations Cup was decided by a jump-off and Lynch and All Star’s misfortune saw the cup go to Italy.

Just how upset the talented Co Tipperary rider was afterwards gave the viewing public a glimpse into how much this win, in particular, means to even the most successful and experienced of Irish riders.

Keeping with tradition, Pessoa won’t name this year’s Aga Khan team until next Thursday. A good result in Dublin is always expected from the team, who will be hoping to cement their place at the Nations Cup world final in Barcelona next month.

Each national team can compete at six Nations Cup events during the year, counting their best four results towards their final score.

So far, Irish results have included three third places earned in La Baule, Rome and most recently Falsterbo. This, added to a disappointing fifth place in Rotterdam and fourth in Hickstead last week, leaves Ireland in sixth place on the league table, with seven to qualify for the Barcelona final.

The top two riders in the New Heights Champions Series League after the eighth round in Tattersalls earned themselves a place on the international riders list for the Dublin show. This year the places go to Greg Broderick (39 points) and Vincent Byrne (28).

Following the sale of MHS Going Global last Novemeber, Broderick has started to rebuild his string and will line out in the Main Arena this year with two new mounts in Charmeur and Chinook II. The first, a 10-year-old gelding owned by Pearl Biedron, won the opening leg of the New Heights Champions Series at Louth County.

Chinook II, another 10-year-old who was formerly ridden by Ireland’s Anthony Condon and owned by Broderick’s American clients, Molly and Veronica Tracy, has won three and placed second in one of the legs of the 1.50m series.

Byrne has earned his place aboard Martin Walsh’s Hannibal V Overis Z after landing victory in Omagh and picking up four other top places throughout the season.

Last year’s Puissance winner, Shane Breen, returns to defend his title. This year however, after taking over the ride on all the Team Z7 horses, he will ride Acorad 3, the horse that Jack O’Donohue rode to equal first place last year.

ONE TO WATCH

One to watch in particular at the Dublin Horse Show this year is Canadian-based Irish rider Daniel Coyle (22) who, since taking over from Conor Swail as the rider for Sue and Ariel Grange, has produced many impressive top-level wins. Last week he rode on his first Nations Cup team on this side of the pond, producing a second round clear with Cita. This will be the Derryman’s first time riding in the international classes in Dublin.

DE LUCA

Lorenzo de Luca was without doubt the individual star of last year’s show. As it turned out the event in Dublin was a turning point in the young Italian’s career. He had never won at such a high level before, but since Dublin, he has gone on to win after win all over Europe.

His truly remarkable run in 2016 saw him claim victories in the Sport Ireland Classic on Wednesday and both the Serpentine Speed Stakes and the Anglesea Stakes on Thursday. Following that, he was part of the winning Italian team in Friday’s Nations Cup and then added another win in the JLT Stakes on Saturday.

The icing on the cake, and a win that no one could possibly have predicted two weeks earlier, came on Sunday evening when De Luca won the feature class of the show the Longines Grand Prix of Ireland. Sadly, he won’t return this year.

American-based Cork native Shane Sweetnam delighted the home-crowd with two international wins at last year’s show; capturing Saturday morning’s Accumulator and Sunday’s Speed championship. He too will be back in Ballsbridge looking for a repeat performance.

In the two weeks before the Dublin Horse Show our closest neighbour Britain hosted the Nations Cup show in Hickstead (July 27th-30th) which was followed by the Global Champion Tour show in London (August 3rd-6th). This means that for three weekends in a row this little corner of Europe is the epicentre of top-class show jumping in the world.