ROUND two of the three-star Longines EEF Series Nations Cup was a Region West qualifier held at Lier in Belgium last Friday and saw the Irish team place 10th of the 13 teams taking part - the other nations being hosts Belgium, Brazil, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal (who won last year), Spain and Sweden.
Following a podium finish in Mannheim, Germany, the week before, High Performance Manager Jessica Kurten had selected her team as Denis Lynch and Vistogrand, Niamh McEvoy and the nine-year-old Irish Sport Horse BP Rocket Man (Stakkato Gold x BP Quidy by Quidam Junior I, bred by Austin Broderick), Jason Foley and Chedington Hazy Toulana and Clem McMahon and the nine-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare Carneyhaugh Unison (Cornet Obolensky x Carneyhaugh Allegro by Don Juan De La Bouverie, bred by Patrick Breen), while Conan Wright and Mr Cornet De Regor filled the reserve spot.
Prior to the competition, Kurten said: “Lier is the first of our two qualifiers in the Longines EEF Series, so we will be looking for a good result. Again, we have chosen an ambitious team of Niamh McEvoy, Jason Foley, Denis Lynch and Clem McMahon, with Conan Wright the reserve.
“We are expecting very strong competition here in Lier and I’m looking forward to taking on the other teams with our great horses and riders.”
The competition was indeed strong, as was the challenging course and Ireland were drawn last of the teams to jump.
The first round saw first to jump for Ireland, Lynch and Vistogrand, picking up four faults. McMahon was next up with Carneyhaugh Unison (ISH) and they finished with eight faults. Foley and Chedington Hazy Toulana were third to go and incurred four faults, while McEvoy, in the anchor position, steered BP Rocket Man to a perfect clear round. This put Ireland on a first-round score of eight faults and into ninth place at the halfway stage.
In round two, Lynch and Vistogrand repeated their first-round score of four faults, while McMahon and Carneyhaugh Unison matched that, as did Foley and Chedington Hazy Toulana - both also picking up four faults. Last to go, McEvoy and BP Rocket Man also incurred four faults, giving Ireland a second-round total of 12 faults. Ireland’s two-round total was 20 faults, which put them into 10th place.
The home team from Belgium were the clear winners, with the only zero score of the competition, with Great Britain finishing second on four faults, ahead of the Czech Republic in third place, also on a final score of four.
In the ribbons
In the individual classes, Lynch finished joint fourth in the three-star 1.45m speed class on Thursday riding the 12-year-old gelding Conterno-Blue PS. A large start list of 80 resulted in 41 clear rounds, with the fastest of these being recorded by Holly Smith (GBR) on Sing Z in a time of 65.47. Lynch’s time of 67.31 was exactly the same as that of Italy’s Giampiero Garofalo on Lambrusco, so the pair shared fourth place.
Friday’s one-star Young Horse six-year-old 1.20m class saw Ireland’s Graham Grant place sixth on Kera De Vains, with a clear round in 84.61, while Daniel McAlinden on Cuantos Obolensky JK Z placed 10th in 88.73. McAlinden went on to take fourth place in the day’s two-star 1.25m two-phase special class on board Amigo H.
Saturday’s 77-strong one-star Young Horse seven and eight-year-old 1.35m/1.40m jump-off class saw three Irish in the top 10, with Conan Wright securing the runner-up position with Oliva P. The pair finished less than a second behind the winner, Gilles Thomas (BEL) on Scotch Van Het Dennehof (32.78). Lynch rode Cornet Gold into fourth place in 35.20, while Leah Stack placed 10th on board N-Joy Bull’s Eye Z (37.78).
McAlinden took eighth place in Sunday’s two-star 1.45m Grand Prix, when riding the 10-year-old gelding Count Me In to a double clear round in a jump-off time of 37.75.