THE Irish show jumping team gave a great account of themselves to finish as runners-up in the second round of the five-star Longines League of Nations in Ocala, Florida over the weekend.
High Performance Jumping Manager Jessica Kürten’s team of Bertram Allen, Cian O’Connor, Tom Wachman and Shane Sweetnam were only bettered by a very strong German team, whose final score of four faults was the best on the day.
Saturday’s Longines League of Nations competition saw 10 teams line up to battle it out for the prestige of winning a round of the series, as well as a slice of the hefty €700,000 prize fund.
The Irish team was drawn sixth to jump and first rider, Wexford’s Allen, rode a perfect clear on the 10-year-old Qonquest de Rigo to get the team off to a great start. Meath man O’Connor was next in for the Irish riding Chatolinue PS and they also jumped a clear round. Third to go, Tipperary’s Tom Wachman and Tabasco de Toxandria Z picked up four faults, which ended up as the discard score from round one, as last to go, Cork’s Sweetnam on the 13-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding CSF James Kann Cruz (Kannan x CSF Telly Cruz by Cruising), bred by Patrick Connolly, jumped another clear round, meaning that Ireland reached the halfway stage on a zero score, putting them in the lead.
After his round, Wachman said: “He jumped a brilliant round and I was very happy with him. The pole down wasn’t his fault, I just had the clock in my head coming to it but he jumped great.
“I got to watch 10 or 12 rounds before I jumped and it was great to get Cian’s input after he had jumped before me. He told me it rode as it walked and he was right. Hopefully we can keep it going now.”
Team USA had a disappointing first round, when Lillie Keenan suffered elimination and Laura Kraut’s 33-fault score had to be counted, so any hopes of them winning on home soil for a second consecutive year were dashed.
Flawless
The LLN format means that three riders take on the second round and every score counts. Allen collected eight faults second time out, which put Ireland in fourth place after the first riders had jumped. O’Connor was next to go, though, and performed under pressure to complete a double clear round and put Ireland into joint second place with Belgium at that point. Anchorman Sweetnam was equally cool and another flawless clear round from him meant Ireland finished on eight faults to claim the runner-up position.
It was Germany’s time to shine, however, and their top-class team of Andre Thieme on DSP Chakaria, Christian Kukuk on Checker 47, Richard Vogel on Cloudio and Rene Dittmer on Corsica X completed on a final score of four faults in a time of 221.91 seconds to take home the top prize of €230,000. Ireland were next best on eight faults in 219.85 and took home the €150,000 second prize, with Belgium filling out the podium in third on 12 faults in 219.07 for €110,000.
Kürten was delighted with the runner-up placing and said afterwards: “It was a great Longines League of Nations tonight with some strong teams and a tough track, built by Alan Wade. We had a super first round with three clears and a great round from Tom Wachman with just one down.
“We then decided to save our younger rider for another day and the three lads went in for the second round.
“Bertram was unfortunate to have two down, and it dropped us down a little bit, but Cian and Shane, coming in as last man, put us right back up into second place after producing great clear rounds to finish behind a very strong German team. I’m very proud of the team and onwards and upwards.”
Germany currently lead the league table on 190 points, followed by France in second on 155 and Ireland in third on 150. The next leg of the league will be held at Rotterdam in The Netherlands from June 18th to 21st.
In the ribbons
The five-star Longines League of Nations fixture at Ocala, Florida ran from March 18th to 22nd and the Irish had got on the scoreboard in Thursday’s two-star $32,000 1.45m Grand Prix qualifier, when O’Connor and Pegasus finished seventh from a start list of 51. They were among eight clear rounds first time out to secure a place in the jump-off, where they were among five to pick up four faults against the clock, with only three combinations managing to remain on a zero score. Canada’s Sean Jobin on Arkuga won the class with a double clear in 37.39.
Bertram Allen and Pacino Amiro were the best of the Irish in Thursday’s five-star $350,000 1.60m Grand Prix with an eighth place out of 38 starters. The pair incurred a single time penalty in the first round, which ruled them out of the jump-off - with seven combinations battling it out against the clock for a share of the generous prize fund, with five completing double clear rounds.
It was German one-two with Andre Thieme on Paule S taking the winner’s prize of €105,000 in a time of 41.85, followed by Christian Kukuk on Fantasia de WY in the runner-up position to take home €70,000 (42.14). France’s Nina Mallevaey rode Nikka vd Bisschop into third in 42.49 for a prize of €52,500.
Competition concluded on Sunday with the two-star $65,000 1.45m Grand Prix, in which O’Connor and Pegasus placed eighth. Twenty-seven starters were reduced to eight for the jump-off, with six completing double clear rounds. O’Connor and his mount picked up four faults second time out to finish in eighth place.