WHILE the Nations Cup competition in Aachen did not go Ireland’s way, there was plenty to be proud of, with Irish team members Denis Lynch, Shane Sweetnam, Tom Wachman and Cian O’Connor all securing individual podium placings at the prestigious German show.

The five-star fixture at Aachen kicked off last Tuesday, July 1st and saw Lynch finish on the podium in the opening competition riding Brooklyn Heights into third place. Of the 54 starters, there were 34 clear rounds, with Lynch among the fastest, only being beaten by two Brazilians, Stephan de Freitas Barcha on Chevaux Hex Lup Imperio Egipcio taking the win, followed by Pedro Veniss on CS Hortencia in second place.

Later in the day, Lynch placed sixth in the one-star Sparkassen Youngsters Cup special two-phase class, this time riding Shogun STS, while Sweetnam finished on the podium in third with Rural Juror SCF from a start list of 38.

Wednesday’s five-star Prize of Handwerk class saw Lynch and King Blue in the runner-up position when jumping clear in 60.99. Germany’s Richard Vogel won the class with Phenyo van het Keysersbos in a time of 59.34.

The two-phase Prize of StädteRegion Aachen class saw Wachman finish fourth on board Do It Easy. From the 47 starters, 31 jumped clear to proceed to the second round, where Wachman was among an impressive 21 who managed to jump double clear. Wachman’s time of 32.65 wasn’t quite fast enough to claim a podium position on this occasion. The class was won by Laura Kraut (USA) riding Emeraldo 4 (31.98).

On Thursday, the five-star Stawag Prize class saw Sweetnam place fifth with Coriaan van Klapscheut Z when clear in 68.52, while Trevor Breen on Luidam’s Warrior finished in seventh place (70.37). French rider Nina Mallevaey rode the 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare My Clementine, bred by the late David Prentice, into eighth place (71.55). McLain Ward (USA) rode High Star Hero to win the class in the fastest time of 66.86.

Nations Cup

Thursday evening saw eight teams lining up for the five-star Nations Cup competition. Ireland were not at their best and finished on a score of 26 faults to place seventh. The USA won the competition on four faults, with Belgium second on eight and Britain taking the final podium place on 10 faults.

Michael Blake had selected Tipperary’s Denis Lynch and Vistogrand; Tom Wachman with Tabasco de Toxandria Z; Shane Sweetnam with CSF James Kann Cruz (ISH) (Kannan x CSF Telly Cruz by Cruising, bred by Patrick Connolly) and Cian O’Connor with Bentley de Sury.

In the opening round, first in for Ireland, Lynch and Vistogrand picked up eight faults, while second rider Wachman with Tabasco de Toxandria Z incurred four faults. Third to go, Sweetnam with CSF James Kann Cruz (ISH) finished on eight faults, with O’Connor and Bentley de Sury also incurring eight faults, giving Ireland a score of 20 faults at the end of round one and putting them in seventh place at that stage.

Round two saw Lynch pick up four faults at the water, while Wachman jumped clear but incurred two time-penalties. Sweetnam also collected four faults at the water, but anchorman O’Connor jumped clear for a second-round total of six faults and 26 overall at the end of round two.

Afterwards, Blake said: “Tough night at the office - we wanted to come and give a better go at defending our crown from last year, but it wasn’t to be. Things proved to be very difficult in round one and we just gave ourselves too big of a mountain to climb.

“Obviously all the lads improved in the second round and that’s what we’ll take away from it.

“It’s always very important to learn lessons when things don’t go your way - I think the lads showed plenty of character to keep battling until the end and I was delighted for Tom, who left all poles standing, and Cian who delivered a clear round.”

The Irish team competes at the five-star Nations Cup of Sweden in Falsterbo this weekend, before next week’s European Championship in La Coruna.

On the podium

Lynch was back in the runner-up berth on the podium on Friday, when placing second in the VBR Prize special two-phase class with King Blue, when they jumped double clear and finished in 33.94, just over half a second behind Portuguese winner Rodrigo Giesteira Almeida on Karonia.L (33.37).

Wachman finished on the podium in the Feinkost Käfer-Prize speed and handiness class later in the day with I’m Here, riding a flawless clear round in 61.15. Brazil’s Stephan de Freitas Barcha won the class on Chevaux Hex Lup Imperio Egipcio in a super-fast time of 57.56. Breen placed ninth with Konrad Obolensky (64.10).

Saturday’s Allianz-Prize class saw Sweetnam finish as runner-up on board Coriaan van Klapscheut Z with a double clear round in 51.25, only beaten by Nina Mallavaey (FRA) on My Clementine (ISH) (OBOS Quality (OLD) out of Qualisca de Vansichant (SBS) by Kashmir Van Schuttershof (SBS)), with the winning time of 50.59. Wachman rode Do It Easy into seventh place.

The Sparkassen Youngsters Cup Final saw O’Connor and Pegasus finish in third place, ahead of Lynch on Shogun STS in fourth, while in the overall class ranking, Lynch and Shogun STS were runners-up and O’Connor on Pegasus placed seventh.

Sunday started with the one-star NetAachen Prize, in which Ciaran Nallon took fourth place with Serendepety.

Grand Slam

The Grand Prix of Aachen on Sunday afternoon is part of the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping and this year saw Swiss rider Martin Fuchs taking the win and the huge prize pot of €500,000 with Leone Jei.

The start list of 40 included some of the best combinations in the world, with 18 proceeding to round two and just 11 making it through to the third-round jump-off. Only four horses and riders managed to remain fault-free, with Fuchs and his mount setting the fastest time of 50.29 - more than two seconds ahead of runner-up Laura Kraut (USA) on Baloutinue (52.41), who was followed by another Swiss man, Steve Guerdat in third with Dynamix de Belhame (52.59). The in-form Brazilian Stephan de Freitas Barcha rode Chevaux Primavera Imperio Eqipcio into fourth place (54.33).

Wachman and Tabasco de Toxandria Z was one of the 18 combinations who made it through to the second round, having incurred just three time-penalties, but picked up four faults in round two.

Eventing

Ireland also had a team competing in the eventing Nations Cup at Aachen, with Ian Cassells on Millridge Atlantis, Sarah Ennis on Dourough Ferro Class Act, Georgie Goss on Kojak and Padraig McCarthy on MGH Zabaione making up Dag Albert’s squad. The team finished eighth of the eight nations taking part, but Cassells was best of the Irish individually when he placed 15th with Millridge Atlantis on a score of 46.30.