IRELAND claimed victory at the Longines EEF Nations Cup, held at Scuderia La Caccia in Bedizzole, Italy over the weekend, coming out on top of the 13 nations taking part.
Chef d’Equipe Jessica Kürten had selected her team as Kildare’s Niall Talbot (Charming Dream Z), Wexford’s Harry Allen (Edison De Hus), Kilkenny’s Seamus Hughes Kennedy (MHS Cosmo (ISH) - Plot Blue x MHS Jersey Girl by Cardento, bred by Sinead Brennan) and Louth’s Mark McAuley (Rossi VD Heffick) and they gave a great account of themselves to secure the win.
Ireland was drawn sixth to jump on Friday, with Talbot out first for the team coming home with nothing to add. Allen followed suit with a clear round, while Hughes Kennedy and McAuley each picked up four faults. This put Ireland in fourth place at the halfway stage on a score of four faults, behind Switzerland, Italy and France.
In round two, Talbot and Allen both completed brilliant double clears, with McAuley also jumping a super clear round to keep Ireland on zero second time out, with an overall score of four faults. This put Ireland level with Italy and meant a jump-off was required to decide the winner.
Kürten chose Harry Allen to jump for a third time and he and Edison de Hus jumped an incredible third clear round in a time of 40.37. Piergiorgio Bucci was selected to jump for Italy, but he picked up four faults, handing victory to the Irish. Switzerland completed the podium in third.
Seamus Hughes Kennedy and MHS Cosmo in action at the Les Scuderia la Caccia Longines EEF Nations Cup
Delighted
This was Kürten’s first Nations Cup win since taking the role of Chef d’Equipe and she was delighted with the team’s performance, saying: “I’m very proud of them. This is a really great, great team of riders and horses and I was delighted to be able to put this team together to come here to Bedizzole.”
She commented: “What started off as a very difficult day, with never-ending rain and a lot of uncertainty as to whether we could even run the competition, the show organisers made a great job of being patient and waiting for the rain to stop.
“Our team gave a very solid performance and what was a hard-fought Nations Cup, with strong Swiss and Italian teams.
“Harry and Edison De Hus in the jump-off set a time that forced Bucci into making a mistake and the victory was ours. It was a great team performance and our thanks to everyone involved - it was a sweet success.”
Kürten also discussed how the Longines EEF Series fits into the plan for the long-term development of Irish horses and riders. She said: “This is our plan: make use of the EEF to grow our riders and horses. For the future, we have some of the riders here that might be looking towards the Olympics. We’re trying to build horses and riders towards the Olympic goal, and this is why the Longines EEF Series is especially good for us.”
Fantastic
Allen jumped three impeccable clear rounds with Edison de Hus and said afterwards: “Edison de Hus is a fantastic horse. We were here last February and we won a class at 1.50m. We’ve done many competitions at this level and he has always been super. Actually, I didn’t feel that much pressure in the jump-off. I’m only very happy about how the horse jumped. I kept concentrating on my plan and everything went just fine. We were fast.”
Launched in 2020 by the European Equestrian Federation in partnership with Longines, the Longines EEF Series was created to provide developing riders, horses and nations with a meaningful pathway into elite team competition. Now in its sixth edition, the Series has become one of the most important development circuits in European show jumping.
Mark McAuley and Rossi vd Heffinck - in action at the Les Scuderia la Caccia Longines EEF Nations Cup
Grand Prix win
Talbot continued his clear round form in Friday’s Nations Cup into Saturday, when he was among 79 starters in the two-star 1.45m Grand Prix. Nine clears proceeded to the jump-off, where five completed without fault. Talbot rode FTS Elliot to a perfect double clear, stopping the clock in 40.18 in the jump-off to take the win.
It was an all-Ireland podium of sorts, as the 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare Creevyquinn Pearl (Cardento x Fragonda by Corland), bred by Stephen and Elisha Reilly, was ridden into second place by Chad Fellows (GBR) in a time of 41.95, while Cork’s Abbie Sweetnam placed third with Kiritan (42.04).
Talbot had a winning weekend, having already won Thursday’s two-star 1.40m two-phase class with FTS Elliot from a huge 105 starters. Here, 63 posted clear first rounds, with 42 completing double clear. Talbot’s second phase time of 27.09 proved best to secure the red ribbon.