THE Irish eventing team became the first team in any sport to secured Olympic qualification for Team Ireland at the 2028 Los Angeles Games when finishing fourth at the FEI Eventing World Championships in Aachen, Germany last Sunday.
Having started the final day of show jumping just a pole off the podium, Ireland’s final score of 122.5 was nine points adrift of USA, who rose from fifth to secure the bronze medal.
The all-conquering British team of Ros Canter (Lordships Graffalo), Laura Collett (London 52), Tom McEwen (JL Dublin) and Gemma Stevens (Flash Cooley, ISH bred by Jim O’Neill) won the team gold medal on a score of 84 - the best team finishing score ever recorded at an Olympic Games or World Championships, beating the previous benchmark of 86.3 set by Britain at Tokyo 2021. Across the last five global championships, Britain have now won team gold at four of them in 2018 (Tryon), 2021 (Tokyo Olympics), 2024 (Paris Olympics) and 2026.
Germany took the silver medal on home soil on 95.6, while their hero Michael Jung took the individual gold medal with a fabulous clear when last to go with the 18-year-old gelding fischerChipmunk FRH.
The top three after cross-country remained the same when Canter secured the individual silver with a clear round, just after compatriot Laura Collett had picked up four faults, but it was good enough to keep her on the podium in third.
Ros Canter was relieved when speaking afterwards. “It’s just been the most amazing week,” the double medallist said. “We have the most fantastic team atmosphere; not just riders, but all the behind-the-scenes staff; the support we have is second to none thanks to the lottery funding that we get, and then we have these great partners like Lordships Graffalo who time and time again comes out and he just thoroughly loves his job. I think it just goes to show that these horses truly love what they’re doing.”
Aoife Clark was best of the Irish in 11th place with the 11-year-old gelding Full Monty de Lacense, owned by the Ace of Spades Syndicate. “It has been a fantastic week,” said Clark. “The team spirit was great, the horses all jumped well and everyone rode well.
“Everyone was saying that the Olympic qualification was the priority, and it was, and it means a lot to have it, but we were a little disappointed not to get the medal. And I suppose that shows how far we have come, that we have that ambition.
“Fourth in the world is a bloody good result. And there is a lot to look forward to. Our horses are very young. Okay, you have Salty [Colorado Blue], who was brilliant again but the other three horses are 10, 11 and 12. If you look at the teams we were battling against for the medal - Switzerland and USA, and even Great Britain and Germany - they had horses that were far more experienced and some of those won’t be around in two years.”
Aoife Clark and Full Monty de Lacense storming around the cross-country \ Tomas Holcbecher
At his first championship as Irish High Performance manager, Australian five-star winner Sam Griffiths said: “I’m absolutely thrilled with how all the Irish riders performed this week and their horses as well. We came in really wanting to be very competitive. Our goal was to try and win a medal. We fell just a bit short, but we achieved Olympic qualification and so we’re absolutely thrilled with that.”
He added: “We feel that this is just the start of the journey of this group together and that we can really build on this and so we’re incredibly hopeful about LA. We’re going to be very ambitious and look to try and win a medal at LA and I definitely feel we’ve got both the horses and riders to achieve that and this has been a great foundation.”
Solid start
At the conclusion of the dressage on Friday, Ireland were seventh of the 16 teams vying for both medals and Olympic qualification. The highlight was Austin O’Connor’s confident performance with the 17-year-old Kate Jarvey-bred Colorado Blue on Friday morning. The judges rewarded their test with a score of 29.0 for 14th place, a personal best for O’Connor at a global championship.
“There is a lot of pressure personally, and you are on a team and you want to do your best,” O’Connor said after his test. “He is a horse who has progressively got better in this phase; and he is suddenly now recognised [as] a horse in the 20s. It’s quite extraordinary that he is still just getting [stronger]. This test he wouldn’t have coped [with] it 12 months ago, so what can I say, he is amazing.”
Pathfinders Ian Cassells and Ber, Fiona and Gerry Leahy’s 12-year-old gelding Millridge Atlantis scored 33.5.
Aoife Clark was delighted with her ride on Full Monty De Lacense and they earned 31.5 to lie in 32nd place individually. Padraig McCarthy was the Irish anchorman with the 10-year-old MGH Zabaione, owned by the rider, Diane Brunsden and Peter Cattell and he scored 32.8. Individual rider Georgie Goss and Kojak scored 31.0 for 26th.
Britain headed the team standings on 72.8, a hair’s breadth ahead of hosts Germany on 73.6, while only 0.3 penalties separated France and New Zealand, further back in third and fourth respectively.
The British lead was thanks to Laura Collett’s score of 22.8 with her reigning European champion London 52, which saw them sit in second place after the first phase. Compatriot Ros Canter and her double Burghley and Badminton winner Lordships Graffalo scored 23.4 to sit fourth, while Tom McEwen completed the team scores with a 26.6 in fifth place with JL Dublin.
It was the Germans who sat in between - topped by the 2021 Olympic champion Julia Krajewski, who produced a flawless performance with Uelzener’s Nickel for 22. Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk FRH, the 2024 Paris Olympic champions, was just a mark adrift on 23 to sit behind Collett in third.
“He was really supple and with me, and I could really ride,” Krajewski commented. “I really had time to enjoy my dressage. There’s a lot still to happen, but in the end, 0.1 can make the difference for a medal, so you really want to get every point you can.”
GB take hold
Saturday saw 35,000 spill into Aachen to watch riders take on Giuseppe Della Chiesa’s (ITA) spectacular track, which caused plenty of movement on the leaderboard. With an optimum time of nine minutes 50 seconds, the clock was always expected to play a part, but its influence became clear from the opening combinations. Only six of the field made the time, with five of those finishing the day inside the top 10. Fifty-three combinations completed without incurring any jumping penalties, including all five of the Irish riders.
Britain emerged with an even firmer grip on the team competition, adding just 2.8 penalties to their dressage total to lead on 75.6 - 14.8 penalties clear of Germany on 90.4. However, the leading nation weren’t without their own drama, when Gemma Stevens and the Irish Sport Horse Flash Cooley were eliminated at fence eight for a second run out.
Canter and Lordships Graffalo were faultless, finishing inside the optimum time with Britain’s best score of the day to move from fourth to second, overtaking teammate Collett and London 52, who added just 0.8 time penalties to drop to third.
Jung was foot-perfect inside the time and leapt to the top of the leaderboard with just 0.4 of a mark to spare over Canter. The 18-year-old fischerChipmunk FRH has now made the optimum time at five separate Championships, a record matched only by Jung’s former champion La Biosthetique-Sam FBW.
“He’s an unbelievable horse,” said Jung. “He was full of energy, galloping, jumping and listening so well. It’s such an honour to have this horse.”
The German squad remained second after a day of mixed fortunes. Julia Krajewski (Uelzener’s Nickel) dropped from first to 20th when adding 13.6 time penalties. Malin Hansen-Hotopp (Carlitos Quidditch K) added 3.2 for time, while Libussa Lübbeke (Caramia FRH) was the discard score.
Switzerland surged into third following consistent rounds from Mélody Johner (Erin), Felix Vogg (Frieda) and Robin Godel (Grandeur de Lully CH), despite trouble for Nadja Minder (Top Job’s Jalisco), who fell at fence 8b.
Padraig McCarthy and MGH Zabaione \ Tomas Holcbecher
Phenomenal Irish
Ireland started the day in seventh, but four phenomenal performances saw them climb up the leaderboard. Ian Cassells put in the perfect pathfinder round aboard Millridge Atlantis, despite a scary moment at the water, to pick up just 7.2 time penalties.
Next out was Clark with Full Monty de Lacense. They completed with one of the rounds of the day around Giuseppe Della Chiesa’s (ITA) course, picking up just 1.2 time faults.
“He’s some horse, and he feels like he’s getting better and better. I could have cruised round inside the time, I was saying ‘whoa’, but in my head I was thinking, ‘I’m on the team, be clear before being fast’, and actually the last couple of fences, I took his rhythm away and should have let him go. But he’s been amazing,” Aoife said afterwards.
She added on the track: “It is a racetrack. You’ve got to get up on your minutes early. Fence five doesn’t ride brilliantly, but other than that you just need to be forward and confident and give them time to see the questions.” That round saw her move up from 32nd to 12th place.
Austin O’Connor insured the team a good score when cruising around with his CCI5* winner Colorado Blue to pick up eight time faults. O’Connor commented: “We’re very much in the mix as a team, which is great. Personally, I just made a decision at 24 to go long; I just felt it was slightly catching up with him. You know, it’d be a lot more of an intense type track than he’d be used to. It’s quite twisty and turn-y!”
Padraig McCarthy completed a perfect day when clear with his home-bred championship debutant MGH Zabaione. They added 7.6 time penalties. “It’s a great pleasure to have bred this one and have him here at 10 years old, and what a performance for Team Ireland; everybody clear. I think we’re probably the only nation that brought all the horses clear across country and that’s why it’s so special to ride at a championship with Team Ireland.”
Ireland’s individual rider Georgie Goss and Kojak also went clear round the track to pick up 12 time penalties in 32nd place.
Final day thriller
The magnificent stadium was packed for the final show jumping phase and, with so little between both the teams and individuals for medals, it went right down to the very last rider to be decided.
The sweeping course made full use of the vast space and clear rounds were at a premium, with just 13 combinations, 22% of the field, leaving every fence standing and finishing inside the 91-second time allowed.
For Ireland, one too many faults saw their hopes of the podium slip away. Ian Cassells opened the Irish account with eight faults to finish 29th individually.
A silver medallist eight years ago with Mr Chunky, Padraig McCarthy and MGH Zabaione looked to be on their way to a clear round, but finished with one fence down and a time penalty. They finished 24th at their first championship together. Two-time Olympic partnership Austin O’Connor and Colorado Blue knocked the flimsy plank to also pick up four faults and finished 19th.
The final team rider was Aoife Clark and Full Monty de Lacense. They started the day in 12th place individually and moved up one slot to finish 11th after just one fence down.
That left Ireland on a final score of 122.5. Three clear jumping rounds from the USA team of Will Coleman (Diabolo), Boyd Martin (Cooley Nutcracker, ISH bred by Gary Doherty) and Phillip Dutton (Denim) saw them finish on 113.5 to secure the bronze medal. Their fourth team member was Caroline Pamukcu and the Irish Sport Horse HSH Blake (bred by Justin Burke), who parted company on cross-country. Switzerland dropped to fifth place, while New Zealand, Sweden and Belgium also secured LA 28 qualification.
Britain concluded a dominant week in record-breaking fashion, with Collett, Canter, McEwen and Gemma Stevens adding World team gold to an extraordinary run of Championship success. McEwen and JL Dublin opened their final-phase campaign with four faults, before Collett and London 52 added 4.4 penalties. Anchor combination Canter and the formidable Lordships Graffalo then produced a smooth clear to seal the World title when second last into the arena.
Quotes:
Aoife Clark (IRL): “My horse is such an athlete and I was so proud. He used to be quite nervous and Aachen is one of the most atmospheric arenas around. He definitely got a bit lit up and didn’t make the shape he can over his jumps, but he is so young and would not have been in that sort of atmosphere before. He will learn and, in that respect, it was brilliant for the entire team. We would love to have had a medal and were disappointed not to get it, but we are in there among the best in the world now and that’s where we want to be.”
Laura Collett (GBR): “We came here to win a team gold medal, and we’ve done that and added a couple of extras just for a bonus. London is absolutely a horse of a lifetime. He’s now won team gold medal at Europeans, two Olympic Games, a Worlds and three individual medals. I could never have ever dreamt 10 years ago when I bought him that he would have done half of what he’s achieved. I know I’ll never have a horse like him again; I am just cherishing every day.”
Boyd Martin (USA): “I was nervous as hell today. I knew we probably had an outside chance of getting a medal if we all jumped clear and we were lucky with America to have three really good jumping horses. So Cooley Nutcracker has been in phenomenal form jumping and he went fantastic.”