IRELAND’s finished on the podium for the fifth time from six Nations Cups this year in the Spanish Nations Cup at Vejer De La Frontera last Saturday. Victory was within grasp of Michael Blake’s team but they ultimately fell short with the German team taking the top spot for the second time in as many weeks.
Blake’s team of Mark McAuley (Jasco VD Bisschop), Michael G Duffy (Lapuccino 2 (ISH)), Cameron Hanley (ESI Toulouse (ISH)) and Denis Lynch (Cristello), finished on a two-round total of eight faults for third place, behind Denmark in second.
Kicking off a day late due to torrential rain at the venue, 17 teams lined out in the first round, with just eight progressing to round two. Ireland got off to the perfect start and were in a share of the lead at the halfway stage with zero faults.
Fourth into the arena and first for Ireland, Mark McAuley and Scea la Tuiliere’s 11-year-old gelding Jasco VD Bisschop produced a classy clear round. Irish connections were delighted to see two Irish Sport Horses line out, both, incidentally, by Belmont House Stud resident Livello.
Mayo’s Michael G Duffy was foot perfect with Carl Hanley’s experienced Lapuccino 2, who was bred by Hanley’s father-in-law Sven Kapp. Next up was Nations Cup debutant ESI Toulouse, under the experienced Cameron Hanley, and they too produced an excellent round to come home with nothing to add to leave the team on a score of zero.
The nine-year-old gelding was bred by Cian O’Connor at Ennisnag Stud in Co Kilkenny out of the Quasimodo Vd Molendreef mare Catina.
That meant Denis Lynch wasn’t required to jump the first round and Ireland were in a share of the lead with Egypt. Denmark were in second place with two faults. Germany and Sweden carried four faults, while Morocco, Portugal and Brazil also made it through to the second round on five faults. Those teams that failed to proceed included Britain, The Netherlands, France, Italy and the home team from Spain.
McAuley double clear
Ireland began the second round on a positive note with McAuley completing an excellent double-clear performance with Jasco VD Bisschop. The pair appeared on two teams (Vejer and Prague) in 2020 and were double clear in both.
Four-fault rounds from both Duffy and Hanley, along with three clear rounds from the Germany team, put the pressure onto Ireland’s anchor rider Denis Lynch.
The Tipperary native needed to jump clear to force a jump-off and while he left all the fences standing with Onyx Consulting Ltd’s 13-year-old Cristello, a foot in the water would see Ireland’s hopes of victory disappear and, as a result, saw Germany take victory on a score of four faults.
It was a second victory in the space of a week for the Germans after they had also won at Vilamoura in Portugal. A total of six faults saw Denmark finish as runners-up.
Afterwards, team manager Michael Blake reflected on a season where despite the huge disruption caused by Covid-19, Ireland have increased their pool of riders ahead of what promises to be a hectic year in 2021.
“We again tried out a couple of new horses and a completely different team to the one from last week in Portugal. It was disappointing that our lead ebbed away in the second round,” said Blake. “We again finished on the podium and that means we have finished on the podium five times from the six Nations Cups during a year in which we had huge disruption to the Nations Cup calendar.
“I want to thank all of the riders and the owners from today and throughout the past 12 months.
“We have strengthened our pool of horses and riders and have a lot to look forward to next year which includes an Olympic Games, European Championships and hopefully a full Nations Cup campaign.”