THE Michael Blake-managed Irish show jumping team of Shane Sweetnam, Bertram Allen, Michael Duffy and Cian O’Connor put in an excellent performance last Friday night to finish runners-up behind the host nation in the $150,000 CSIO4* Nations Cup at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Florida, USA.
It was the NetJets US Jumping Team, consisting of Lillie Keenan (Fasther), Brian Moggre (Balou De Reventon), Bliss Heers (Antidote De Mars), and Jessica Springsteen (Don Juan Van Donkhoeve), coached by chef d’equipe Robert Ridland, that secured victory in front on the home crowd.
They finished with a two-round total of one fault, ahead of Ireland with four faults. The first two teams were well clear of the rest of the field with Brazil taking the final place on the podium with 14 faults, ahead of Israel on 16. Canada (20), Britain (24), Colombia (29) and Mexico (33) made up the rest.
It was an emotional evening for the Irish team who wore black armbands in memory of the well-known Irish trainer, breeder and owner of several top horses, Deirdre Bourns, who passed away earlier in the week.
Nothing to add
Fourth into the arena for the first round, Cork’s Shane Sweetnam got Ireland off to the perfect start when he delivered a clear aboard his own and Seabrook LLC’s 11-year-old mare Karlin Van’t Vennehof (Fantomas De Muze x Quasimodo Vd Molendreef D’08).
Making their debut as a partnership at this level, Wexford’s Bertram Allen guided Martin Egan’s Irish Sport Horse Castlefield Vegas (Cassino x Lux Z) to an effortless clear round to keep the score on zero. The 11-year-old gelding was bred by John Clarke.
The third clear came courtesy of Galway’s Michael Duffy who was also foot-perfect with his mother Katherine Duffy’s and HMF Equestrian’s Zilton SL Z (Zirocco Blue VDL x Indoctro). The 10-year-old gelding made his Nations Cup debut just last November in Vilamoura, Portugal.
In his usual anchor man position, Co Meath’s Cian O’Connor also answered all the questions aboard the Ronnoco Jump Ltd-owned Cadiz (Vigo D’Arsouilles x Cardento). The 11-year-old grey gelding joined O’Connor team at the end of 2020. He was previously campaigned by Dutch rider Bas Moerings who took him to the underage European Championships in 2019 and was part of the gold medal-winning team.
Cadiz was not the only horse bred by Geert and Marie-Louise Moerings, and produced by Bas, who competed on Friday night as Lillie Keenan’s Fasther also came from their Dutch stable.
Four perfect clear rounds left Ireland out in front after the opening round, just ahead of Team USA on a single time fault, while Israel were third on four faults.
After a break of a few hours, the second round got underway under the lights in the international arena. Sweetnam picked up where he left off with another perfect ride to finish with a double clear aboard Karlin Van’t Vennehof.
Next up, Allen was unlucky to pick up four faults with Castlefield Vegas (ISH), and when Michael Duffy also finished with a fence down, Ireland could do no better than a four-fault total.
When O’Connor entered the ring, he knew the victory belonged to USA, and he could afford some faults, but as cool as ever, he delivered yet another top-class clear with Cadiz to leave Ireland on a team total of four.
USA unstoppable
Twenty-four-year-old Lillie Keenan got the American team off to a strong start when she jumped clear in the opening round. Keenan who was riding Fasther, an 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding by Vigo D’Arsouilles, finished on just four faults in the second round, a score that would eventually be dropped for the team.
In just the second Nations Cup outing of his career, Brian Moggre piloted the former Darragh Kenny-ridden Balou De Reventon, a 15-year-old Oldenburg stallion by Cornet Obolensky, to a four-fault effort in the first phase of competition. The 19-year-old rider returned in the second round to improve on that score with a clear round.
Making her debut for the American team, Bliss Heers and her mount Antidote De Mars, an 11-year-old Selle Français stallion by Diamant De Semilly delivered a double clear.
Second last to go in the second round, Jessica Springsteen knew a clear round would secure victory for the USA. Riding Don Juan van de Donkhoeve, a 15-year-old Belgian Warmblood stallion by Bamako, the pair had just one time fault in the opening round and brought the hometown crowd to their feet when securing victory with a great clear round.
The 29-year-old was also presented with the M. Michael Meller Style Award in honour of Kate Nash Boone. Meller also presents a similar award in Dublin Horse Show in the young rider division.
The win marked the ninth in the 20 years of the Nations Cup at WEF for the USA, including their third consecutive victory.
“We knew coming in that we had a very young team,” said chef d’equipe Robert Ridland. “When your second and third riders in the order combined have one Nations Cup, it’s not much experience in the heart of the order. It was really nice and exciting. We were up against some real teams. When we saw the Irish starters, on paper that’s a really solid, veteran team. I couldn’t be more excited.”
There were six double clears in the competition, two of them for Ireland – Shane Sweetnam and Cian O’Connor – as well as Bliss Heers (USA), Luiz Francisco de Azevedo (Brazil), Ashlee Bond (Israel) and Amy Millar (Canada).
The winning team were presented with the Denis Quinlan memorial trophy. Denis, who passed away in September of last year, was originally from Co Limerick before moving to Wellington and was instrumental in starting Nations Cup jumping in Florida and in supporting Irish riders.