STRONG Irish-American links in the equestrian community were celebrated at a special Horse Sport Ireland reception in Wellington, Florida this week.

Organised during Nations Cup week by Tamso Doyle, HSI’s ownership advisor, more than 100 guests descended on The Wanderers Club in Palm Beach. The guests included owners Jenji and Diana Mercer of Equinimity, Lisa Lourie of Spy Coast Farm, John and Ariel Grange of Lothlorian Farms, Maarten and Leoni Huygens all who have horses on Irish teams.

Key members of the Irish community based in Wellington attended, including Equestrian Sport Productions boss Michael Stone, who runs the show, farrier Miley Connors, Denis Coakley, trainer John Roche, Michael Blake, Irish children on horses team manager and riders Ross Mulholland and Michael Kelly.

More guests included Horse Sport Ireland’s marketing director Elaine Hatton, board member Charles Hanly, Horseware’s Tom and Lorraine MacGuinness, Irish show jumping legend Eddie Macken, US show jumper Georgina Bloomberg, Dennis Shaughnessy of FTI Consulting, Howard and Gwen Dvorkin, Stevie and Natalie Macken, Heinrich Anhold and Aimee McClelland of Stablelab.

Horse Sport Ireland chief executive Damian McDonald spoke at the event, saying: “Ireland and the USA have a special relationship. Our histories are intertwined by hundreds of thousands of Irish people who emigrated to America. This great country has given so many opportunities to Irish people.Today in Palm Beach, a special relationship has flourished between our countries through our shared love of the horse.”

All the US-based Irish riders and family attended, including Cian and Ruth O’Connor, Darragh Kenny, Shane and Ali Sweetnam, Kevin and Diana Babington, Richie Moloney, Darragh and Sarah Kerins, Dave Blake, Lorcan Gallagher, Oliver McCarthy, Ronan McGuigan, Paul O’Shea, Conor O’Regan, as well as the riders and the families of the Irish underage teams.

The inaugural ‘Contribution to Irish Showjumping in the USA’ award was presented to Jimmy Doyle and Denis Quinlan. The pair, who have been USA-based for decades, were given rapturous applause from the guests.

Award winners were nominated by riders and the organising committee of Sarah Kerins, Fiach Byrne, Dianna Babington and Lisa Lourie.

Spy Coast Farm owner Lisa Lourie said: “It was a terrific party. With the Irish, you knew it would be fun, but this one was extra special because it honored three people who mean so much to the Irish riders here in the US. Jimmy Doyle and Denis Quinlan have been integral to the development of Irish participation in the sport of show jumping here in America and Noel Phelan has been a cheerleader for the Irish riders for many years.

“So many of the people who have supported Irish riders over the years were there; Sue and John Grange, The Mercer family, Bonnie and Frank Cuniffe, Tom MacGuiness, and Eddie Macken for starters. I want to thank Horse Sport Ireland for this lovely evening which we can hopefully make an annual event.”

As we went to press, the Irish team was preparing for the four-star Nations Cup, set to take place in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The team was named as Richie Moloney on Carrabis Z, owned by the Mercer family’s Equinimity LLC, Conor Swail on Martha Louise, owned by Sue and Ariel Grange’s Lothlorian Farm, Shane Sweetnam and Buckle Up, owned by the rider and the Buckle Up Group and Cian O’Connor on Sam Du Challois, owned by Ronnoco Ltd and Jean Claude Jobin.