IRISH show jumping team manager called up two new horses into his squad for yesterday’s Furusiyya Nations Cup in Lisbon, Portugal.

Trevor Breen’s Oldtown KC and Anthony Condon’s Balzac were named alongside Michael Duffy and Cortina 200 and Michael G Duffy with Felix XXVIII, who were both on their second Nations Cup outing.

The Irish quartet was due to jump at the three-star competition as we went to press last night. The show was not a points-scoring appointment for Ireland as it was a second division competition and Ireland is in the first division.

Splaine said: “Competitions in the Second Division are the ideal way to test out new combinations, for although we are not competing to score points it gives me a great opportunity to see riders and horses perform at a high team level.”

Ireland was drawn seventh of the nine nations taking part in the Lisbon Nations Cup.

Meanwhile, Britain’s second win in the Furussiya division one league at Rome last weekend has pushed Ireland down to seventh place in the league.

Fresh from their winning exploits at La Baule, the British team continued their march on Rome, where it came down to the wire between Britain and the Netherlands.

However veteran show jumper John Whitaker (59) sealed the win for the British team on Argento, following in the footsteps of his brother Michael (55) who clinched the win in France.

Britain won on a team score of just one fault, followed by the Netherlands (4), Sweden (8), Spain (12), Switzerland (16), Italy (18), Qatar (21) and Belgium (28).

Ahead of the next round in St Gallen, Switzerland next week, the division one league is currently led by France on 160 points, followed closely by Italy on 155 points and Belgium on 150 points.

Spain and the Netherland share equal fourth place in the league on 135 points apiece, while Sweden (130) occupies sixth place. Ireland holds seventh place on 125 points, ahead of Britain on 100 league points.

Next Friday’s Nations Cup at St Gallen will be an opportunity for Ireland to add much needed points to the tally in an effort to climb up the league table.