HE came, he saw, he went, he conquered.....

Well we're all hoping he does anyway!

Chairman of Horse Sport Ireland, Professor Pat Wall, admitted to some nerves ahead of tonight's Jumping in the City series at Cork Greyhound Stadium where he is first into the ring himself on a borrowed horse in the Ifor Williams / West Wood Amateur class.

"Rio next stop,'' joked Wall who will be riding Trebor Tell Me More, a horse kindly lent to him by the McCourt family from Warren Point.

"I tried Trebor out in Barnadown and the McCourts have very kindly agreed to let me ride him in the Jumping in the City series in Cork tonight. The McCourts and their children - Emmet, Maeve and Darragh - will all be out in force at Cork to see how we get on.

"We are first into the ring tonight. I know Trebor will be great but I hope that I don't make a show of myself and fall off. I'm more from the hunting field myself and I will be sticking to the first rule of hunting tonight which is to hang on at all costs," said the Horse Sport Ireland chairman.

On hand to hopefully catch him if the worst comes to the worst will be none other than Minister for Agriculture, Simon Coveney - as well as the Army band.

Huge crowds are expected in Cork Greyhound Stadium tonight and Horse Sport Ireland have been inundated with requests for tickets all week - which is all boding well for the upcoming final in Dublin's Shelbourne Park.

"The first leg of Jumping in the City at Limerick brought out the biggest crowd ever witnessed in Limerick stadium. We were all delighted to see that because it demonstrates a lot of public support for our industry. It helps when we are talking to the policy makers that this is not a marginalised industry, there was a lot of votes in Limerick stadium that first night.

"Horse Sport Ireland carried out a preliminary survey at Limerick and found that quite a number of people there were attending a show jumping event for the first time. It's essential to hook in new spectators to show jumping and to give them a good and enjoyable experience and hopefully a certain percentage of them will stick with and support the sport going forward.

"We have big personalities in terms of both horses and people in this industry and we are in the entertainment business to a degree. There is huge excitement building ahead of tonight's show in Cork. We have Billy Twomey, who is very much the local hero, coming to jump before his home crowd. No doubt Billy will get a huge reception. We also have Olympic bronze medallist Cian O'Connor and former World Champion Dermott Lennon all jumping tonight.

"Looking forward to the final in Shelbourne Park in Dublin, we are hopeful that Bertram Allen will be jumping. The fact is that we have real superstars in Irish show jumping but we need to bring this sport to a whole cohort of non-horsey spectators as well as the equine community. Spectators, sponsors and mass media are all inextricably linked.

"We are delighted that Jumping in the City has not only attracted such big crowds and great interest but has also attracted great sponsors in the Underwriting Exchange; Ifor Williams/West Wood horseboxes and Devenish Nutrition. I hope everyone flocks to Cork Greyhound Stadium tonight for what promises to be a great night's entertainment but I hope I don't turn out to be the main act myself," said Wall.