Isabel Hurley and Caitriona Murphy

HORSE Sport Ireland chairman Pat Wall was set to line out for the second leg of The Underwriting Exchange Jumping in the City series at Cork’s greyhound stadium last night.

Professor Wall borrowed a horse, Trebor Tell Me More, from the McCourt family from Warrenpoint to compete in the Ifor Williams/West Wood Amateur class against 15 other determined riders.

Speaking to The Irish Field ahead of his debut on the national show jumping stage, Professor Wall said: “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.”

The HSI chairman will be joined at the Cork venue by Irish Olympian Cian O’Connor and local favourite Billy Twomey, who were to compete in The Underwriting Exchange Grand Prix and Devenish Puissance competitions.

The series, which last week attracted more than 1,200 spectators into Limerick greyhound stadium, appears to be delivering on its stated aim of bringing show jumping to a new audience. A survey conducted by Horse Sport Ireland at the first leg in Limerick showed a large percentage of first-time show jumping spectators and the crowd was the biggest ever seen at the greyhound stadium.

Professor Wall added: “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 were a lot of votes in Limerick stadium that first night.”

Horse Sport Ireland chief executive Damian McDonald said: “Great credit is due to the Clare/Limerick branch of Showjumping Ireland, who transformed the in-field of the stadium into a stunning jumping arena in a matter of hours. I’d like to thank the local SJI co-ordinator John McNamara and his team for the huge effort they put in over the last few months.”

Meanwhile, Dermott Lennon was favourite to win The Underwriting Exchange Jumping in the City Grand Prix series as we went to press last night, with Paddy Power offering odds of 3/1 on the Co Down rider.

Cian O’Connor was 4/1 to win, followed by lady rider Nicola FitzGibbon at 7/1.

Turn to page A56 for the Limerick report and go to www.theirishfield.ie for the latest news from Cork.