IRISH riders have made an excellent start in the opening international competition at the Dublin Horse Show in the RDS, with Tipperary’s Greg Broderick and Zuidam taking the winners prize in the Speed Stakes.

Broderick and the Paul Carr-owned 13-year-old stallion (Guidam x Indoctro) crossed the line clear in 58.94 seconds, almost a second faster than American runner-up Lillie Keenan, who is trained by Cian O'Connor, with Be Gentle (59.68).

Offaly’s Darragh Kenny made it two Irish riders in the top three when finishing third with Vlock Show Stable LLC's Chakito (Chacco Blue x Padarco) in a time of 59.79. The Irish Sport Horse HHS Hercules, previously ridden by Mickey Pender, finished fifth with America’s Beezie Madden.

The second international class, the 1.60m Sport Ireland Classic is currently underway.

Irish team manager Rodrigo Pessoa will tomorrow (Thursday) name his team, sponsored by The Underwriting Exchange and Devenish, for Friday’s Aga Khan Nations Cup. Ireland will be up against Netherlands, Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, Britain and USA.

Pessoa named his squad last Friday as Bertram Allen (Molly Malone), Shane Breen (Golden Hawk), Denis Lynch (RMF Echo), Cian O’Connor (Good Luck) and Mark McAuley (Miebello).

Commenting on the opening day Michael Duffy, CEO of the RDS, said: “We’ve had great crowds today, some excellent show jumping, the masterclass has proven very popular and Lorenzo’s skill and horsemanship is so impressive that he had crowds of people watching his warm-up.

"Yesterday we held a forum on Brexit and what it might mean for the sport horse industry – it has been interesting to see the reverberations of this today, as it has been the topic of interest around the ground.

"Tomorrow we welcome a new addition to the Show with the Anglesea Serpentine Stakes. The €50,000 prize fund is sure to attract a very high standard of competitor. It is of course, also Ladies Day and the Dundrum Town Centre Ladies day prize of €10,000 in vouchers is sure to attract competitors of different nature. We also have a true legend of eventing, Lucinda Green, hosting tomorrow’s Masterclass which is sure to be another hit with many.”