IRELAND's senior show jumping team manager Rodrigo Pessoa has named his five-man squad for next month’s opening round of the 2018 Longines FEI Show Jumping Nations Cup in Europe’s top division – which takes place at a stunning new venue in Samorin, Slovakia.

This will be the first time that Slovakia will host a Nations Cup Division 1 competition, as well as the nation’s first time hosting a five-star level show jumping event.

The Irish squad for Samorin Nations Cup is as follows:

Louth’s Mark McAuley with Utchan De Belheme – owned by Charlotte McAuley

Tipperary’s Shane Breen with Ipswich van de Wolfsakker – owned by Breen Equestrian, Jos Lansink & Konstantin Pysarenko

Galway’s Michael Duffy with EFS Top Contender – owned by Graham & Ben Dalton

Limerick’s Paul O’Shea with Skara Glen’s Machu Picchu – owned by Skara Glen’s Stables

Cork’s Shane Sweetnam with Indra Van De Oude Heihoef – owned by The Blue Buckle Group

Rodrigo Pessoa will name his final team of four riders shortly before the Nations Cup in Samorin which takes place on Sunday April 29th. Ireland will be joined in Samorin by teams from Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, Spain and Belgium, who will all be chasing points on the road to the Nations Cup World Final in Barcelona (ESP) in October, while the home team from Slovakia will also take part.

SAMORIN

In 2016, the X-bionic Sphere venue in Samorin became the official Olympic training centre in Slovakia, offering top class facilities for 27 Olympic sport disciplines. The resort also includes a modern athletic stadium, hotel and conference facilities. Samorin is located on Europe’s second longest river, the Danube and 17 kilometres southeast of Bratislava near the Austrian border.

Samorin will be the first of Ireland’s five points-scoring rounds in Europe Division 1 and will be followed by rounds in La Baule (FRA), Falsterbo (SWE), Hickstead (GBR) and Ireland’s home Nations Cup at the Dublin Horse Show in August for the Aga Khan trophy.

The Irish Show Jumping team is sponsored by The Underwriting Exchange and Devenish.

Equiline – Official athlete clothing supplier of Team Ireland Equestrian.