FOR the third time in history, the Irish show jumping team today (Friday) emerged as winners of the five-star Nations Cup of France in La Baule. An Irish team that included a mixture of youth and experience, were pushed all the way by Belgium, but it was the Irish who came out on top at the French seaside venue after a flawless display to finish on zero faults.

The Irish arrived in La Baule on the back of a Nations Cup win last weekend in British Columbia and knew they would face an event tougher test in La Baule where a world class field had assembled.

Wexford's Bertram Allen got Ireland off to the perfect start when he jumped clear as the first rider to enter the arena with the nine-year-old gelding Qonquest De Rigo.

Kilkenny's Seamus Hughes Kennedy and ESI Rocky (ISH) were next to go for Ireland, fresh from a hugely impressive fourth place finish in the Rolex Grand Prix of Rome a week earlier. They delivered another textbook clear to keep Ireland on a zero score.

Tipperary young rider Tom Wachman with Tabasco De Toxandria Z then picked up eight faults, but that could be discarded when anchor rider Cian O'Connor jumped clear with the 14-year-old gelding Bentley De Sury. That left Ireland on a zero score at the halfway stage and in a tie for the lead with Belgium.

Double clear

The second round saw Bertram Allen once again jump clear, while Nicola Philippaerts matched that score for Belgium to keep the two nations out in front. Seamus Hughes Kennedy (23) then added another Irish clear, and when 20-year-old Tom Wachman also jumped clear second time out, Ireland were guaranteed to finish on a zero score without the need for Cian O'Connor to jump in the second round.

With Peter Devos having one fence down in his second round, Belgium's final rider, Gilles Thomas, had to jump clear to force a jump-off with Ireland. Thomas picked up four faults at the second fence in what was an otherwise perfect round, and that meant Ireland were clear winners as the only team to finish on a zero score.

Belgium would finish second on four faults, while Brazil took third place on the podium with eight faults. Sweden finished fourth, with Britain fifth and Switzerland sixth of the 10 teams that lined out.

A delighted Bertram Allen outlined how the Irish were confident beforehand of a good result: "It's a tough Nations Cup obviously and when we saw the start list yesterday and saw how many good teams were here, we knew it was going to be difficult but we knew we had a good team with a lot of good riders and a lot of good horses - we were hopeful of a good result. This is a great traditional show and one of the Rolex Series which are always the best shows and that's where the best riders want to be," Allen said.

Bucket list

Irish team manager Michael Blake explained how winning La Baule was something he had on his radar for some time. "We came here with high expectations, but as Bertram said, when we saw the start list it kind of put us back in our box a bit,” Blake said.

"But we knew how good we were and if we kept jumping clear, Belgium would have to do the same and so would everyone else. It's been a while since we won here so I am really happy. It's been a great week, we won a Nations Cup on Sunday in Canada and here today so a good week.

“This [La Baule] was on my bucket list for many years and I never managed to get it done. I put the best possible team I could put together here today. Bertram had a young horse and Cian an older horse and then the two kids in the middle - they were phenomenal."

BREEDING

ESI Rocky (ISH) 2015 gelding by Stakkato Gold (HANN) out of Clonaslea (BWP) by For Pleasure (HANN) Breeder: Ennisnag Stud owned by Clare Hughes ridden by Seamus Hughes-Kennedy.

Source: Press release from the Irish Horse Board