The Irish leg of the Fédération Equestre Internationale eventing Nations' Cup series takes place in Ballindenisk, Co Cork this weekend with France and Britain sending full squads for the event.
The home quartet, selected by Horse Sport Ireland's eventing high performance manager Nick Turner, comprises Cathal Daniels (Barnaboy Freeman) and Joseph Murphy (Sportsfield Othello), who were on the winning team at Boekelo last October, Michael Ryan (Ballylynch Adventure), who rode in the German leg of the series in Aachen last year, and Nations' Cup newcomer Nicola Ennis (Westwinds Jack Of Hearts). Daniels was also a member of the team which finished third in the first leg of the 2016 league at Fontainebleau last month.
Dressage and some show jumping takes place at the Co Cork venue on Saturday with Sunday being devoted to cross-country action. Competitors in the longer format CCI classes tackle their show jumping phase on Monday. As usual, there is a large contingent representing Great Britain including Oliver Townend who has an excellent record at the event.
In show jumping, Bertram Allen finished joint second in Friday’s 1.55m jump-off class at the Belgian round of the Longines Global Champions Tour in Antwerp. Riding Billy Twomey’s Heartbreaker stallion Romanov, Allen recorded his second clear round in 38.89 as did France’s Penelope Leprevost (Vagabond de la Pomme) whose countryman Simon Delestre won the class on Qlassic Bois Margot in a time of 38.37.
At home, the first big outdoor jumping show of the season, Louth County, takes place Saturday and Sunday at Dromiskin, just south of Dundalk. The feature classes are the national Grand Prix (Saturday) and the premier Grand Prix (Sunday), which are both part of the summer series sponsored by Horseware and TRM, and the first leg of the 2016 Irish Sport Horse Studbook classes for five, six and seven-year-old horses.
