The Irish Show Jumping team
have been handed the toughest possible draw for tomorrow’s (Sunday) hugely
important Longines FEI Nations Cup at Sopot in Poland, with Rodrigo Pessoa’s
team drawn first out of the hat – meaning they will be the first team to enter
the arena when the competition starts at the earlier than usual time of 9.30am
Irish time.
The home team from Poland
will be second into the arena, followed by France, Brazil, Germany, Belgium,
Austria and The Netherlands.
Ireland, sponsored by Devenish and The Underwriting Exchange, will line out as
follows:
Limerick’s Paul O’Shea
with Skara Glen’s Machu Picchu – owned by Machu Picchu Partners
LLC
Cork’s Shane Sweetnam
with Alejandro – owned by Seabrook LLC
Waterford’s Peter
Moloney with Chianti’s Champion – owned by Team Harmony
Wexford’s Bertram
Allen with Harley VD Bisschop – owned by Ballywalter Stable
Speaking ahead of the competition, Rodrigo Pessoa said his team are focused on
delivering a positive result.
“This is a very important round after our fourth place finish in La Baule. This
is only our second round but we need to score big here and everyone is aware of
that. We are testing Harley VD Bisschop and Alejandro for the first time –
these are horses we have seen a bit of. We are looking for a good result here
tomorrow and we will give it a go,” Pessoa commented.
Ireland will be hoping to add to the 70 league points they picked up on their
first points-scoring outing at La Baule (FRA) in May, knowing that following
Sopot, Ireland have just two more opportunities to gain points – at Hickstead
(GBR) in July and Dublin in August.
Pessoa and his development team manager Michael Blake have used several different
combinations in Nations Cup competitions during the early part of the season,
in order to build a wide pool of horses and riders and are now entering a
crucial period – not least in relation to all important Olympic qualification.
Pessoa has stated from the outset that the main focus for this year is to gain
Olympic qualification at the European Championships in Rotterdam (NED) in
August. Three Olympic places will be on offer at the Europeans for teams not
yet qualified, but along with Ireland, the list of nations still looking for a
coveted ticket to Tokyo includes France, Great Britain, Belgium, Italy, Spain
and Portugal.
There will be one final Olympic place on offer at September’s Nations Cup World
Final in Barcelona, which is one of the reasons why tomorrow’s outing in Sopot
is so important. Ireland must finish among the top seven teams on the Nations
Cup league table after the last round in Dublin to make the Barcelona final,
meaning every league point will prove vital.
The Longines FEI Nations Cup of Poland in Sopot starts at 9.30am Irish time on
Sunday and is live on FEITV.
There was success for Ireland in the individual competitions in Sopot on
Saturday evening when Cork’s Billy Twomey scored an impressive win. He
partnered Chat Botte E.D to victory in the 1m50 two phase competition,
finishing half a second ahead of Belgian runner-up Gudrun Patteet and Sea Coast
Crystal de Leau.
Meanwhile in the €340,000 five-star Longines Global Champions Tour 1m60
Grand Prix at Stockholm in Sweden, Mayo's Michael G Duffy and The Irish Sport
Horse Lapuccino, owned by Carl Hanley Sporthorses, recorded an excellent sixth
place finish. One of 10 combinations to make it into the jump-off, they
completed a double clear round, crossing the line in 38.58 seconds. Victory
went to to home favourite Peder Fredricson (SWE) with H&M All In with a
blistering round in 33.95.
SOURCE: Horsesport Ireland