SOME of the leading Irish senior show jumpers vying for a position on Rodrigo Pessoa’s squad for the European Championships in Rotterdam at the end of August are competing at the five-star show in Knokke, Belgium, this weekend.

Gerry Mullins, chairman of the show jumping High Performance committee, said it was an important show in the lead-up to the vital championships, where Ireland are aiming to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. To do so, they must finish top three of the teams not yet qualified.

Speaking to The Irish Field, Mullins said: “Many of the guys are in Knokke this week, we will be monitoring them to see how they are performing and we will try to mirror a little bit what happens at a championship.

“Michael Blake will look after Knokke and he is going to make sure that we learn some things about the partnerships that are there.”

There were two Irish in the top three of Thursday’s feature 1.50m speed class. Bertram Allen placed second aboard GK Casper, just one place ahead of Cian O’Connor and Irenice Horta. Darragh Kenny closed out the top 10 with Balou du Reventon.

Kenny won the 1.45m class aboard the eight-year-old Billy Dorito, and Peter Moloney landed victory in the 1.40m with Steyburn.

Calgary

Elsewhere, Irish riders made a strong start at Spruce Meadows ‘Pan American’ five-star fixture in Canada, where Co Down’s former world champion Dermott Lennon took victory in Thursday feature Friends of the Meadows Cup 1.50m with the 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare MJM Pursuit.

Ninety-five combinations went to post in the one round speed contest, where Lennon’s time of 53.84 seconds saw him finish ahead of Irish teammate Conor Swail and GK Coco Chanel in 56.74. Jordan Coyle filled sixth place with Bold Prinz.

Daniel Coyle won the 1.45m two-phase with Leilani after he had earlier taken victory in the seven-year-old class with Amalia, just edging out his older brother Jordan who finished second with Centriko Volo.