THE first indication of how many Irish-bred horses will compete at the 2016 Olympic Games became known this week. This followed the announcement of the Irish show jumping individual and eventing team places which sees MHS Going Global, Cooley Rorkes Drift and Euro Prince as the first confirmed Irish-bred horses to compete at Rio.

Exactly how many more Irish-breds travel to Brazil will be known this month once other countries nominate their teams and individuals. British and US eventing teams are the main hopes of increasing the number of Irish-breds at Deodoro where the Olympic equestrian sports will take place in Rio de Janeiro. Sixteen Irish-bred horses competed at the London Games four years ago and these included the travelling reserve horse for Rio, Portersize Just A Jiff. He is the only Irish team horse from those selected for London (which included four more Irish-breds in Ballylynch Adventure, Coolio, Electric Cruise and Master Crusoe) set to make the trip this time.

The selection of MHS Going Global and Greg Broderick, based on their St Gallen performance, is already being hailed as a boost for Irish show jumping breeding. The Irish Sport Horse studbook has slipped to 14th place in the first of the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses (WBFSH) rankings released this year, while the great veteran Flexible was not named on the United States short-list for this Olympics.

Castlefield Eclipse was the other Irish-bred show jumper at London and although she won a 1.50m class at St Gallen last Saturday, it appears unlikely that the 14-year-old will be selected on the Swiss team for Rio. Her rider Paul Estermann rode the 10-year-old Oldenburg gelding Lord Pepsi instead on their home ground Nations Cup round and the same pair finished one place (fifth) behind MHS Going Global in the influential Grand Prix.

Results from Rio de Janeiro are set to have a major impact on the WBFSH’s 2016 final rankings announced each October. May rankings were not yet posted as The Irish Field went to press, however the first of the 2016 rankings from April sees the Irish Sport Horse (ISH) studbook holding a slim 30-point lead in the eventing studbook category over the Hannoverian Verband, with the KWPN in third.

The US team prospect Mighty Nice, fourth at Rolex Kentucky, is currently the leading Irish-bred eventer in individual third place. He is followed by Fernhill Fugitive (23rd), Barraduff (28th), Spring Panorama (38th), Castle Larchfield Purdy (42nd) and Wasting Light (43rd). Some new names feature amongst the six ISH show jumping horses, headed by Guru (91st), whose good form with Federico Fernandez (MEX) sees the 11-year-old break into the top-100. Codarco (111th), Special Lux (195th), Limestone Grey (195th), MHS Washington (257th) and Loughview Lou Lou (274th) are the other Irish-breds featuring in the Irish Sport Horse top-six. Chesall Zimequest (s. Casall), Hello Forever (For Pleasure) and Quickly De Kreisker (Diamant De Semilly) are the top-three ranked show jumping horses.

The Holsteiner Verband holds a 500-plus point lead over its closest rival, the Selle Francais studbook, with the KWPN again in third place in these opening studbook rankings. Katherine Van Tuyl’s New Zealand Eventing Super League winner, Double J Sunshine leads the individual event horses and the back-to-back Rolex Kentucky winner FischerRocana FST has moved into second. The early rankings news sees a nice double for Richard Wright and Heather Dean-Wright who stood Guru and Mighty Nice’s respective sires; Ard VDL Douglas, by Darco and the Iroko-sired Ard Ohio. Both of the current leaders were bred in northern counties with Guru bred in Co Derry by Nicola Tang while Mighty Nice was bred in Co Cavan by William Kells.

The KWPN leads one studbook category in dressage where Delgado (De Niro), Glock’s Flirt (Florestan I) and Unee BB (Gribaldi) are the leading trio of dressage horses. These initial WBFSH rankings will change considerably as results from the northern hemisphere’s outdoor season kicks in. However, the greatest change will take place when the focus moves back south of the equator in August and medals are won.