IT was all about the ladies at the Dublin Horse Show yesterday afternoon when the all-female American team won the Aga Khan Nations Cup.
It was a disappointing day for Rodrigo Pessoa’s Irish team who slipped down to fifth place after a fantastic first round which saw them tied for the lead at the half way stage.
As usual, there was a spectacular build up to the 2017 Aga Khan Nations Cup with the teams parading in front of the packed RDS crowd and President Michael D. Higgins watching from the President’s Box in the grandstand.
Second into the ring, Bertram Allen and the brilliant grey mare Molly Malone (Kannan x Cavalier) got Ireland off to the dream start on home turf with a foot perfect clear round over the Tom Holden-built course.
The combination has been in fantastic form recently but were returning to the Irish team as a combination for the first time since jumping the Nations Cup in Hickstead over a year ago.
Aga Khan debutant Mark McAuley was unlucky to pick up four faults at fence eight with Eva Lundin’s Miebello (Flyinge Quite Easy x Cardento). The Co Louth man has shot to fame this season and was the only one of the four who hadn’t jumped on an Aga Khan team in the past.
Having left his championship mount, All Star 5, at home in preparation for the European Championships, Denis Lynch partnered Rushy Marsh Farm’s RMF Echo (Virus de Laubry x Feo) on this occasion. The compact chesnut stallion wowed the crowd with his unusual jumping technique and broke the beams with nothing to add to post Ireland’s second clear round.
Anchorman Cian O’Connor did what he has done so many times before for Ireland when guiding the fantastic Good Luck (Canturo x Furisio) to a clear round to lift the roof off the RDS grandstand and keep Ireland on a team total of zero faults going into the second round.
Ireland and America were lying in equal first place, with France breathing down their necks in second place with just one time fault and The Netherlands on two faults. The time proved influential in the first round with 12 of the 32 riders picking up time faults.
DISAPPOINTMENT
The FEI vertical at fence 10 went up a hole in the second round and that was the fence that caught Bertram Allen out when almost home on a clear in round two, to finish with four faults. Next into the ring, America’s Lauren Hough jumped a clear round to keep the pressure on Ireland.
There was disappointment for McAuley in round two when he was the very first rider to knock the triple bar, and when the second part of the combination came down, plus the last fence, he finished with an uncharacteristic 12 faults.
The first and second line Dutch riders both produced clear rounds to continue to threaten on two faults.
Sadly, things started to unravel for Ireland when Denis Lynch picked up 13 faults with RMF Echo. Lynch knocked the triple bar and had an awkward distance to the FEI vertical, which also came down, followed by the first element of the Longines double.
Cian O’Connor, giving Good Luck his final round before the European Championships in Gothenburg next week, jumped around at this ease to pick up just one time fault to the delight of the Irish crowd.
The competition came down to Laura Kraut when last into the arena. The American had one fence in hand over the French but, despite a slight rub of the planks at fence three, she produced a second clear round to secure victory for Team USA on a score of zero.
The team of Lauren Hough (Ohlala), Lillie Keenan (Super Sox), Bezzie Madden (Darry Lou) and Kraut lifted the Aga Khan trophy aloft for the first time since 2014.
The French team of Kevin Staut (For joy Van’T Zorgvliet Hdc), Marc Dilasser (Cliffton Belesbat), Marie Hecart (Cenwood Delle Lame) and Olivier Robert (Eros) were second on five faults, followed by the Dutch in third on seven faults.
Ireland is now guaranteed a place in the world final at Barcelona in September after finishing the league in seventh place on 305 points. The Netherlands won Division 1 on 360 points with Italy in second (345) and France in third (337.5).
Olympic gold medallist Nick Skelton took over British chef d’equipe duty when Di Lampard had to return to Britain due to a family emergency. His team unfortunately had a tough day finishing in eighth place with 47 faults.
Irish chef d’equipe Rodrigo Pessoa said: “I am certainly a little bit deflated for sure. As a group we took a chance and left some horses in the stalls. We are juggling a lot of situations and unfortunately we dropped the ball today.
“We put ourselves in a good place after the first round but couldn’t do it again in the second round. Our eyes are now on the Europeans in two weeks’ time.”
Lillie Keenan (21) spoke of how honoured she was to be competing in Dublin for first time. “I had a really exciting day and that’s an understatement…there’s no other feeling like winning a Nations Cup for your country and to win in Dublin makes it extra special,” said the Cian O’Connor trained Harvard University student. “Competing in Dublin and having a result like this has been a goal since I first started working with him [Cian]”.
Commenting on the win, USA team manager Robert Ridland said: “It’s our view that the Aga Khan is the greatest trophy in our sport. At the beginning of the year, we set out to bring our A team to this show. Today, there was no luck, those four riders [team USA] did an unbelievable job.”
IRISH SCORES
Bertram Allen Molly Malone V 0/4
Mark McAuley Miebello 4/12
Denis Lynch RMF Echo 0/13
Cian O’Connor Good Luck 0/1
FEI NATIONS CUP DUBLIN – FINAL RESULT
1. USA 0 FAULTS
2. FRANCE 5 FAULTS
3. THE NETHERLANDS 7 FAULTS
4. SPAIN 15 FAULTS
5. IRELAND 17 FAULTS
6. SWITZERLAND 19 FAULTS
7. ITALY 25 FAULTS
8. BRITAIN 47 FAULTS