THE latest round of Nations Cup show jumping action took place during the Brussels Stephex Masters in Belgium last week, where one-, two- and three-star action got underway on Wednesday, August 28th, and five-star classes started on Thursday, August 29th.

Nations Cup day was on Friday and Michael Blake’s team of Conor Swail (Count Me In), David Simpson (Pjotr Van de Kruishoeve), Michael Duffy (Calypso De Beaufour) and Cian O’Connor (Fancy De Kergane) clocked an eighth place finish, with both highs and lows along the way.

Swail and Count Me In were first in for Ireland and finished on 16 penalties. Next to go, Simpson and Pjotr van de Kruishoeve jumped a flawless clear round, however, Duffy and Calypso De Beaufour did not perform at their best and incurred 24 faults, which proved to be the discard score. Anchorman O’Connor and Fancy De Kergane managed to keep all the fences standing for a zero score. At the end of the first round, Ireland were on a score of 16, in equal seventh place with Britain at that stage.

Hopes were high that the second round would see improvements, but Swail’s elimination was not what the Irish team needed. Simpson jumped well second time out, but had one down for four faults. Duffy improved on his first-round score and finished with two on the floor for eight faults, while O’Connor repeated Simpson’s performance, finishing on four faults. This left the overall team total at 32.

Switzerland took the top spot on a final score of nine, followed by hosts Belgium in second on 20 faults and The Netherlands in third on 22 faults.

Despite the disappointing placing for Team Ireland, Simpson’s performance with Pjotr Van de Kruishoeve was very positive and shows what a bright future lies ahead for them. O’Connor and Fancy De Kergane added another clear round to their tally, which is already impressive.

Placings

The Irish contingent got off to a respectable start in Thursday’s five-star 1.40m Two-phase class, when Swail and Casturano finished fifth, followed by Duffy on RMF Cinnamo in seventh.

O’Connor had a top 10 finish when placing ninth with Bingo Z in the three-star 1.45m Grand Prix qualifier on Thursday.

Saturday saw Swail and Theo 160 finish eighth in the five-star 1.50m Grand Prix qualifier, when they were among 10 of the 40 starters to get through to the jump-off, but they incurred an unfortunate four faults. Duffy placed sixth with Manoulito in the Young Horse Seven- and Eight-year-old 1.40/1.45m class with a double clear round.

Sunday saw O’Connor and Bingo Z place seventh in the three-star 1.50m Grand Prix. Ten of the 54 starters got through to the timed decider with O’Connor among the seven who jumped clear for a second time (46.54). Italy’s Lorenzo de Luca rode Violino IL Palazetto to win the class with a fast jump-off time of 37.72 seconds. Swail placed sixth in the Best Five-star Rider category, followed by Duffy in joint seventh.