IRELAND secured Nations Cup success in Spain last weekend, when among a huge 18 teams, who lined out for the Andalucía October Tour Nations Cup in Vejer de la Frontera.

Michael Blake selected Mikey Pender, Jason Foley, Seamus Hughes Kennedy and Cian O’Connor for his team and they didn’t let him down, taking the win by a clear margin.

First in for Ireland, Kildare man Pender rode HHS Los Angeles and got his team off to the perfect start with a brilliant clear round over a tricky course – just two of the 18 first-line riders jumped clear. Carlow’s Foley was next in with Eurohill Jacksonville, adding an impressive second clear round to the Irish tally.

Third was Seamus Hughes Kennedy and ESI Rocky, with another foot-perfect performance, ensuring that Ireland would stay on a zero score at the halfway point. Cian O’Connor and Iron Man also managed to keep all the poles intact in round one. Ireland’s nearest challengers at the halfway stage were France on eight faults, followed by Belgium in third on 11 faults.

Round two didn’t go quite so smoothly, with Pender and Foley each incurring an unlucky four faults – Pender’s mount clipping the top of the wall, while Foley’s steed nudged the front bar at the final fence. Hughes Kennedy’s careful round cost him a single time penalty, while O’Connor incurred six faults. Ireland finished on a final score of nine, well clear of Belgium in second on 15 faults and third-placed USA on 17 faults.

Delighted chef d’equipe, Blake, said afterwards: “That was great – I knew we were strong coming in and the course designer had set up a difficult course, with a lot of combinations getting caught out.

“But our lads have seen it all and they really showed their class – the first round was impeccable. We were a little unlucky second time around, with just little errors costing us some faults, but it was a case of game management at that point and we saw it home with a little up our sleeves.

“It’s another win, adding to what was already a magnificent season and we continue to show just how deep the talent is among our ranks – I’m very pleased.”

Cian O'Connor and Iron Man jumping clear, as Ireland won the Nations Cup in Vejer de la Frontera, Spain

It should be noted that the Irish team included two Irish-bred horses – HHS Los Angeles (Le Roi x Caalier Royale, bred by Marion Hughes) and ESI Rocky (Stakkato Gold x For Pleasure, bred by Ennisnag Stud), the latter not touching a pole across the two rounds.

More success was to come for the Irish, as Meath’s O’Connor rode the 13-year-old gelding Bentley de Sury, owned by Nista Ag, into the runner-up spot in Sunday’s 1.55m Andalucía Grand Prix. From the 60 starters, just 10 jumped clear to get through to the jump-off. O’Connor was second to go in the decider and he took the lead in 38.85 seconds, until Mathieu Bourdeaud’Hui (BEL) and Oscar the Homage sped round the course in 38.10 to take the win.

Cian O'Connor and Iron Man jumping clear, as Ireland won the Nations Cup in Vejer de la Frontera, Spain

Placings

Jumping kicked off at week two of the Andalucia October Tour last Wednesday, when Ireland’s Jack Ryan took first place in the Young Horse one-star seven-year-old 1.30m class with Mondavi (ISH). Michelle Kenny on CFH Capri Hill and Shane O’Reilly on Bossa Nova Boy were among the clear rounds in the Five-year-old 1.15m class, while the Six-year-old 1.25m class saw clear rounds from Michael Pender, Kayla Jebb, Nicholas Connors and O’Reilly on two mounts.

Pender and HHS Savanna took fourth in Thursday’s two-star 1.35m class, but Pender went on to win the three-star 1.40m class with HHS Vancouver. The day’s three-star 1.50m class saw Max Wachman on Kilkenny, bred by Ita Brennan, finish third, ahead of Niamh McEvoy on Jasmim Da Hermida in fifth.

Thursday’s Five-year-old 1.15m class saw O’Reilly on Bossa Nova Boy in third and Kenny on CFH Capri Hill in fourth, while Gabrielle Enright and Unreachable Z came sixth in the two-star 1.30m class. Cameron Hanley on Matricia were runners up in the day’s Seven-year-old 1.35m class, with Connors on Chelone Z second in the Six-year-old 1.30m class, followed by Kenny on Milla van de Kapel in fourth.

Friday started with the Seven-year-old 1.35m class and it was a one-two for Ireland, with Ryan on Mondavi in first place, just ahead of Hanley on Matricia in second. Wachman and Cillbhrid Calvin followed them in fifth. The day’s two-star 1.30m class saw Camilla Speirs finish fifth with Bt Roca Rey.

Tom Wachman won the two-star 1.45m class with Cathalina S, with Billy Twomey third on Julius, McEvoy on Olympic ‘gl’ ‘fvd’ in fifth and Hughes Kennedy on Castlefield Hera in sixth. Ryan took third in the two-star 1.40m class with Soblensky vh Scheefkasteel Z, while O’Reilly won the Five-year-old 1.20m class riding Bossa Nova Boy, ahead of Kenny on CFH Capri Hill in fourth. Ella Kenny won the day’s two-star 1.10m class on Carrickadawson Womanizer.

Pender rode HHS Savanna into third place in Saturday’s two-star 1.35m class, followed by Hughes Kennedy on Curra Ferro in sixth. The top three places in the day’s Six-year-old 1.30m class went to Irish combinations, namely Pender on HHS Othello (first), O’Reilly on Susan II (second) and Kenny on Milla van de Kapel (third), while O’Connor secured another runner-up spot in the three-star 1.50m class, this time riding Funky Fred Marienshof Z. McEvoy took sixth place here with Jasmim Da Hermida.

The two-star 1.20m class saw Ella Kenny take first and fourth places with Carrickadawson Womanizer and Calle Cool.

Pender was back at the top on Sunday, when he won the two-star 1.35m class on Highcross Violet; not to be outdone, Marta Hughes-Bravo and Miss Belgium 111 won the two-star 1.25m class.

Reilly on form

Ireland was also represented in Helsinki, Finland, where Deirdre Reilly was a joint winner of Saturday’s five-star Six-Bar class riding Kafka vd Heffinck. Reilly was also among 13 of the 39 starters to jump clear in the first round of the five-star 1.60m Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Grand Prix. A fence down in the jump-off put them in 13th place at the finish. The class was won by Britain’s Robert Whitaker and Vermento.

At Saint-Lo, France, Killian Norris placed sixth in the four-star 1.45m Winning Round with Valdez, while an Irish-bred horse, Dunaghmore (ISH), ridden by Pim Mulder (NED) was runner-up. The 11-year-old gelding was bred by Tom and Linda Magee.