THE top-10 ranked countries in world show jumping are set to take part in the first leg of the new Longines League of Nations™ Series, being held in Abu Dhabi (UAE) on February 11th, just over two weeks from now and the teams have been confirmed.

FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping dates back as far as 1909 and has been under FEI supervision since 1930; since then, it has become synonymous with the pinnacle of the sport, with athletes aspiring to participate and spectators marvelling at their talent.

The new Longines League of Nations™ series combines tradition with modernity and will consist of four legs being held across three continents. Following the opening leg at Abu Dhabi in February, Ocala (USA) will host the show jumping action in March; St Gallen (SUI) and Rotterdam (NED) in June, with the Final scheduled for Barcelona (ESP) in October, where the best eight teams will compete for the inaugural title.

Ireland, ranked as number one in the world (based on points accumulated by their top six athletes including one U25 athlete), will face teams from the nine other top-10 nations: Brazil, Sweden, Belgium, The Netherlands, Great Britain, Switzerland, Germany, France and the USA. The hosts at Abu Dhabi will also field a team, but they are not seeking qualification for the final.

Ireland’s chef d’equipe Michael Blake has named his team as being Mikey Pender, Richard Howley, Denis Lynch and Mark McAuley – a strong line-up, judging by their recent results.

Team Ireland won multiple Nations Cups, as well as European Championship silver last season, so Blake is hoping that this form will continue: “To win a Nations Cup has always been up there for me as the highest honour and, as the number one ranked nation in the competition, Ireland will be looking forward to putting our best foot forward to cement that position throughout the League of Nations.

“I’m very happy with the team we’ve selected for this opening leg in Abu Dhabi – all four riders have proven themselves at the highest level and hopefully we can carry promising recent form into the League of Nations.

Hard work

“2023 was a very successful season and that’s testament to the hard work of all the riders in the programme, as well as their support teams, and the competitive culture created within the overall group – all the way from our senior riders through to our youth teams.”

“Looking at the other entries, it will be a very competitive first leg,” Blake added.

“I have no doubt that all of the nations lining up will be going all out to win the first leg, but we’ll be there for the same reason and am excited to see what our team can produce.

“Ireland won the Nations Cup Final in 2019 and winning Nations Cups is up there with the pinnacle of team achievements, so this is a very important competition, beginning on February 11th in Abu Dhabi.”

Team Ireland have the best of the draw and will be last to go, due to their top ranking.

€700,000 in prize money is on offer at each qualifier, with €1,600,000 up for grabs at the Final, as well as a range of extra bonus payments, not to mention the honour of taking the very first Longines League of Nations™ title, so it should be a very exciting series.