The Netherlands won the Nations Cup of Ireland in the Main Arena at the Dublin Horse Show on Friday, as Ireland took third place in the competition.
The win was a third Aga Khan Trophy success for the Dutch, who finished the competition as the only team on a zero score.
The winning team consisted of Frank Schuttert (Isis), Kevin Jochem (Camilla Van De Helle), William Greve (Grandorado TN N.O.P.) and Harrie Smolders (Mr. Tac).
Smolders, the anchor rider for the Dutch, knew he couldn’t afford to knock a fence in the second round, as four faults would have seen a jump-off between the Netherlands, Ireland and Germany.
The foot perfect round by Smolders and Mr. Tac gave the Dutch their first Aga Khan win since 2010.
Ireland and Germany finished level on four faults, but with the Germans faster combined times, they were placed second, ahead of the home nation.
The two younger Irish riders on the team, 20-year-old Tom Wachman and 23-year-old Séamus Hughes Kennedy both produced double clear rounds on their mounts Tabasco De Toxandria Z and ESI Rocky respectively.
Tipperary’s Denis Lynch and Vistogrand, the Irish pathfinders, had four faults in both rounds.
Cian O’Connor and Bentley De Sury had one fence down in the first round, before going clear in the second.
The defending Aga Khan champions, the USA, finished in fourth position, ahead of the British in fifth, and Canada in sixth. Mexico took seventh position, with Switzerland in eighth.
