Riding the 15-year-old stallion Hearton Du Bois Halleux, Pender took his fourth five-star win of this year’s Dublin Horse Show.

Pender and Hearton Du Bois Halleux were the only combination to clear the wall in the fifth round, when it stood at a height of 2m20 (7ft 2 inches).

Daniel Coyle with Just Happy Hero Z and Commandant Geoff Curran with the Irish Sport Horse Bishops Quarter shared second place. Both combinations picked up four faults in the last round of the competition.

Tipperary rider Trevor Breen and Germaine W took the 1m50 Dublin Stakes, going clear in 36.00 seconds in the jump-off.

Mark McAuley and Jasco Vd Bisschop took second place in 36.23 seconds, while third place went to French rider Megane Moissonnier and Bracadabra in 36.35 seconds.

Richard Howley and Chinook won the Royal Dublin Society Stakes. Jordan Coyle and Picador finished as runners-up while third place went to Brazil’s Yuri Mansur and Away Semilly.

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The Polish leg of the competition will be Ireland’s first points-scoring round of 2022 in Europe Division 1.

Ireland will arrive in Sopot in superb form, having won four Nations Cup competitions so far this season.

Michael Blake’s side will face tough competition in Sopot, where Europe’s top teams will be competing for points on the road to qualification for the Longines FEI Nations Cup World Final in Barcelona at the end of September.

France, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Switzerland and Sweden will compete for points on Sunday. Poland and Denmark will also field teams but are not eligible for points as they not in Europe Division 1.

Blake has selected a strong squad that includes World No.19 Darragh Kenny and recent five-star Grand Prix of Rome winners, Denis Lynch with Brooklyn Heights.

The Irish squad for Sopot is as follows:

Trevor Breen with Highland President.
Denis Lynch and Brooklyn Heights.
Darragh Kenny with Volnay Du Boisdeville.
Mark McAuley and Django Ste Hermelle.
Jack Ryan with BBS McGregor (ISH).

Sunday’s Longines FEI Nations Cup of Poland in Sopot gets underway at 11am Irish time with the entire second round broadcast live on the RTÉ News Channel starting from 1pm Irish time and finishing at 3pm.

You can find the RTÉ News Channel on Sky 521, Saorview 21, Virgin 200, Eir 500 & on the RTÉ Player.

Ireland’s upcoming Longines FEI Nations Cup competitions in Rotterdam, Hickstead and Dublin will also be shown live on RTÉ.

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Galway’s Andrew Bourns and The Irish Sport Horse Sea Topblue claimed the top prize while Louth’s Mark McAuley finished second aboard Jasco VD Bisschop.

From the 44 starters, 14 jumped clear to make it into the second round. The early pacesetter was Belgian Olympian Nicola Philippaerts and his own Moya VD Bisschop. They were second to go in the jump-off and set the time to beat at 39.25 seconds. The combination would eventually finish third, just ahead of Hector Florentino (DOM) in fourth with The Irish Sport Horse ABC Quantum Cruise.

Mark McAuley and Jasco VD Bisschop finish second

Nine horses after Philippaerts, WEF newcomer Mark McAuley and Jasco VD Bisschop, lowered the target time to 38.94 seconds.

“I didn’t really know what to expect,” McAuley admitted. “My horse was a bit tense and spooky when he went into the ring, a little bit overwhelmed, but he manned up quite well. I was quite proud of him actually.”

McAuley has ridden Jasco vd Bisschop since the horse was seven years old, and it has become his top horse. The pair represented Ireland in the 2021 European Championships.”

“He’s been my best horse for the last few years, the Louth man admitted, “obviously I’ll be aiming him now for the five-star here in a fortnight’s time.”

As the final entry in the jump-off, Bourns was able to squeak by his fellow Irishman and stop the timers in 38.76 seconds for a great win.

“I had a plan made for the jump-off and went in a little bit the mindset that I have a lot I still want to do with this horse this year so if it was fast enough, great, but I had a plan and was going to stick to it,” said Bourns of his jump-off ride.

It was a special win for Bourns on this horse that means so much to his family. The 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding by Chacco-blue has been with the Bourns since Andrew’s mother, the late Deirdre Bourns, bought him as a foal at an auction in Cavan.

The winner said with a smile, “This is probably his biggest win to date and one of mine too, so I’m pretty happy about that.”

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Michael Blake’s team was made up of Galway’s Michael Duffy, Sligo’s Richard Howley, Mayo’s Michael G Duffy and Louth’s Mark McAuley.

Ireland looked to to have made a good start to the competition when Michael Duffy was clear approaching the last part of the course with Zilton SL Z. The 10-year-old gelding lost his footing on landing after the third last fence, meaning Duffy had to circle, picking up  four jumping and four time faults as a result.

Sligo’s Richard Howley and Arlo De Blondel had 4 faults at the very last fence and a time fault.

Mayo’s Michael G Duffy with Lapuccino 2 (ISH) also finished with five faults.

Louth’s Mark McAuley with Jasco VD Bisschop delivered a vital clear which meant Ireland made the cut for the second round.

The second round saw Ireland improve. Duffy and Zilton SL Z finished with just a time fault second time out.

Howley and Arlo De Blondel lowered a single fence for 4 faults, with Michael G Duffy and The Irish Sport Horse Lapuccino 2 adding a clear.

McAuley completed his double clear performance with Jasco VD Bisschop, leaving Ireland on a final score of 11 faults. They finished just over a fence off winners Czech Republic who lifted the trophy on home soil on a final score of six faults. Denmark finished on eight faults to claim runner-up spot, while halfway leaders Belgium finished third on nine faults.

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Seventeen teams competed at the Spanish venue with the Irish side managed by Michael Blake.

Ireland started brilliantly and shared the lead at the halfway stage. Three clear rounds from Mark McAuley with Jasco VD Bisschop, Michael G Duffy with Lapuccino 2 (ISH) and Cameron Hanley with his own ESI Toulouse (ISH) meant Denis Lynch didn’t need to jump in the first round with Cristello.

The top eight teams at the end of round one advanced to round two.

Ireland and Egypt started the second round on zero faults, with Denmark on 2 faults, and Germany and Sweden on four faults. Morocco, Portugal and Brazil also make it through to the second round on five faults.

Britain, The Netherlands, France, Italy and the home team from Spain all missed out on the second round of the competition.

Ireland’s lead slips in round two

In round two, Mark McAuley completed an excellent double clear and it looked at that stage that Ireland could be set for victory.

Four fault rounds from both Michael G Duffy and Cameron Hanley, along with three clear rounds from the Germany team, put the pressure on Ireland’s anchor rider Denis Lynch.

The Tipperary native needed to jump clear to force a jump-off and he left all the fences standing with Cristello, however a foot in the water ended Ireland’s hopes of a win.

It was a second victory in the space of a week for the Germans after they had also won at Vilamoura in Portugal.

They finished on a score of four faults while Denmark finished as runners-up on six faults and Ireland third on eight faults.

Ireland team manager Michael Blake said of today’s competition:

“We again tried out a couple of new horses and a completely different team to the one from last week in Portugal. It was disappointing that our lead ebbed away in the second round.”

Blake continued:

“We again finished on the podium and that means we have finished on the podium five times from the six Nations Cups during a year in which we had huge disruption to the Nations Cup calendar.”

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