Ireland claim first Canadian Nations Cup title since 2001

A commanding performance from the Irish Show Jumping team saw them clinch victory in the five-star BMO Nations Cup at Spruce Meadows in Canada for the first time in 22 years.

The Irish-bred gelding Pacino Amiro (ISH) played a key role when jumping double clear with Wexford's Bertram Allen.

Derry's Daniel Coyle had just a time fault in the opening round with Legacy before jumping clear second time out, while Tipperary's Denis Lynch was clear in round one and finished with four faults in round two with Brooklyn Heights. Conor Swail was the discard score in the opening round with Calciet EB Z and didn't need to jump second time out.

Managed by Michael Blake, Ireland finished on a final score of just 5 faults to take their first Nations Cup win at Spruce Meadows since 2001, just ahead of Germany in the runner-up spot on six faults.

The home team from Canada finished third ahead of Britain in fourth, Belgium in fifth, USA in sixth, while defending champions Sweden finished seventh.

"It's it's a magical place here," said Allen. "I always wanted to come, but just from the championship or Dublin or the type of horse I had, I could never make it. So I made a plan this year to really set it as a goal, and yeah, it's fantastic.

"The feeling from Tuesday when I arrived to the whole thing around how big it is, how fast it is, the the history around the place and then yeah, then when you go through the clock tower into the main ring it's even more special. So it's really, really nice to be here."