Irish show-jumpers take third in Madrid

The Irish show-jumping team finished third in Saturday's three-star Longines EEF Nations Cup at Madrid in Spain.

Irish Chef d’Equipe Taylor Vard named the same team who had taken victory in the Portuguese Nations Cup in Lisbon last weekend.

The quartet of Richard Howley (Consulent de Prelet Z), Jessica Burke (Namamia), Kevin Gallagher (Ballypatrick Flamenco (ISH) and Jenny Rankin (Carmela Z) were in sixth place at the halfway stage in Madrid and produced a flawless second round with four clears to finish on their first round score of eight faults.

The Irish performance included a double clear round from Burke with Namamia.

Spain claimed victory in their home Nations Cup on a zero score while Belgium finished second on four faults.

Ireland are in five-star FEI Nations Cup action on Sunday evening in Canada where team manager Michael Blake has selected Daniel Coyle, Andrew Bourns, Shane Sweetnam and Conor Swail to face off against teams from Canada, Australia, Mexico, Israel and USA.