Podium finish in 5-Star for Ireland as Blake goes clear

Ireland have finished third in the CSIO5-Star Nations Cup in Abu Dhabi.

The Irish finished on a team score of 16. Following the final jump off round, Austria were overall winners, with Great Britain finished second.

Galway native Jessica Burke secured Ireland's only clear round in the first round. Riding Nikki HH, the 10-year-old bay mare owned by Liam Nicholas, this was Burke's five-star nations cup debut.

Michael Duffy, Shane Breen and Trevor Breen all competed their opening round on a score of four faults, leaving Ireland in third place on eight faults going into the second round. Great Britain and Austria were tied on a team score of four faults at the halfway stage of competition.

Michael Duffy got Ireland off to a strong start in the second round, jumping clear with Cinca 3. Burke completed her second round with four faults, as did Shane Breen. Trevor Breen withdrew Germaine W and did not jump in the second round.

Speaking after his second round Michael Duffy said: "She's brilliant, the mare has loads of experience, she's jumped around the Olympics. She’s super. Riding a horse like her, it's not exactly hard work."

Horse Sport Ireland High Performance Manager Michael Blake said: "It's great to get a podium start to the 2023 season, but of course we would have liked to do better.

"There is a huge amount of potential with some great new and upcoming combinations. There was a lot of consistency across the team with no combination having more than 4 faults. There is always room for some improvement, a couple of small mistakes cost us from getting some more clear rounds.

"Jessica did very well to jump clear in the first round, and likewise Michael jumped a very good clear in the second round. Congratulations to Austria on