Victory for Irish at Florida League of Nations event

The Irish Show Jumping team scored a brilliant victory in the early hours of this morning at the five-star Longines League Of Nations at Ocala, Florida.

Ireland had finished as runners-up in the opening round of the series last month in Abu Dhabi and they went one better in Ocala beating a top-class field of the best horses and riders in the world.

The competition began with a flurry of clear rounds from the opening riders and among those was Offaly's Darragh Kenny who was foot-perfect with Amsterdam 27, owned by Vlock Show Stables.

Cork's Shane Sweetnam was second to go for Michael Blake's team, and he delivered another clear, and Ireland at that stage were one of three teams with clear rounds from their first two riders. In-form Derry rider Daniel Coyle was next to go with the Ariel Grange-owned mare Legacy, and once again he jumped clear, with Ireland the only team to have three clear rounds from their first three riders.

Ireland's anchor rider Cian O'Connor decided not to jump his gelding Maurice in the opening round with Ireland already assured of a zero score heading into round two. The Netherlands and the home team USA were also on a clear scorecard heading into the decider, while Great Britain and Sweden were the two teams to finish outside the top eight and would miss out on the round two action.

The new Longines League Of Nations format sees only three combinations for each team jump in the second round and Irish team manager Michael Blake decided to leave out Shane Sweetnam for the second round and bring in the fresh pairing of Cian O'Connor and Maurice.

With all scores to count in the second round, the tension went up a level and Darragh Kenny kept Ireland in touch with a four fault score second time out with