Advertisement
Mark McAuley on board Grs Lady Amaro at the Dublin Horse Show. Tom Maher/INPHO

Ireland finish as Aga Khan runners-up for second year in a row

The USA held on to win the title for the eighth time.

THE IRISH SHOW jumping team has finished as runners-up in the Nations Cup of Ireland for the Aga Khan Trophy at the Dublin Horse Show.

The USA were the winners, lifting the trophy for the eighth time as Ireland narrowly missed out. All of the first six combinations jumped clear for Ireland in what was considered to be one of the strongest fields in recent years, including Offaly’s Darragh Kenny who was first of the Irish to jump with the 17-year-old grey stallion VDL Cartello.

Mark McAuley of Louth also ran clear for the hosts on board the Denis Hickey-bred GRS Lady Amaro (ISH). Tipperary’s Denis Lynch and Vistogrand were also flawless in their performance. Anchor rider Cian O’Connor and Fancy De Kergane finished with one fence down and a time fault. But Ireland remained on zero with three first-round clears already on the board.

Ireland held a share the lead with the USA at the halfway stage with a two-fence advantage over Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium and The Netherlands heading into round two.

Darragh Kenny and VDL Cartello had one fence down for Ireland at the start of the second round as USA edged ahead as Spenser Smith completed a double clear performance with Keeneland. Mark McAuley and GRS Lady Amaro (ISH) were clear until the last line, dropping two fences to leave them on eight faults. Denis Lynch came home with one fence down second time out, leaving Ireland tied with Belgium and Switzerland on eight faults heading into the last line riders.

Cian O’Connor went clear with Fancy De Kergane to put pressure on the USA leaders who held the advantage on four faults. But USA’s final rider McLain Ward also jumped clear to deliver the country’s first Aga Khan since 2017. 

Author
View comments
Close
Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy here before taking part.
Leave a Comment
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Noel Lynn
    Favourite Noel Lynn
    Report
    Jul 11th 2024, 9:14 AM

    Pearce was obnoxious and condescending towards Dorris. He had his mind made up before seeing all angles ( ala another english ref) but it’s obvious that any close call went to home team. BTW it may be a good decision to employ Nigel Owens and have him in our corner like Pipper in SA

    41
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute teuO6nLS
    Favourite teuO6nLS
    Report
    Jul 11th 2024, 10:02 AM

    There’s a pattern here with all of Barnes, Dickson, Carley and Pearce looking down at Irish players like they’re not worthy of listening to.

    If Pearce had treated Kolisi like he did Doris, the race card would have been out before the game had even ended.

    We don’t have this issue with any other referees. It’s the English “Old Boys” club in full swing now we dare to really compete at the highest level and the IRFU have to do something about it.

    26
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Stuart
    Favourite Stuart
    Report
    Jul 11th 2024, 12:17 PM

    @teuO6nLS: kolisi’s demeanor when speaking to the refs is very polite with no sense of aggression or forwardness ( a calm conversation) , as you are aware huge focus for SA over the years has been getting on the side of the the ref and the finer details of the rules and how the refs work (entrance Peyper/owns ect )…the frustrated ranting captain who asks the same question 3 times and expects a different result is never going to get on the refs side…big learning curve. SA have mastered this ….

    3
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John Ludgate
    Favourite John Ludgate
    Report
    Jul 11th 2024, 5:11 PM

    @Stuart: How as Doris being anything other than polite but inquisitive. I saw nothing like Sexton (at times) or others in his behavior but yet Pearse got all upset and frustrated with him for even asking. Is he that insecure and childish that he can’t explain his decisions to a captain?. A referee should not be abused but equally should treat a captain who wants information with respect

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Michael Murray
    Favourite Michael Murray
    Report
    Jul 11th 2024, 9:25 AM

    The consistency, quality and intensity of his performance over a game is nothing short of remarkable.

    9
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute David Butler Manning
    Favourite David Butler Manning
    Report
    Jul 11th 2024, 1:56 PM

    On balance, ignoring the last 30 mins of Saturday, I’d have said Pearce is generally the most congenial of the English refs. Dickson and Carley are both considerably worse. They would have escalated more quickly and more severely than Pearce did last weekend. My biggest issue with Pearce is that he’s never in his career seen a pass that didn’t go backwards. His tolerance for the most blatant of forward passes is mindboggling.

    Ben Whitehouse though … I don’t even mind him so much as a ref, but he is the worst TMO out there. Seems always to have a burning desire to be the cleverest official on duty, hunting out the obscure incidents no one else has seen, while steadfastly ignoring anything obvious – and definitively refusing to look at anything some TV producer has deigned to replay.

    3
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Chris Tobin
    Favourite Chris Tobin
    Report
    Jul 11th 2024, 11:50 AM

    The only thing criticising the english his buddy is doing next game up. If you thought Pearce was arrogant…..

    3
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.

Leave a commentcancel