Team Ireland into the Nations Cup final The Underwriting Exchange Irish Show Jumping Team has secured a spot in the final round of the FEI Jumping Nations Cup Final in Barcelona on Sunday afternoon.

Michael Blake’s team includes Trevor Breen with Highland President, Denis Lynch with Vistogrand, Max Wachman with the Irish Sport Horse Kilkenny, and Daniel Coyle with Gisborne VDL. They needed a top-eight finish in the opening round, ultimately finishing seventh to advance to the final.

Breen and Highland President had one pole down, and Lynch and Vistogrand dropped one fence but had an otherwise excellent round. This placed Ireland in eighth position at the break.

Wachman and Kilkenny had a pole down and added a time fault, resulting in a total of five faults. Coyle and Gisborne added four more faults.

Ireland progressed to the final as Spain, whose anchor rider Eduardo Alvarez Asnar and D’Orient Batilly posted 16 faults which dropped them out of the top eight They will compete on Sunday, with Great Britain jumping last after achieving a zero score. Brazil, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, USA, and France will also compete in the final.

Horse Sport Ireland High Performance Show Jumping Director, Michael Blake, expressed the need for improvement in their performance to have a shot at medaling. Nonetheless, the main objective of qualifying for the final has been achieved.

Wishing Team Ireland the best of luck on Sunday.