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06 Sept 2025
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06 Sept 2025
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Max Wachman from Gooldscross, Cashel, will compete with the Irish Show Jumping team in Florida. Picture: Sportsfile
Michael Blake is hopeful of a strong performance from the Underwriting Exchange Irish Show Jumping squad in what promises to be a fiercely-contested four-star FEI Nations Cup on Saturday in Wellington, USA.
Ireland have already secured podium finishes in four and five-star Nations Cups this season, finishing second in Sharjah and third in Abu Dhabi, and now the Ireland team manager is hopeful Ireland can gain a first success in 2023.
Blake has named his squad for Saturday’s CSIO4* event, with familiar combinations lining out in the green jacket in Florida as Ireland face ten other nations.
The team will consist of David Blake with Claude, Cian O’Connor with Berlux Z, Shane Sweetnam with Namaste Van Het Eyckeveld, Tipperary's Max Wachman with Kilkenny (ISH), which is owned by his grandmother Susan Magnier; and Daniel Coyle with Legacy.
“I’ve named a strong team, with all the combinations showing good recent form, but there will be plenty of strong teams in opposition and they’ll be coming here with the same idea as us – looking to win,” Blake said.
“This has the potential to be a very important weekend for us, as obviously I’m always looking to the future and to see what horses could be breaking through to the top level for us.
“There’s also a lot of Irish support out here – plenty have travelled to be here so we’ll be very hopeful of a good result”.
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