Ireland Looking to Make Up Ground on French Coast at Nations Cup

La Baule, a picturesque century-old resort town on the southern coast of Brittany, is hosting elite teams from eight nations at this year’s competition, with seven — Germany, Spain, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland — chasing qualifying points for Barcelona. Belgium is also taking part in the competition but is part of the 19-nation Division 2 on the continent. Indeed, dozens of national teams in six zones around the world have begun their quest to grab one of the eighteen spots for the 2017 Final, to be held from September 28-October 1.

The Nations Cup, organized by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports, is the most prestigious and historic international team competition in Show Jumping. Last year, it was won by Team Germany, which is currently leading this year’s standings in Division 1 after its victory at the Longines Spring Classic of Flanders in Lummen. France sits in second and Italy — which had a great ‘warm-up’ last week, winning the Division 2 CSIO4* qualifier in Linz, Austria — third.

Ireland will be looking to make up ground on the leaders this week at the nearly 60-year-old (and freshly renovated) François André stadium in the town of about 16,000 inhabitants, which is also known for having one of Europe’s longest beaches. As with all the teams present in La Baule, four horse-and-rider pairs from the Emerald Isle will be selected to compete in Friday’s Nations Cup by the country’s chef d’équipe tomorrow (Thursday) evening. And that task is not an easy one, with Denis Lynch (17th at the 2017 Longines World Cup Final in Omaha), Shane Sweetnam, Kevin Babington, Shane Breen and Michael Duffy to choose from.

Also on tap in La Baule this weekend is Sunday’s €200,000 CSIO5* Grand Prix Longines – Ville de La Baule. For a provisional list of the riders expected to take part on the 1.60 metre obstacle course, see here.

FEI Nations Cup – Division 1 Standings (Europe)