15 hours ago
Monster ambitions for Irish showjumpers as they build towards LA 2028
Michael Blake says he has created a monster - and he loves his headache-inducing creation that includes his sport's new Ronaldo.
The Horse Sport Ireland high performance director set out to shake up the status quo by building a big base of young talent when he took on the role.
So while veteran Cian O'Connor is aiming for an Irish record of six summer Olympic Games appearances at LA '28, there is a brimful of talent bubbling up behind.
That depth that extends to around 30 riders has led to an astonishing record of consistency across the world in terms of big victories by Ireland on the equestrian circuit, with the massive five-star defence of their Aachen Nations Cup starting tomorrow.
Earlier this month, Ireland backed up a four-star victory in Langley, Canada, with a five-star triumph in La Baule - their second five-star success of the year, more than any nation.
Those successes come down to Blake being able to constantly rotate his selections. "I've created a monster," he laughed. "People say, 'oh well, you didn't win the last Europeans'. But we were second with kids. I chose not to bring the A team - for want of a better word - because I wanted to see what the emerging talent could do.
'The big win in La Baule, I had two kids in it on two young horses. It's not winning that makes me most proud - that makes me most proud. It's like having under-16 or under-18 players playing with the big boys and they played well.
'Our two five-star victories, we didn't need to jump the last horse. And we have days that don't go well, but sport is 90% desperation and 10% elation - and my job is to change the odds.'
One of those rare days that didn't go well was the Paris Olympics, where a star-studded Ireland team only finished in seventh place at the Palace of Versailles.
That was a big disappointment after an unprecedented season of success that had produced 11 Nations Cup podium results. 'Absolutely," agreed Blake. "We were talked up a lot more than we talked ourselves up.
"We knew we were there or thereabouts, we knew things that needed to go our way - they did right until the last horse was going in. We were in line for silver medal, which was going to be fantastic.
"And it just didn't go our way. The trouble about our thing is we're playing with live animals and we're playing with business and we're playing with a lot of factors.
"And obviously, we're bitterly disappointed that we let our nation down. We wanted to do our best and we've bounced back before and after. We've bounced back now. We're the only country in the world that have two five-star wins up this year and so we can't be too bad."
Letting the nation down is a strong commentary from the Horse Sport Ireland supremo. "There was great expectation and we had great expectations," he explained. "We didn't talk it up because on paper it would look hard to get that team beat.
"And, on paper, if you looked at the countries that won the medals, they hadn't had any luck before or since. They're in difficult situations, those countries right now, and we're still going strong. It just didn't work. Right now, it looks like we have a better pool of horses coming along because we have set out to do it.
"In the win in La Baule there was a 20-year-old and a 22-year-old rider on two young horses that haven't yet peaked, but are still able to kick the ball at the highest level.
'You add a couple of years to those riders' preparation, those horses' preparation, it can only be better. And at the moment, they're almost fit to go anywhere.
"That will give encouragement to other riders to say someone like Seamus Hughes Kennedy - he has come out of nowhere and now he's the new Ronaldo in this world."
