EQUESTRIAN SPORT:KILKENNY-BASED Gilly Crawford and Mr Aero lie best of the Irish, in third place, following the dressage phase of the two-star CIC at Barroca d'Alva in Portugal.
Crawford attained a score of 49.2 penalties for her flat work on the eight-year-old gelding with compatriot Sacha Pemble slotting into fourth on 47.1 with Hyanie d'Aubrie. The leader following the first discipline is Belgium's Karin Donckers and Gazelle de la Brasserie (43.5) while Australian Andrew Hoy currently lies second on 45.0 with Grand Joca.
Michael Ryan heads into today's cross-country phase on a score of 54.0 with the 10-year-old Chakaris gelding Dances With Wolves. Meanwhile, his wife Patricia is best placed of the large contingent of Irish riders in the one-star CIC, filling 13th spot with Carol and Tom Henry's Uranio HP.
It was announced yesterday that former Olympian Eric Smiley and Wexford stud owner and international judge Stephanie von Schilcher have been appointed advisers on the senior eventing high-performance committee. They join Brian Mangan (chairman) and Ginny Elliott whose appointment as high performance manager was announced earlier last month.
At the three-star show in Wellington, Florida, Kildare's Edward Doyle and Sequoyah Farms' Utopia finished fourth in the sixth round of the WEF Challenge Series on Thursday night.
Only two clear rounds were recorded in this first US team selection trial for the Olympics, the winners being Lauren Hough and the 12-year-old Indoctro mare Casadora.
