O'Connor keen for Kentucky success

Fresh from his achievements at the Dublin Hosrse Show in early August, Meath's Cian O'Connor will be now turning his attention Stateside and the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games which take place in Lexington, Kentucky. The Games - which take place from Saturday 25th September to Sunday 10th October - are expected to attract the world's top showjumpers. The Meath-based rider and trainer travels to the States on the back of an impressive performance in the Dublin Horse Show at the RDS when on Yves Chauvins's French-bred gelding 'Noltambule Courcelle' he finished joint-first in the Puissance along with Venezuela's Pablo Barrios. The competition final started with 14 horses and riders and O'Connor and Barrios going all the way to a jump off. Neither rider were able to jump clear and they shared the first prize after a highly entertaining competition that kept the big crowd at the RDS entertained right to the end. He was also part of the Irish team which finished second in the Nations Cup along with the United States. O'Connor is taking K Club Lady to the World Equestrian Games and he will be entering the competition with characteristic confidence and belief he can claim the number one position. "It will be the biggest test to-date for my new mare K Club Lady, but I'm confident that we can deliver the goods," he said. O'Connor will be hoping that he can produce the required performance to get the better of what is sure to be a highly competitive field at Lexington with 60 national federations entering teams at the event. Ireland will be entering teams in reining, dressage, showjumping, para-equestrian and eventing world championships. Other members of the Irish team include Naas-based Judy Reynolds who takes part in the dressage and who was encouraged to pursue a career in that discipline by German-native Gisela Holstein who has called Enfield home for many years. Reynolds continues to live in Dusseldorf where she works on developing her skills in dressage. Also on the Irish team for Kentucky is Ollie Galligan who is from Cavan who will represent his country in the discipline of reining. Galligan won't have to travel as far as his colleagues to the World championships as he lives in California. "I followed trainer and friend Ben Balow, who was working as a reining trainer in Ireland. Ben offered me an apprentice position in Skull Valley, Arizona and I thought it would be an excellent opportunity not only to visit the States, but also to gain reining and ranching experience," said Galligan. The World Equestrian Games are comprised of the world championships for eight equestrian sports. The Games are held every four years, two years prior to the Olympic Games, and are governed by the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI).