For the first time in Ireland’s show jumping history we have gone abroad for our new chef d’équipe. Last week, Horse Sport Ireland made the surprise announcement that Brazilian star, Rodrigo Pessoa, would take over the helm from Robert Splaine. Splaine is retiring after some 12 seasons during which he served our team with great dignity.

In the past we looked beyond our shores for trainers like Colonels Rodzianko and Zgorelski, but never before for the overall high performance team manager and chef d’équipe.

Pessoa (44), who is son of show jumping legend and former Dublin Grand Prix winner, Nelson Pessoa, comes with a stellar record at the very top level of the sport. This includes Olympic, World and Pan American medals plus over 70 major individual Grand Prix wins, some of which were on the Irish-bred, Special Envoy.

Pessoa took the individual Olympic gold medal at Athens in 2004. He was on Brazilian silver and bronze medal teams at Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000. Also in 2000, at Las Vegas, he completed a unique hat trick of three consecutive World Cup final wins with the great Baloubet du Rouet.

On the other side of the Atlantic he also starred in the Pan American Games as he took individual silver and team gold at Rio in 2007, plus another team gold at Buenos Aires in 1995. At the World Equestrian Games he won individual gold at Rome in 1998 and was in the final four at Jerez in 2002.

He speaks some six languages and has been both the rider representative on the FEI Jumping Committee and president of the International Jumping Riders Club.

All of this we know and it is clear that Pessoa could have had his pick of countries in which to serve as chef d’équipe. But, what we do not know is the genesis of this extraordinary coup which left Irish contenders out of the loop. But now it is down to the job of getting good results in Division I Nations Cups and bidding to secure a team place in the Tokyo Olympics. We wish Pessoa and the Irish squad all the best in the years ahead.

World Cup contenders

Denis Lynch and Judy Reynolds, fifth and seventh respectively at Gothenburg last year, head to Omaha, Nebraska next week to try again for World Cup glory in the big Centurylink Centre against the best that have qualified from around the globe. Both riders have shown superb form of late and could very much improve on those 2016 placings.

Lynch and the stallion All Star 5 were supremely consistent throughout the Western European League campaign picking up a total of 64 points at Stuttgart (4th), Madrid (5th), La Caruna (8th), Mechelen (6th), Barcelona (4th) and Gothenburg (11th). They finished third on the leader board behind former European Champion Kevin Staut and Dublin Grand Prix winner Lorenzo de Luca. In none of these contests did he overtax the stallion against the clock, but it is clear that there is a vast improvement in his speed rounds.

This will be a bonus when he takes on the opening Table C at Omaha on Thursday next. No matter how big the fences get after that he can cope with them. Hence my hope that the Tipperary man can, this time, take the 38th running of this prestige cup.

Although sponsored by Longines, this event has nothing like the money on offer for the Global Champions Tour. There is €632,000 in prize money for the whole final with €67,000 going to the overall winner. But in terms of indoor jumping there is nothing better to win.

That is how it has been since entrepreneur supreme, Max Amman launched this innovative series back in 1978/79. Eddie Macken came third in the inaugural final. Since then, we have had two runner-up placings from Trevor Coyle on Cruising in 1999 and Jessica Kürten on Libertina in 2008 when the Ballymena lady was denied by just a single penalty. Next best for Ireland was Bertram Allen and Molly Malone at the Las Vegas Final in 2015 when he came third behind Steve Guerdat of Switzerland, who won again last year. But could this be Ireland’s year? Only Denis and All Star 5 can answer to that in Omaha.

Reynolds at the ready

Competing in the US will be no novelty for Kildare native, Judy Reynolds and her star horse Vancouver K. On her road to taking The Irish Field Dressage Rider of the Year award, earlier this year, one of her star moments was when she brilliantly won in New York’s Central Park. More recently, a good sixth placing in s’Hertogenbosh sealed her qualification for Omaha and, just like Lynch, she finished her campaign in third place on the Western European League table. We wish both riders the very best as they take on the world in the Centurylink Centre next week, 29 March to 2 April.