Morale in the Irish three-day event camp is running high after four superb performances at Badminton last weekend and, although the IFG fixture at Punchestown - which gets underway with the first day of dressage this morning - is one step down from the British event, it still counts as a qualifier for the World Equestrian Games in Rome later in the year.
The home side is 15-strong in a 47-runner field, but the foreign entry was reduced by one when James Robinson's British entry Euphemism was lame at the first horse inspection yesterday evening. There is still plenty of talent remaining amongst the visitors however, with a total of 10 nations represented.
Included in the British squad are the 1997 individual European bronze medallist Tina Gifford, who claimed the honours at Necarne Castle 18 months ago. Olympic rider Karen Dixon rerouted Too Smart from Badminton after the horse was found to have an infected leg and Pippa Funnell, whose top horse Bits And Pieces broke down on both front legs four fences from home at Badminton, rides her Achselschwang winner Rainbow Magic.
Best hopes of a home victory rest with Jane O'Flynn, who made her team debut with the mare Ladakha at the European championships in Burghley last autumn, and is drawn first to go this morning, and Blarney Castle winners Stuart Crawford with the impossible to pronounce Kingatchacuk.
Virginia McGrath, who went so well at Badminton last weekend with The Yellow Earl to put in her bid for a place on the squad for Rome, now has the full brother The Golden Duke for Punchestown and could pose a threat to the opposition if she can sort out her braking problems.
Numbers in the Isuzu two-star were also reduced when Shirley Finnegan's Cloudbreaker and Brook Staples' ride for Australia, Fox On Wings, both failed the first horse inspection. There are still 70 on the startlist, however, with seven countries fielding runners.
Double Olympic champion Mark Todd, who so narrowly lost out on a fourth Badminton victory with a fence down in the show jumping last Sunday, opens the two-star batting this morning with the first of his pair Regal Scot, but dark horse from the home side could be Susan Shortt's ride for Rosemary Lowry, the talented seven-year-old Hannigan, which is drawn last of the two-star runners tomorrow afternoon.
Following the trend set in the two senior divisions, one of the Barton Transport juniors was also denied a start number at yesterday's trot-up. Evanna Barrington and Benoni claimed the feature junior class at the Tyrella two-day event last month, but their chances of the double vanished when the horse was turned down by the ground jury yesterday.
Dressage features for today and tomorrow, with the three and two-star fields running over both days and the juniors scheduled to appear in their arena tomorrow after. But the marks from the first phase are unlikely to have too much influence on the final outcome as Kitty Keys' 23-fence cross-country track asks plenty of questions and a considerable shuffling of the placings is expected.
Kentucky Derby third and fourth Indian Charlie and Halory Hunter have been ruled out of Saturday's Preakness Stakes. Bob Baffert has scratched Indian Charlie, who has failed to please him in his preparation for the Pimlico contest.
