BRITISH riders scored a clean sweep in the main jumping arena at the RDS yesterday, giving notice of their intent to give the home side a run for their money in this afternoon's Nations Cup.
Nick Skelton and Michael Whitaker, both fresh from the Olympics, would brook no challenge against the clock, with Skelton taking the £4,000 winner's purse in the Kerrygold Classic and teammate Whitaker winding up at the head of affairs in the Kerrygold Accumulator.
A field of 40 contested the Classic, with 12 of these earning their place in the timed jump off. Ireland's sole representative was Tom Slattery with the stallion Coille Mor Hill, while Peter Charles, Eddie Macken and Paul Darragh all went out after faulting at the planks.
Germany's Holger Wulschner set the standard with the stallion Capriol, but the aptly named bay wasted time with a few unscheduled caprioles en route round the track, and 49.27 seconds was never going to be good enough to head the line up.
John Whitaker promptly demoted the German by well over a second with his veteran Grannusch. But some nifty navigating from Nick Skelton gave him over a half a second in hand with the mare Dollar Girl.
Skelton's time of 47.67 proved out of reach for the remaining five finalists, although Switzerland's Jurg Friedli came closest when clocking 47.90 with Gyssmo to snatch second place from Whitaker.
Tom Slattery opted for a safe clear and Coille Mor Hill duly obliged to put him into fifth place.
Ireland had also been denied top honours in the earlier Kerrygold Accumulator. Just three picked up maximum points in the first round and Switzerland's Paul Estermann was drawn as pathfinder against the clock. A fence down three from home gave Paul Darragh the opportunity of clinching the class, but Flaminka kicked out the same rail as the Swiss horse.
It is hard enough to beat Michael Whitaker at the best of times, but needing only a clear to win, victory was virtually handed on a plate to the British star. He added more than to seconds to Darragh's target, but that vital maximum score gave him the win he wanted and the perfect morale booster before today's Nations Cup.