Eddie Macken, who missed out on his traditional captain's berth in the Aga Khan Cup squad last month when Miss FAN was lame, has been forced to pull out of the World Equestrian Games with both his top horses sidelined.
The French-bred mare Miss FAN has been dogged by injury since damaging a ligament at the back of her knee two years ago. The battle to get the mare fit in time for the trip to Rome next month has failed and, with Macken's Kerrygold Grand Prix winner FAN Schalkhaar also sidelined through injury, the German-based rider had no alternative but to withdraw from the team.
This means a late call-up for Co Mayo jockey Cameron Hanley, who will join Peter Charles, Trevor Coyle, Captain John Ledingham and Erik Holstein.
The World Games, which were due to be staged in Ireland this year until the loss of main sponsor Nissan and the subsequent withdrawal of Government funding, open next week with the three-day event in Pratoni del Vivaro. Both the show jumping, which starts with a warm-up competition on October 6th, and the dressage will be staged in the Stadio Flaminio in the centre of Rome.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)