Thirty year-old Mark McAuley will make his debut on an Irish Aga Khan team on Friday, following his selection today by new show jumping manager Rodrigo Pessoa.

McAuley, from Co. Louth, will ride the grey Swedish-bred gelding Miebello, who delivered a clear round for Ireland at the Falsterbo Nations Cup last month, and has also produced some impressive Grand Prix results in recent months.

Ireland ’s four riders and horses will line out at the historic RDS arena in Dublin in the following order:

Bertram Allen – Molly Malone V
Mark McAuley – Miebello
Denis Lynch – RMF Echo
Cian O’Connor – Good Luck 

Speaking after announcing his team, Pessoa said he was looking forward to his very first Aga Khan trophy competition as Irish team manager. He said: “This is of course a very special and important Nations Cup for us. There is so much history and prestige that goes with the Aga Khan at the Dublin Horse Show.

“At the start of the year we said that the European Championships, which come in a couple of weeks’ time, are our main focus for this season and we are saving some of our horses for that. But we are still lining up with what I think is a very good team for our home Nations Cup.”

Six teams – Netherlands, Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain and Ireland will be competing for Nations Cup points in the Aga Khan, while Britain and USA will also field teams but will not be eligible for points.

The Nations Cup will be available on livestream (by subscription) from FEItv and will also be broadcast in Ireland by RTE2 from 1:45pm on Friday.

Jack Burns