To many, Greg Broderick was a left-field choice to take Ireland’s sole showjumping spot at the Rio Olympics, but he is confident about his medal chances.
Earlier in the year, Horse Sport Ireland announced that the Tipperary man, then ranked 252nd in the world, would be going, overlooking Bertram Allen, who was inside the top ten and did most of the heavy lifting in terms of earning that place at the Games.
Broderick says that the rankings are deceptive,though, and points out that his recent results on the big stage prove that he is worth his place and ready to fight for a spot on the podium.
"I run a big business at home in Tipperary, we breed and produce a lot of young horses so I don’t do big international shows week-in, week-out like a lot of the riders," explained the 30-year-old, who partners up with horse MHS Going Global.
"If you do a lot of international shows it’s going to help bring your ranking up because you can only get points at international shows jumping above 1.45m. Others are at those international shows jumping a lot more than I am in those international classes and they get the ranking points.
"Thankfully any time we’ve been called upon to do a job with Going Global, we’ve had very good results.
"Last year he did six Nations Cups and we were the best of the Irish on five occasions, we've done two nations cups this year and we jumped double clear in both of them.
"That record speaks for itself and in that case I don’t think it comes down to the world ranking. If you look at our form at a world level we have been very consistent, as Denis Lynch, Cian O’Connor and Bertram Allen have all been - we’ve all been very consistent with great horses.
"The lads are top riders and I was lucky enough to get the spot"
"The lads are top riders and I was lucky enough to get the spot, my horse is in top form and if we can keep doing what we’re doing, hopefully we can do Ireland proud."
And Broderick is right - him and his horse haven't made many top flight appearance in recent times, but when the combination do show up they perform.
They start their Olympic campaign with qualifying on Sunday at the Horse Sport Arena in Deodoro, with a second round to follow before Friday’s final.
He knows that he might be flying in under the radar, but the laid-back Tipp man is comfortable in his abilities and those of his mount, known to the family as Junior.
"I certainly feel that there’s a great chance of a medal," said Broderick.
"I jumped most of these riders all year; when selection was made just after St Gallen in Switzerland we were the only horse-rider combination to jump double clear in the Nations Cup and the grand prix on Sunday.
"That was one of the biggest shows of the year and we were the only horse-rider combination to jump four clear rounds out of four.
"We went to Dublin and jumped double-clear in the Aga Khan. He’s one of the best horses in the world and I wouldn’t get down off Going Global to get up on any other horse that’s here at this show. I’m very, very confident.
"The thing about show jumping is you can be a bit unlucky and a rub of the pole can see it come out of the cup. A little bit of luck and there’s nothing Going Global can’t jump and there’s no reason why we can’t make the podium."
