The 37 year-old, who is now based in England, showed a notable turn of speed at the St Jakobshalle stadium this afternoon (Friday), when he piloted Joe Flynn’s grey stallion across the line with almost a second in hand over Belgian challenger Gregory Wathelet and Egano van het Slogenhof.

Twomey collected 6,000 euro for his win against a top international field of 50 competitors, and also saw fellow Irish rider Cameron Hanley come home in fourth place with Eleonore Paschoud and Yves Bouvier’s Newton du Haut Bois.

More ribbons were claimed by Ireland last night when Tipperary’s Thomas Ryan also took a fourth place in the speed class with Aschwanden Simone’s Quite Zero. Cameron Hanley was again in the top ten with Newton du Haut Bois, taking sixth place.

The trio are joined at Basel by Jessica Kurten, Bertram Allen and Denis Lynch.

The Swiss Longines Grand Prix takes place on Sunday afternoon, when a total of 270,000 euro in prize money will be available.

IRELAND dominated the Leading Show Jumper of the Year competition at the Horse of the Year Show in Birmingham, England tonight (Sunday), with Cork’s Billy Twomey taking first place and Meath’s Cian O’Connor claiming second.

On a challenging course that saw the Irish riders posting two of only three zero scores in the Grand Prix’s opening round, a largely British field failed to ignite, leaving O’Connor and Twomey to battle it out with France’s Julien Epaillard and Quarat de la Loge for the top honours.

However, the French rider had one rail down in the jump-off, and O’Connor with The Serendipity Group’s bay gelding Cooper then briefly held the lead with a second clear round.

Twomey, however, riding Sue Davies’s mare Tinka’s Serenade, produced a blazingly fast zero penalty round and collected the 16,000 euro first prize with almost six seconds in hand over his fellow-countryman, who took home 10,000 euro for his runner-up place.

The Irish riders were the only competitors from a starting field of 23 to record double clear rounds in the prestigious three-star British competition.

Horse Sport Ireland

Both riders were celebrating their second wins of the weekend.

On Friday night former World Champion Lennon collected a Class A Mercedes hatchback at Geesteren’s three-star show when he claimed victory in the Grand Prix Qualifier with Hallmark Elite. This evening (Sunday) he bagged a sportier Class CLA model when winning the Grand Prix with the Irish Sport Horse Loughview Lou Lou.

Lennon said this evening: “It feels great to have won twice this weekend. I didn’t jump in the Grand Prix in Aachen, Germany last week because I fancied Loughview Lou Lou to win here, and I’m pleased to say that Hallmark Elite is also in super form.”

On Friday night at Wettenhall, also a three-star show, 36 year-old Twomey brought the bay gelding Diaghilev across the line with one-and-a-half seconds to spare against a jump-off challenge from Britain’s Jessie Drea and the Irish Sport Horse Touchdown mare Touchable.

This evening Diaghilev again delivered the goods, earning Twomey 12,000 euro in a 12-horse jump-off, with fellow countryman Richard Howley underlining Irish dominance of the international class with a second place on Camiro de Haar Z.

Twomey said after his second weekend victory: “I’m just pleased to get back to my winning ways, considering the my recent operation and the fracture I sustained from a fall in April.”

Release from Colin McClelland, HSI

Mayo’s Cameron Hanley, who was two years out of the saddle with a serious leg injury, this afternoon placed fourth in the three-star Grand Prix at Arezzo in Italy with Antello Z. This evening Cork’s Billy Twomey, who was kept out of competition since late last year following a serious back operation, finished in third place at Spain’s two-star Grand Prix in Oliva with his long-time partner Tinka’s Serenade.

Both riders have only returned to international competition in recent weeks, and both have recovered from medical conditions that at one stage threw serious doubts over their show jumping future.

Meanwhile in France, Tipperary brothers Trevor and Shane Breen had a family celebration after finishing in the top three of Hardelot’s three-star Grand Prix tonight. Younger brother Trevor slotted Adventure de Kannan into second place behind Britain’s Laura Renwick and Oz de Breve, while Shane Breen placed third aboard the stallion Balloon.

Ireland also enjoyed several wins over the weekend, with Shane Carey and Ballymore Eustace placing first in the 1m45 competition at Hardelot, Denis Lynch and Quintus taking victory in today’s jump-off class at Lanaken in Belgium, and Anthony Condon winning the speed competition at Oliva with Value T.

Horse Sport Ireland Press Release, written by Colin McClelland