Top Ten Grand Prix Finishes a For Irish Riders in France and China
CHINA’S first five-star show jumping competition held at Shanghai on Saturday saw two Irish riders finish in the Grand Prix top ten, while in St. Tropez, France, one Irish rider took an eighth place.
The million-dollar Global Champions Tour at Shanghai drew the cream of the world’s show jumping talent, and Ireland’s three riders went through the first round on zero scores – Billy Twomey with Diaghilev, Bertram Allen on Molly Malone V, and Shane Breen with Confident of Victory.
Eighteen riders from a starting field of 31 qualified for the second round, but a challenging course saw only five make the cut for the jump-off, with the Irish trio each incurring four faults.
Nevertheless, at the finish fast four-fault rounds brought Allen and Twomey into eighth and ninth position, respectively, and each benefited from a prize money payout of 16,000 euro. The lion’s share of the money on offer went to Belgian winner Pieter Devos and Dream Of India Greenfield, who took home a staggering 266,000 euro for his first place.
In sunny St. Tropez in the south of France, meanwhile, only Mark McAuley and the stallion Isco de Amoranda went clear for Ireland in the first round of the Longines Grand Prix, but a single fence clipped in the second round relegated him to eighth overall, with prize money of 7,500 euro. First place, along with 99,000 euro, went to the fastest double clear round of France’s Patrice Delaveau with Carinjo HDC.
Category: International, News, Show Jumping
