BERTRAM ALLEN TAKES GOLD MEDAL FOR IRELAND IN EUROPEAN PONY CHAMPIONSHIPS

BERTRAM Allen from Wexford celebrated his 15th birthday today (Sunday) by taking the Individual Gold Medal at the European Pony Show Jumping Championships in Bishop Burton, England, with a double clear on 'Acapalla Z' netting him first place against a talented international field.

Afterwards he could only say: "This is the best birthday present ever!"

And in a mirror image of last year's European Pony Championships, which were held in Belgium, Ireland have now taken the Individual European Show Jumping Gold, the Team Show Jumping Silver and the Eventing Individual Bronze medals for 2010.

Allen was also a member of the show jumping team which won the European Silver Medal on Friday and today sealed Ireland's weekend triumphs with his own victory.

Horse Sport Ireland's Pony High Performance Coach Ian Fearon said: "This was just a fantastic performance by Bertram. He incurred no penalties at all throughout the entire weekend, and his pony showed all the attributes need to win a major championship. He has been outstanding all year, from trials at home to the Nations' Cup win in Holland earlier this year, and today's medal is proof of his incredible ability."

And in today's show jumping final, Ireland's Tom Foley took sixth place with 'Dibidoe'.

Race horse trainer Aidan O'Brien's 15 year-old daughter Sarah O'Brien won the Bronze Individual Medal in Eventing at Bishop Burton, a repeat of her brother Joseph's place in 2009, both riding their mother Anne-Marie's grey gelding 'Ice Cool Bailey'.

In 2009, the Individual Show Jumping Gold Medal was won by Kellie Allen (no relation) from Co. Meath.

SPLAINE NAMES AGA KHAN SQUAD FOR DUBLIN

The Ireland Team that won in Aachen will be looking to record a famous double of wins in the Aga Khan at the Dublin Horse Show next week

IRELAND'S Show Jumping Team Manager Robert Splaine has named the five Irish riders who will make up the squad for this year’s Aga Khan trophy at the Failte Ireland Dublin Horse Show.

The squad in alphabetical order is:

Shane Breen; Carmena Z
Dermott Lennon; Hallmark Elite
Denis Lynch; Nabab’s Son
Cian O’Connor; K Club Lady
Billy Twomey; Tinka’s Serenade

Speaking after the announcement Robert Splaine said he was reverting to the same five that he had sent to Aachen in Germany, where they subsequently won the Nations’ Cup.

“These five riders were the squad for Aachen, however Shane brings ‘Carmena Z’ while Denis brings ‘Nababs Son’."

Splaine pointed out that four of the combinations selected had jumped double clear rounds in the series during the season, with Billy Twomey and ‘Tinka’s Serenade’ jumping a clear and a four in two earlier Meydan Nations’ Cups.

“Shane and ‘Carmena Z’ had a double clear in La Baule, while Denis and ‘Nabab’s Son’ did the same at Falsterbo.

“Cian and Dermott had double clears at Aachen, and Billy was outstanding as the pathfinder there, jumping a four and a clear. This form has been achieved at the highest level and stands up, and is what you need going into a competition like the Aga Khan Trophy,” he said.

Splaine said that he expected the teams in Dublin to be the strongest countries can field and competition to be fierce over the next two rounds at Hickstead and Dublin, with so many teams still in threat of relegation.

The Nations Cup at Hickstead takes place next Friday, July 30th, and after the Aga Khan competition four teams will be relegated from the Meydan Superleague for 2011.

“While we have really improved our position we are still not  safe and there are five teams really under pressure and all of these countries will be fighting for their show jumping lives,” he said.

Ireland last won the Aga Khan trophy in 2004.

Ten teams will compete in the Aga Khan competition, which takes place at the Failte Ireland Dublin Horse Show on Friday, August 6th at 3pm and will be shown live on RTE.

IRELAND PULL OFF SENSATIONAL WIN IN GERMAN NATIONS' CUP
 
The Irish Show jumping team last night (Thursday) pulled off one of their most sensational results in recent memory, by winning the German Nations Cup at Aachen.

Ranked ten-to-one outsiders with the bookies before the competition, Ireland's quartet of Billy Twomey, Dermott Lennon, Cian O'Connor and Denis Lynch held off the home side Germany who finished second, to lift the trophy in front of a packed audience of over 60,000 spectators.

Ireland were in joint first place on four faults with four other teams at the halfway stage, but a clear from Cork's Billy Twomey riding 'Tinka's Serenade', followed by a further two clears from Co Down's Dermott Lennon with 'Hallmark Elite' and Meath's Cian O'Connor on his new mare 'K Club Lady', meant that Tipperary's Denis Lynch  and 'Lantinus', who knocked just one fence in the first round, did not need to jump in the second round as Ireland's four fault score could not be beaten.

Victory on what is regarded as one of the most difficult and forbidding courses in the world not only brought the capacity crowd to its feet, but also catapulted Ireland clear of the Meydan Superleague relegation zone, and up to joint third place on the ten team league table, with just two rounds remaining at Hickstead in England and Ireland's famous Dublin Horse Show.

Horse Sport Ireland Chairman Joe Walsh, who was in Aachen to watch the Irish team commented last night that ; "Last nights victory was a fantastic day for Irish show jumping and It was a privilege to to hear the national anthem played and see the tricolour raised at what is one of Europe's biggest sporting occasions. Joe Walsh went on to congratulate the riders, the owners and of course Team Ireland's  Show Jumping Manager Robert Splaine."

SHOW JUMPING RESULTS: CSIO5* AACHEN GERMANY JULY 13-18

GERMAN NATIONS' CUP
Two Rounds 1m60
Thursday 15th July 2010

1) IRELAND 4 faults
Billy Twomey/Tinka's Serenade 4/0
Dermott Lennon/Hallmark Elite 0/0
Cian O'Connor/K Club Lady 0/0
Denis Lynch/Lantinus 4/-
2) GERMANY 9 faults
3) USA 12 faults
=4) SWITZERLAND 16 faults
=4) FRANCE  16 faults
6) NETHERLANDS 24 faults
7) SWEDEN 31 faults
8) GT. BRITAIN 35 faults

Ten nations competed

MACKEN WINS FIVE STAR CANADIAN OPENER

AT 61, Ireland's Eddie Macken had his best result of 2010 when he won the opening class at Spruce Meadows five-star show yesterday evening (Wednesday).

Macken, who is now based outside Vancouver, rode the Argentinian Warmblood 'Macuco' to victory in the speed class, beating the 47 year-old Mexican rider Antonion Maurer by just under a sixth of a second.

Regarded as one of the greatest Irish sportsmen of all time, Longford-born Eddie Macken took Irish show jumping to new heights during the 1970s, winning the Hickstead Derby four times in succession and was a member of the team that won the Aga Khan (Nations' Cup) three times in a row in Dublin (1977-1979). He jumped on 28 Aga Khan teams at the Dublin Horse Show, where he competed for 30 consecutive years.

SHOW JUMPING RESULTS: CSI5* SPRUCE MEADOWS CANADA JULY 8-11 2010

Friends of the Meadows Welcome
International Jumping Competition
Table A Against the Clock
FEI Art. 238.2.1 1m40
Wednesday, July 7, 2010

1) MACUCO; EDDIE MACKEN (IRL) Faults 0.00 Time 65.54
2) JUMEX SPORT CHIPRE; ANTONIO MAURER (MEX) Faults 0.00 Time 65.69
3) KANNANS  GIRL Z; NICOLE LAKIN (USA) Faults 0.00 Time 66.49

35 starters

O'BRIEN WINS SWEDISH GRAND PRIX QUALIFIER, LENNON FIFTH

IRELAND'S Capt. David O'Brien scored a notable victory on the opening day of the Nations' Cup show at Falsterbo in Sweden this evening (Thursday) when seeing off a star-studded field to win the Grand Prix Qualifier on the Irish-bred 'Mo Chroi'.

Seventh to jump in a 54-strong startlist, the Athlone native set a scorching time of 53.06 seconds on the Minister for Defence's Cruising mare, and only Germany's Philipp Weishaupt came close with 'Leoville', while US rider Rich Fellers and another Cruising offspring, the stallion 'Flexible', slotted into third.

Co. Down's Dermott Lennon took fifth place with Woods Rosbotham's 'Hallmark Elite', also on a clear round. Lennon added a runner-up place to his tally with Allan Davidson's mare 'Tolett' in the earlier Derby Qualifier at the five-star Swedish show.

SHOW JUMPING RESULTS: CSIO5* FALSTERBO SWEDEN JULY 8-11 2010

SEB Cup
1st qualification for the Grand Prix (IJ8)
International Jumping Competition
Table A Against the Clock
FEI Art. 238.2.1 1m50
Thursday, July 8, 2010

1) Mo Chroi (ISH); Capt. David O'Brien (IRL) Faults 0.00 Time 53.06
2) Leoville; Philipp Weishaupt (GER) Faults 0.00 Time 53.10
3) Flexible (ISH); Richard Fellers (USA) Faults 0.00 Time 53.95

5) Hallmark Elite; Dermott Lennon (IRL) Faults 0.00 Time 54.50

54 starters
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1st qualification for the JMS Derby (IJ6)
International Jumping Competition
Table A Against the Clock
FEI Art. 238.2.1 1m45
Thursday, July 8, 2010

1) Late Night; Pascal Levy (ESP) Faults 0.00 Time 57.23
2) Tolett; Dermott Lennon (IRL) Faults 0.00 Time 57.63
3) Pjotter Van De Zonnehoeve; McLain Ward (USA) Faults 0.00 Time 58.44

77 starters

Breeding:
Mo Chroi (ISH) – 1997 grey mare by Cruising (ISH) out of Into The Blue (ISH), by Mister Lord (TB). Bred by Claire McDonnell, Ballymoney Park Stud, Kilbride, Co. Wicklow. Owner: Minister for Defence. Rider: Capt. David O’Brien (IRL)

KENNY FIRST AND SIXTH IN LAKE PLACID GRAND PRIX

OFFALY-born Darragh Kenny took both first and fifth place today (Sunday) at the Lake Placid Grand Prix in New York State.

The 22 year-old picked up 18,000 euro for his win on Missy Clarke's Irish-bred Cavalier Royale gelding 'Gael Force' with a double clear round, and also slotted 'Armani' into fifth place on a four-fault penalty total in the five-horse jump off.

US-based Kenny, who represented Ireland in the three opening Nations' Cups of the 2010 Meydan Series, also won a 1m45 class earlier in the week at Lake Placid with 'Celano'.

SHOW JUMPING RESULTS: CSI2* LAKE PLACID USA JULY 1-4 2010

Hermes Grand Prix of Lake Placid
International Jumping Competition
Table A One Jump-off Against the Clock
FEI Art. 238.2.2 1m60
Sunday, July 4, 2010

1) GAEL FORCE (ISH); DARRAGH KENNY (IRL)  Faults 0.00/0.00 Time 46.390
2) VDL TORLANDO; CALLAN SOLEM (USA) Faults 0.00/0.00 Time 47.000
3) VINCE; JIMMY TORANO (USA) Faults 0.00/0.00 Time 48.320

5) ARMANI; DARRAGH KENNY (IRL) Faults 0.00/4.00 Time 44.690

24 starters

LYNCH FIRST IRISH WINNER AT MONTE CARLO

TIPPERARY'S Denis Lynch took Ireland's first winner's trophy at the five-star show in Monte Carlo tonight (Thursday), with Cork's Billy Twomey finishing just behind him in joint second.

Riding Clare Whitaker's 15 year-old bay gelding 'Lacroix', Lynch beat both Twomey with 'Tackeray' and Australia's Edwina Alexander by less than a tenth of a second to claim the 6,400 euro first prize.

Later, Jessica Kurten was the only Irish rider into the second round of the night's big jump-off competition, but a single mistake by 'Castle Forbes Libertina' left her in tenth place.

Monte Carlo's signature competition, the Global Champions Tour Grand Prix, takes place on Saturday night.

SHOW JUMPING RESULTS: CSI5* MONTE CARLO MONACO JUNE 24-27 2010

FED EQUESTRE DE LA PRINCIPAUTE DE MONACO PRIZE
International Jumping Competition
Table A against the clock
FEI 238.2.1 1m45
Thursday June 24, 2010

1) LACROIX 9; Denis LYNCH (IRL) Faults 0.00 Time 50.14
=2) TACKERAY; Billy TWOMEY (IRL) Faults 0.00 Time 50.21
=2) WATCH ME DE REVE BOVENHOEKSHOF; Edwina  ALEXANDER (AUS) Faults 0.00 Time 50.21

45 starters

IRELAND VICTORIOUS IN FINNISH NATIONS' CUP

Joan Greene (left) completed a double clear as Ireland won the Nations Cup of Finland

A LARGELY rookie Irish team swept all before them at the Finnish Nations Cup in Ypaja this afternoon (Sunday) to claim the trophy on an aggregate score of just five faults over two rounds.

Limerick-born Joan Greene and Tim O'Shea's mare 'Biscaya d'Eversem', making their Nations' Cup debut for Ireland, delivered a sparkling double clear to set the tone for the day, while another first-timer, Alexander Butler with Harold McGahern's Irish-bred gelding 'Will Wimble', recorded just one time fault over the two rounds.

Tholm Keane and Ronan Tynan's stallion 'Warrenstown You 2' were also making their first appearance at this level, and faulted just once in the first round, recovering to produce a zero score second time out. Edward Little and 'Kalvinretto' had one fence down in the first round and did not jump in the second.

Ireland finished three points ahead of runners-up Belgium in the nine-nation three star contest.

SHOW JUMPING RESULTS: CSIO3* YPAJA FINLAND JUNE 17-20 2010

NATIONS CUP OF FINLAND
International Jumping Competition
Table A Two Rounds
1m50
Sunday, 20th June 2010

1) IRELAND 5 faults
Joan Greene; Biscaya d'Eversem 0/0
Edward Little; Kalvinretto 4/-
Alexander Butler; Will Wimble (ISH) 1/0
Tholm Keane;Warrenstown You 2 (ISH) 4/0.
2) BELGIUM 8 faults
3) DENMARK 9 faults
4) TURKEY 21 faults
5) SWEDEN 25 faults
6) NORWAY 27 faults
7) AUSTRIA 30 faults
8) FINLAND Elim
9) ESTONIA Elim.

Nine nations competed.

O'BRIEN WINS AT ROTTERDAM AHEAD OF FRIDAY'S NATIONS' CUP

IRISH confidence received a lift in Rotterdam tonight (Thursday) ahead of Friday's Nations' Cup clash when team member Capt. David O'Brien took a decisive victory in the two-phase competition at the Dutch five-star show.

The 32 year-old Westmeath native, riding the Minister for Defence's grey Cruising mare 'Mo Chroi', stopped the clock in the final phase almost two seconds ahead of Dutch challenger Gert-Jan Bruggink and his chestnut mare 'Andrea'.

O'Brien will be second to jump with the Irish-bred 'Kiltoom' in Friday afternoon's fourth leg of the Meydan Nations' Cup Superleague.

Team Ireland Equestrian's Show Jumping Manager Robert Splaine has chosen Denis Lynch with 'Abbervail van het Dingeshof' as the team pathfinder, and O'Brien will be followed into the arena by Jessica Kurten and the mare 'Castle Forbes Myrtille Paulois'. Anchorman on Friday will be Tipperary's Shane Breen and 'Carmena Z'.

Ireland have been drawn sixth to jump of the world's top ten teams competing at Rotterdam, and the competition begins at 1.30 pm Irish time, with live scoring available on Horse Sport Ireland's website www.horsesportireland.ie.

SHOW JUMPING RESULTS: CSIO5* ROTTERDAM THE NETHERLANDS JUNE 17-20 2010

International Jumping Competition 3
Table A   Two Phases (Art. 274.5.3)
Height: 1m45
Thursday, 17th June 2010

1) Mo Chroi (ISH); Capt.David O'BRIEN (IRL) Faults 0.00/0.00 Time 27.79
2) Andrea; Gert -Jan BRUGGINK (NED) Faults 0.00/0.00 Time 29.32
3) Donna Karan; Jens FREDRICSON (SWE) Faults 0.00/0.00 Time 29.40

35 starters