SATURDAY was a good day for the Irish in The Netherlands, as Denis Lynch rode the 13-year-old stallion Cornets Iberio, owned by himself and Sebastien Schatzmann, to win the two-star 1.45m Grand Prix at Kronenberg. From a start list of 62, 11 jumped clear to get into the jump-off.

All but four combinations faulted second time out, with Lynch and his mount jumping the fastest of the double clears (40.65) to claim the top spot. Italian riders took the other two podium places, with Piergiorgio Bucci on Private Dancer Van’T Meulenhof in second (40.86) and Giampiero Garofalo on Erenbee du Chafalet in third (43.46).

In the ribbons

Competition began at Peelbergen Equestrian Centre in Kronenberg last Wednesday and ran through until Saturday. Ireland’s Shane O’Meara rode Ballykealy Cornet (ISH) into fourth place in the opening Youngster Tour five and six-year-old 1.05m/1.15m two-phase special class from 37 participants, jumping double clear in a phase two time of 35.36.

On Thursday, Eoin McMahon rode Cornest to a podium finish, when placing third of 55 starters in the two-star Big Tour 1.45m Grand Prix qualifier. The pair jumped double clear in a jump-off time of 41.81. Fellow Irish man James Brennan on MHS Jersey Girl (ISH) placed 10th in the class, with four faults in the jump-off in 42.44.

McMahon then rode Good Gracious into sixth place in the 59-starter one-star Big Tour 1.30m two-phase class, when double clear in 30.23. O’Meara wasn’t far behind on Harvard in ninth place (30.36).

Friday’s two-star Medium Tour 1.40m two-phase special class saw two Irish riders in the top 10, with Jenny Dunlop placing ninth on Questro Z and Brennan on MHS Everything in 10th, while O’Meara on Harvard placed fifth in the one-star Big Tour 1.30m speed class when clear in 59.91.

McMahon had another top 10 finish with Good Gracious in Saturday’s one-star 1.35m jump-off class. They were among 11 of the 28 starters to get through to the jump-off, where they were fastest of the four-faulters.

Joint winners

O’Meara and Harvard were joint winners of their one-star 1.35m class, when they were among eight to get into the jump-off and stopped the clock in 40.04 – exactly the same time as Belgium’s Antoine Goffin, who shared the victory.

Brennan finished on the podium with MHS Everything, when placing third in Saturday’s two-star Medium Tour 1.45m jump-off class. The pair jumped double clear in 39.59 to finish just fractions behind German winner Benjamin Wulschner on Castle Camiro (39.10). Lynch and Chicago placed eighth (41.92).