THE first week of the Toscano Tour 2, held at the Arezzo Equestrian Centre, Italy, commenced on Tuesday, March 26th, with the opening Five-year-old 1.15m class seeing a joint win for Ireland’s Kirsten Fynes on Odarina JD.

On Wednesday, Thomas Ryan on Sultan de Muze placed eighth out of 53 starters in the Six-year-old 1.25m Jump-off class, while on Thursday, Ryan rode Jakarta into fifth place in the Silver Tour 1.30m class. Fynes on Odarina JD had another joint win in Thursday’s Five-year-old 1.15m class.

On Friday, Shane Breen and his 11-year-old home-bred gelding Scarteen placed fourth in the Gold Tour 1.45m Grand Prix qualifier class, when the pair jumped clear in a time of 70.35 seconds, with Ryan and Connoisseur PWR finishing ninth, when clear in 72.31, in a large class of 75. The two Tipperary men were among just 13 clear rounds in the class, which was won by Brazil’s Marlon Modolo Zanotelli, whose speedy time of 66.37 seconds with Zy-Zento could not be caught.

The Silver Tour 1.35m class saw Ryan on Jakarta place sixth of the 61 participants, when they jumped clear in a time of 62.30 seconds. First place went to Germany’s Tina Deuerer riding Perry KHR, who were clear in a very fast time of 56.62 seconds.

In the Bronze Tour 1.15m Two-phase class, 14-year-old Arielle Allen and WKD Little Star were third, when they jumped double clear, with a fast jump-off time of 31.29 seconds. Allen did even better in the Bronze Tour 1.10m Two-phase class, which she won on board Wicked Hope with a double clear round and an unbeatable jump-off time of 30.31 seconds.

Saturday’s Silver Tour 1.35m Two-phase class saw Breen on Cato Boy finish in 10th place, while the day’s Bronze Tour 1.15m class saw a runner-up finish for Allen on WKD Little Star, jumping clear and stopping the clock in 62.58 seconds. The class was won by Italy’s Benedetta Borziani on Donna HH Z, whose jump-off time was an amazing 60.18 seconds.

Allen scored another win in the Bronze Tour 1.10m class with Wicked Hope, with a super clear in a very quick time of 60.71, more than two seconds ahead of runner-up Maria Viola Spagnoli Poggi on Indy ZG (62.88).

Sunday was another winning day for Allen, as she rode Wicked Hope to win the day’s Bronze Tour 1.15m Special Two-phase class in a super conclusion to the show.