IRISH riders made their presence felt at Wellington over the weekend, concluding with two Irish men placing in the top five of the $140,000 three-star Grand Prix on Sunday. From a start list of 44, 14 jumped clear in the first round to proceed to the jump-off. Meath’s Cian O’Connor was among them riding Bentley du Sury to place third with a time of 38.51, while Tipperary’s Tom Wachman on Tabasco de Toxandria placed fifth (40.73). The class was won by Germany’s Richard Vogel on Cydello, who jumped double clear in a jump-off time of 37.66.

Meanwhile, in the $31,020 Under 25 Grand Prix, Tim Brennan rode Diadema Della Caccia into second place, when jumping double clear in a jump-off time of 39.48 seconds. They were only beaten by Nina Mallevaey (FRA) on My Clementine (37.79).

Placings

Week two of the Winter Equestrian Festival in Florida ran from January 14th to 19th, with competition getting underway last Wednesday, when the five-year-old young jumper class saw Senan Hayes claim joint third place on board Uintah.

Thursday’s $6,000 three-star 1.40m class saw Paul O’Shea on Imerald Van’T Voorhof place 10th, jumping double clear in 30.98.

On Friday, Max Wachman on Fancy De Kergane placed eighth in the $32,000 three-star WEF Challenge Round 2.

Saturday saw Niamh McEvoy ride Jargon DN into eighth place in the $5,000 Under 25 Welcome class, from a start list of 75, while in the $32,000 three-star 1.50m Classic, Max Wachman on Kilkenny placed fourth and O’Connor on Canbella Blue PS came sixth.

The $50,000 National Grand Prix also saw two Irish in the top five, when Bertram Allen on Qonquest de Rigo finished third, followed by Max Wachman on Berlux Z in fifth.