IRISH riders certainly gave a good account of themselves at the German Show Jumping and Dressage Derby in Hamburg, an annual horse show that has been held since 1920, with numerous wins and placings last week.

Tipperary’s Shane Breen on Z7 Ipswich made a fantastic start when winning last Wednesday’s CSI4* 1.45m Derby Challenge qualifier class, jumping clear in a phenomenal time of 72.12 seconds, almost six seconds ahead of runner-up Karl-Heinz Markus on Fiona (78.03). Breen, who took home the €7,125 first prize, was followed by Stephan Dubsky on C The Stars in fifth, who claimed €1,995 for his efforts. Shane’s brother Trevor Breen also had a good day when placing third in the CSI5* 1.45m two-phase class on Highland President, less than a second and a half behind German winner, Rene Dittmer riding Corsica, with Emily Turkington on Cornet in sixth.

Thursday was also a good day for Ireland, as another Tipperary native, Denis Lynch won the CSI5* 1.50m Rising Star class with a flawless round on the 12-year-old Cornets Iberio, owned by Sebastien Schatzmann. Lynch was 11th of the 52 starters into the arena and set a time of 64.50 seconds, which no one was able to beat; Germany’s Hans-Thorben Rüder and Singu did their best as last to go, but had to be content with second place with their time of 65.15. Shane Breen on Cato Boy followed in fifth, just ahead of his brother, Trevor, on Luidam’s Warrior in seventh.

Top spot

Success continued in the CSI4* 1.45m Classic Tour class, where Alexander Butler took the top spot with Espoir de la Loisne, with Diarmuid Howley on Coden VA also finishing on the podium in third.

Meath man Butler and the 10-year-old Espoir de la Loisne, owned by Milestone Farm, jumped a foot-perfect round in a time of 65.79 seconds, which meant that previous leader, Marvin Jüngel (GER) on DSP Kontendra S, had to settle for second on this occasion. Enniscrone’s Howley jumped clear in 71.14 seconds, which was good enough for third place.

Saturday saw Lynch and Trevor Breen place third and fourth in the CSI5* 1.50m class on Cornets Iberio and Luidam’s Warrior respectively, followed by Shane Breen on Cato Boy in ninth. There was a German one-two in the class, with David Will on Zaccorado Blue taking the win, followed by Daniel Deusser on Bingo STE Hermelle in second.

Placings

Show jumping commenced at the German Show Jumping and Dressage Derby last Wednesday, May 8th, and ran for five days, until Sunday, May 12th.

Irish riders had started as they meant to go on, with Jonathan Gordon on Capri and Diarmuid Howley on Coden VA placing second and third respectively in the opening CSI4* 1.40m Classic Tour class, while Stephan Dubsky won the CSIYH1* Seven-year-old 1.35m class on Porto Cristo B.

Michael Pender got off the mark in the €80,500 CSI5* 1.55m Grand Prix qualifier when placing fourth with HHS Los Angeles (ISH), bred by Marion Hughes. From 55 starters, 18 jumped clear first rounds; but only three were able to replicate that in the jump-off, with Pender being the fastest of the four-faulters to secure fourth place with their time of 50.29 seconds. HHS Los Angeles is a 10-year-old mare by Le Roi (ZDP) out of China Cavalier (ISH) by Cavalier Royale (HOLST).

Friday’s CSIYH1* Seven-year-old 1.35m class saw Turkington finish eighth with Vanilla and Dubsky in ninth on Porto Cristo B, while the Eight-year-old 1.40m class saw Mark Finnerty on Lestro v. Valckenborg in fifth and Lynch on Lithium v.S. in ninth. Butler rode Pico into eighth place in the CSI4* 1.50m Derby Tour qualifier, while Shane Breen and Cato Boy placed sixth in the CSI5* 1.50m class.

Dubsky secured another top 10 finish when placing ninth in Saturday’s CSI4* 1.50m Classic Tour class with Pedro 1144. Meanwhile, in the CSI4* 1.40m Speed Derby, Dubsky placed fourth with Cestuy le de l’Esques.

On Sunday, the CSI4* 1.55m German Jumping Derby saw Butler on Pico place sixth, followed by Dubsky on C The Stars in eighth.