IRISH man Conan Wright made a good start at the two-star show at Groningen in The Netherlands kicked off last Thursday when he rode Litmanen into second place in the two-star Small Tour 1.30m class. From 62 starters, 28 jumped clear rounds, with time being the deciding factor. Wright rode a fast clear round in 55.77 seconds, but wasn’t quite quick enough to beat Jur Vrieling (NED) on Mcallister VDL, who finished more than a second faster in 54.15.

Wright and Litmanen finished in runner-up position again on Friday in the two-star Small Tour 1.30m Two-phase Special class. From a start list of 58, 30 combinations managed to jump double clear, but the time of the second-phase was all-important. Wright sped round the course in 27.56, but was narrowly beaten by another Dutch rider, Marriet Smit-Hoekstra on Nijerite, who finished in 27.46. It was a close finish, with the top three within 0.2 seconds of each other, the third place on the podium going to Michiel Brusse on Jericho-S (27.64).

Wright was on a roll and claimed another runner-up spot in the two-star Medium Tour 1.35m Two-phase Special, this time riding Lafayette double clear in a second phase time of 24.37. There were 64 starters in the class, with an impressive 44 of them jumping double clear. Smit-Hoekstra just pipped Wright to the win again, this time riding Wadro’S Maggie May to finish in 24.16.

Shane Dwan and Cascalino 7, pictured at Groningen in January 2024, had a runner-up finish in a two-star Small Tour 1.30m Two-phase class at the venue over the weekend \ Mariol Middel

Ireland’s Shane Dwan secured a podium finish in Sunday’s two-star Small Tour 1.30m Two-phase class, when he placed second with Cascalino 7 in a time of 28.12. Thirteen started this class, with just seven managing to keep all the fences intact in round one. Dwan’s time was only bettered by Dutch rider Piet Raijmakers Jr on Van Schijndel’S Hanibal (27.35).

Antrim’s Conor Drain got onto the scoreboard in the two-star 1.45m Grand Prix, when finishing equal fourth on board Jamal EB. From a start list of 48, 15 combinations jumped clear to proceed to the jump-off. Of those, nine were able to repeat the feat to keep the poles in place. Drain stopped the clock in 30.97 seconds, exactly the same time as Daan Van Geel (NED) on I’m Special Power Sih. Smit-Hoekstra continued her winning streak at the show, with another top place, this time riding For Chacco Tn (28.69).