CO Down’s Dermott Lennon guided Loughview Lou Lou (ISH) to their biggest win of 2016, the 1.60m Grand Prix at CSIO***** Gijon, Spain.

The Irish Sport Horse mare, owned and bred by Judith Sossick, was last to go in the jump-off and stormed to victory by 0.9 of a second to pick up the lion’s share of the €153,700 on offer.

Speaking to The Irish Field, Lennon said Loughview Lou Lou was getting ready to produce a big win. “I am absolutely delighted with Lou Lou, she has been jumping so well lately and was just a little bit unlucky in Dublin. She felt super during the week and this was coming, she was getting ready for a win,” he said.

“It was a good track, tricky with not so many clears. I was lucky to be fast in the first round so got the best draw for the jump-off. We knew what we had to do going in to the ring, Cian (O’Connor) told me it was flat out, so I just went as fast as I could.”

Some 45 combinations lined out to take on the strong track, and eight riders went clear in the first round, including Cian O’Connor aboard the big-jumping stallion Good Luck.

These were joined by Spain’s Alberto Marquez Galobardes, who picked up one time fault in round one, as well as the two fastest four faulters: Gregory Wathelet (BEL) and Julien Epaillard (FRA).

The first clear round in the jump-off came from Switzerland’s Claudia Gisler, who opted for a safe round in a time of 66.37 seconds on Cordell, which was good enough for eventual fifth place. Mexican rider Antonio Chedraui Eguia also took the steady option and slotted in behind Gisler in 66.67.

Young Dutch rider Sanne Thijssen took over the lead after the half way stage with a quick round in 66.25 seconds with Con Quidan Rb, which was good enough to see the 17-year-old finish in fourth place. Thijssen is the daughter of international show jumper Leon Thijssen.

Egypt’s Abdel Said quickly snatched the lead from the Dutch rider when galloping through the beam in 55.94 seconds with California, in a round that looked unlikely to be beaten.

The next rider, Bernard Briand Chevalier (FRA) gave Said’s time a rattle but finished in 56.94 aboard Qadillac Du Heup to settle for third place.

CLASS

Last to go, Lennon showed his class aboard the 14-year-old mare by Limmerick when navigating the huge track with speed to break the beam in an incredible time of 55.04, scooping €50,000 in prize money.

O’Connor and Good Luck finished in seventh place, with just the final vertical falling in the jump-off, slotting him in behind the six double clear rounds. British-based Anthony Condon faulted once in the first round aboard Aristio, while the other Irish charges of Billy Twomey and Conor Swail were also out of luck.

Lennon also picked up a number of other top placing at the five-star show. The Banbridge rider guided Vampire, a 14-year-old Andiamo gelding, to second place in Sunday’s 1.40m accumulator. Lennon finished on 65 points in a time of 53.74 seconds, just behind Britain’s Robert Smith, who also scored 65 points but in a time of 53.18.

Fresh from her 1.50m ranking class win at Millstreet CSI*** two weeks ago, Fleur IV picked up two third place finishes for Lennon in 1.40m classes.

In Saturday’s 1.45m speed class, Cork’s Billy Twomey was the highest placed Irish rider, second with Ardcolum Duk and clear in 65.55 seconds. O’Connor picked up another placing with Aramis when fourth in 67.69 and Anthony Condon guided Balzac to fifth when clear in 69.08. The class was won by France’s Julien Epaillard aboard Sheriff De La Nutria LM (64.88). O’Connor also rode Excellent B, a seven-year-old gelding by Berlin, to third place in the young horse final.

NATIONS CUP

Ireland finished a disappointing eighth out of 12 teams in the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup on Saturday at the Spanish venue.

With a team total of 17 faults after the first round, Ireland scraped through to round two but were unable to improve their position and finished with a team total of 37 faults.

First to jump for Ireland was Cian O’Connor with Callisto, a nine-year-old gelding by Quasimodo Z and who was making his team debut. The pair finished with nine faults in round one but produced a textbook clear in the second round to boost Irish hopes.

Anthony Condon was next with his 10-year-old Arko III-sired stallion Aristio, who dropped one pole in opening round and racked up an uncharacteristic 16 faults in round two to be the discard score. Conor Swail was unlucky in the first round with just four faults aboard Hetman Of Colours, a nine-year-old staliion by Calvaro. In the second round, a further 12 faults saw Ireland’s hope fade further.

Anchorman Billy Twomey, riding the 13-year-old gelding Diaghilev, was the discard score in round one, with three fences falling, and improved in the second round for eight faults.

The British team of Tim Stockdale (Fleur De l’Aube), Joe Whitaker (Lola V), Samuel Hutton (Happydam) and Robert Bevis (Courtney Z) emerged winners on a team total of 16 faults.