TIPPERARY’s Denis Lynch and the Zach Lukas and Onyx Consulting-owned gelding The Sinner finished fifth in last Sunday’s ninth leg of the Longines FEI World Cup Grand Prix, where clear rounds were at a premium.

Just four combinations managed to jump clear in the first round from 39 starters, with Lynch taking fifth and €11,100 after completing the first round with just a time fault.

Four-time Olympian and former FEI World Cup Champion, Germany’s Christian Ahlmann (44) and Clintrexo Z captured the top prize of a new BMW car and €26,000 with a clear when last to go in the jump-off.

French rider and 2016 Olympic team gold medallist Kevin Staut (38) was runner-up with Edesa’s Cannary, ahead of Dutchman Harrie Smolders (38) in third with Don VHP Z N.O.P..

Germany’s Ludger Beerbaum finished fourth with Casello after things didn’t go his way in the jump-off round.

Lynch’s fifth-place finish moves him up to 22nd on the World Cup league table where Switzerland’s new world number one Steve Guerdat continues to hold the lead.

The first-round course set by Belgium’s Eddy Geysemans tested horses every inch of the way, with the first fence, the double at eight and the triple combination at 10 all taking a steady toll.

Only a single time fault kept Lynch, Italy’s Lorenzo de Luca (Armitages Boy) and Celine Schoonbroodt-de Azevedo (Chepetta), one of 13 Belgian contenders, from making the second round. The 71-second time allowed was tight.

Staut led the way with a stunning run from his new ride, the 10-year-old Edesa’s Cannary, racing through the timers in 40.98 seconds to set the pace.

Smolders and the 14-year-old stallion Don VHP Z, the horse that helped him claim individual silver at the 2017 FEI European Championships in Gothenburg, galloped home in 41.42.

Beerbaum lost his line and the 15-year-old gelding Casello racked up 14 faults, leaving it wide open for Ahlmann as he set off, last to go.

Ahlmann and his nine-year-old grey stallion Clintrexo Z stopped the clock on 39.87 without hardly turning a hair.

“We built him up in the stallion approvals and later in young-horse classes, and Judy [his wife Judy-Ann Melchior] did some three and four-star Grands Prix and then allowed me to take him over and move him up another step.

“He won in Wiesbaden in May and Münster in August and he’s quickly growing into the big sport now. He really loves it, and he gets better and better week after week,” said Ahlmann.

Ahlmann now has the 2019 World Cup Final in Gothenburg, Sweden, next April firmly in his sights. In sixth place with 46 points, he is easily qualified.

Basel will stage the next leg of the series next week.