BILLY Twomey is still the king of Liverpool after a breathtaking round in the Equestrian.com Liverpool Grand Prix aboard Diaghilev to retain his title and is still the only rider to have won the four-star Grand Prix.

In what was a superb start to the new year for Irish riders at the Echo Arena in Merseyside, Billy Twomey lead the charge with two wins over the weekend, crowned with a back-to-back win in the feature Grand Prix, and 22-year-old Michael Duffy also scored a podium finish.

In front of a packed crowd, a high-class field of 10 combinations made it through to the jump-off, among them three Irish riders: Twomey, Duffy and Paul Kennedy. Leading British rider Michael Whitaker and Guy Williams looked almost certain to progress to the second round, only to be denied a clear round by the last fence, while Sweden’s Angelie Von Essen picked up a single time fault in the first round.

Britain’s Robert Smith was first to take on the jump-off track and took the lead briefly with a good clear in a time of 42.29 aboard Bavi. It was short-lived however as young Galway show jumper Michael Duffy, who is based in England, took a risk when turning back inside to the tall Equestrian.com planks and kept up the momentum to break the beam in 40.55 with Alan Burnell’s Belcanto Z (Berlin x Mr Blue).

Duffy held on to the lead as the next four riders all faulted, until home rider William Whitaker produced a moment of magic with the stunning Utamaro D Ecaussines (Diamant De Semilly x Quidam De Revel), the former championship ride of Joe Clee, to post what looked like a winning round in 38.79 seconds.

COMPETITIVE

However, last year’s winner had other ideas and Twomey set out at a quick gallop and measured the sharp turns to perfection on his way to shaving over a second off Whitaker’s time. The 13-year-old gelding by Vangelis S survived a rub at the planks to gallop through the finish line in 37.32 seconds.

Twomey then watched on as Switzerland’s Olympic rider Janika Sprunger faulted with Aris CMS, before young Limerick man Paul Kennedy had an unlucky stop at the turn back to the third fence with his home-bred Irish Sport Horse Cartown Danger Mouse (Harlequin Du Carel). The 23-year-old had produced the fastest clear in the first round and was in pole position as last to go. The pair went on to jump a fluid round, finishing with a total of five faults for seventh place.

DELIGHTED

Twomey, who picked up just over €20,000 for the win, said afterwards: “I am really delighted with the win. My horse went really well over the two rounds. Michael [Duffy] put down a good marker, but luckily, the jump-off round worked out pretty good for me.

“My horse is really competitive, and when you are turning, he is always looking to find the fence. He can be fast in the jump-offs, and luckily he was a bit quicker than the others today. To the third fence, he was pretty sharp and maybe gained some time there.”

Remarkably, after lowering two fences on day one of the show, Twomey entered Diaghilev in the puissance competition to spark him up. He jumped 1.9m in the second round before deciding to retire. Twomey added: “He brought some decent form into this event – he won at La Coruna a few weeks ago. I gave him a day off on Sunday, and he repaid me with a really good performance.”

William Whitaker was also pleased with his new mount, who was clear every day in Liverpool. “He’s a fairly new horse for me. This was our first major outing and he didn’t lower a rail in his five rounds. He knows what he’s doing and we just got stuck in,” Whitaker said.

In one of the more high profile results of his career so far, Duffy picked up €9,000 for third place.