Brian Hennessy

THE latest Longines World Jumping rankings were released this week, with Ireland’s Billy Twomey one of the biggest movers in December, following an excellent end to the 2015 season.Twomey has jumped a massive 23 places to number 68 and this doesn’t include the points he gained this week for his four-star Grand Prix win at Liverpool. Bertram Allen remains well within the top 10, dropping one place to number seven in a tightly-packed leaderboard. Conor Swail has now moved ahead of Denis Lynch as Ireland’s second highest rider in the world. He remains in 31st position, while Lynch has dropped 11 places to number 40.

Darragh Kenny is next best of the Irish (58), Cian O’Connor has moved up five places to 61, while Shane Sweetnam is the final Irishman in the top 100, ranked number 92. Several Irish riders are just outside the top 100, Richie Moloney (101), Cameron Hanley (105) and Kevin Babington at 114. Scott Brash remains the world’s top-ranked rider, although second-placed Frenchman Simon Delestre and American McLain Ward in third, have closed the gap on the British rider who has had a quieter than normal few months.

Meanwhile in the dressage world rankings, Ireland’s Judy Reynolds and Vancouver K maintain their position within the top 50 - currently at number 48. British superstar Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro still hold a commanding lead at the top of the dressage standings.