THE Summer Festival at Valkenswaard in The Netherlands proved a happy hunting ground for Tipperary’s Denis Lynch, when he won last Friday’s four-star 1.45m two-phase class with the 12-year-old stallion Cornets Iberio, owned by Sebastien Schatzmann.

Lynch is no stranger to finishing top of the podium and was on the Irish show jumping team that won the five-star Nations Cup in Aachen recently. Building on this and on his five-star success at Hamburg in May with Cornets Iberio, Lynch was best of the 26 starters, jumping double clear and clocking a speedy jump-off time of 28.40 seconds. This was more than two seconds faster than his nearest challenger, Mexico’s Enrique Gonzalez on Origi van de Zeshoek (30.50). France’s Antoine Ermann completed the podium with Pegasus Dawsons Flex just a fraction behind in 30.55.

Placings

Lynch followed this up with a seventh place in the four-star 1.50m Grand Prix qualifier on board Cristello, when they jumped clear in 67.94. The class was won by Brazil’s Rodrigo Pessoa on Dhalida in an incredibly fast time of 62.15.

In the one-star 1.35m Grand Prix qualifier on Saturday, Ireland’s Charlotte Coffey on That’s Mie Z placed sixth, ahead of Lynch on Chicago in ninth.

In Sunday’s one-star Young Horse Six and seven-year-old 1.30/1.35m final, Lynch was in the mix again, claiming fourth place with Drive Me Crazy Z. Out of 37 starters, 14 jumped a clear first round, but just seven managed to repeat this in the jump-off. It was a close finish, with Lynch stopping the clock in 42.48 seconds, just over a second over the winning time of 41.30 ridden by Dutch rider Joy Lammers on Heat Wave.

Lynch was fourth again in the four-star 1.45m class riding Cornets Iberio jumping clear in 61.34 seconds. The class was won by Harrie Smolders (NED) on board Mr Tac (58.29).