French five-star win for Pender

AFTER helping the Doha Falcons to a Global Champions League win in Paris on Friday, Kildare’s Mikey Pender then won a five-star class at the French venue on Sunday. Riding Marion Hughes’ 13-year-old home-bred mare HHS Fortune (Catoki x Ard VDL Douglas), he raced to victory over 1.45m, clocking the fastest of 10 clear rounds in 56.15 seconds to earn just over €7,000. He saw off a challenge from Britain’s Scott Brash who finished second with Hello Vittoria (57.76).

New York win for Nicky Galligan

MEATH’S Nicky Galligan beat off 56 competitors to scoop the winner’s prize in Saturday’s $31,020 CSI2* Welcome Class at Saugerties in New York, USA. Riding the 11-year-old mare VDL Nikita van de Leeuwerk (Zavall VDL x Argentinus), Galligan’s time of 36.48 seconds saw him finish a second and a half ahead of runner-up Daniel Bluman (ISR) and Hummer Z.

“It was a very last-minute decision to bring her this week,” shared Galligan, who is based at his Guardian Stables in Pawling, New York. “She’s actually a really cool horse. She often doesn’t need to jump at home and we had a bit of a gap before her next show, so I thought rather than leave her at the barn this week, let’s bring her with us and have some fun.”