JESSICA Burke and the Irish Sport Horse Express Trend excelled to win the Equine America-sponsored four-star 1.55m Grand Prix at the Spanish Sunshine Tour in Vejer De La Frontera on Sunday.

The Galway rider and Express Trend were among 47 starters in the class, just three of whom jumped clear over Marcos Nuñez’s very demanding first round course to make it through to the jump-off. Only Burke and British rider Simon Crippen on Handsome managed to keep all the fences standing for a second time, with Burke’s accurate jumping and fast time of 44.15 seconds taking victory and the winner’s prize of just over €26,000. Crippen was runner-up in a time of 45.88 seconds. Spain’s Eduardo Álvarez Aznar on Made In’t Ruytershof completed the podium in what was a Longines Ranking class and a qualifier for the Paris Olympics 2024.

Following her win, a delighted Jessica said: “I think it was an unbelievably brave call and a correct call by the team here at the Sunshine Tour, to run the Grand Prix on the grass today, the ground is unbelievable.

“My horse feels in brilliant form, he hadn’t jumped on grass since Dublin last year, so I was a little bit… but once I jumped two jumps in the warm up, he felt amazing, so I was quite confident.”

When asked about the course, she said: “I think it was actually a very difficult course, especially with the spin on the grass today. I thought the line to the combination was difficult, it was quite a forward seven, some people did eight; again one to two there was a lot of different options and then the five to the last, I was very patient on the five, I thought it was a quite trappy actually, the course today.”

Express Trend is a 14-year-old gelding by Future Trend (OLD) out of Condios Express (ISH) by Condios (HOLST), bred and owned by Liam Nicholas.

“My horse is 14 now and I just feel it’s literally only now I feel that we have the right ability and I think that helped us a lot today,” Burke added.

Ireland’s Deirdre Reilly on Derryglen Othello placed 10th in the class.

Jessica Burke and Express Trend pictured after winning the four-star 1.55m Grand Prix at Vejer de la Frontera on Sunday \ Mackenzie Clark

Great start

Week five of the Sunshine Tour at Vejer de la Frontera ran from March 5th until 10th, with a large number of Irish riders taking part. Things started very well with joint winners in Tuesday’s Five-year-old 1.05m class including Jodie Creighton on Cotton VVZ, Shane O’Reilly on Billy Super Trouper and Tomas Doyle on Monbeg Winston. In the second Five-year-old 1.05m class of the day, there were joint wins for Sophie Dalm on Catharina Z, Charles O’Reilly Hyland on Penelope 31, Susan Fitzpatrick on Touchable WH and Grace McHugh on Olympus.

The Seven-year-old 1.30m class saw a win for Niamh McEvoy on BP Tiny Dancer, with Sean Monaghan in second with Tiberio Della Caccia and seventh with Coco Du Rona Z.

Wednesday’s Seven-year-old 1.30m class saw O’Reilly place sixth on BWE Vain Hero and 10th on BWE Special Rose, while Conor Drain separated the two, placing eighth with Millstreet van de Kruishorst. Drain then placed 10th in the Six-year-old 1.20m class on Nice Lady SL, while Dalm on Catharina Z was eighth in the Five-year-old 1.10m class.

Irish riders dominated the afternoon’s Seven-year-old 1.30m class, with Monaghan on Tiberio Della Caccia winning the class, Emily Turkington on Carrickview Cheap Thrills in second, Rhys Williams on BP Rocket Man in third and My Big Star Marie LN in ninth and Coen Williams on Dominante Z in seventh. The second Five-year-old 1.10m class of the day saw O’Reilly Hyland place fourth on Penelope 31, while Anthony Condon on SFS Valente were seventh in the Six-year-old 1.20m class.

Condon then placed third with SFS Houdini in the Eight-year-old 1.40m class, followed by Drain on Covehill Charlie in sixth.

Thursday started well for Drain when he placed seventh in the Six-year-old 1.20m class riding Nice Lady SL and he then took fourth in the Seven-year-old 1.30m class with Millstreet van de Kruishorst.

The Medium Tour 1.30m class saw Billy Twomey as runner-up with La Vie, while in the morning’s Five-year-old 1.10m class, Sophie Dalm on Catharina Z placed sixth and Tomas Doyle on Monbeg Winston were ninth.

Jack Ryan on Sympathie 60 placed fourth in the Medium Tour 1.45m class, with O’Reilly Hyland on Penelope 31 placing fourth in the second Five-year-old 1.10m class.

The second Seven-year-old 1.30m class saw Monaghan on Tiberio Della Caccia place third and Dalm on KEC Jackalynn place ninth.

The afternoon’s Big Tour 1.35m class saw Drain place ninth with Quechin Di Cabra.

The 1.50m class Jessica Burke placed fourth on Express Trend, followed by McEvoy in sixth on Jasmim Da Hermida.

Emily Turkington and Diwali De Runya on their way to winning the Medium Tour 1.40m class at Vejer de la Frontera last Thursday \ Moises Basallote

1.40m win

Emily Turkington rode Diwali De Runya to win the Medium Tour 1.40m class, with Twomey on Julius in seventh. The Eight-year-old 1.45m class saw Condon finish seventh on SFS Houdini, with Drain on Covehill Charlie in eighth.

Friday’s Big Tour 1.35m class saw Ryan place fifth on Carramba L Z, while in the Big Tour 1.45m class, Twomey placed sixth on Julius and Turkington was 10th on Cornet. The 1.10m class saw Amanda-Jayne Comyn finish ninth on GMH Ability, while the Medium Tour 1.40m class saw a runner-up finish for Turkington on Diwali De Runya. In the Small Tour 1.40m class Susan Fitzpatrick on Keatingstown Mister Cool placed sixth.

The 1.20m class saw a second place finish for Doyle on Monbeg Sunny Spells, a seventh place for O’Reilly Hyland on Balumba Z and a 10th place for McHugh on GMH Monte Bella.

In the Small Tour 1.35m class sixth place go to Dalm on Jamie, seventh to Fitzpatrick on Lovely Stassi PS and eighth to O’Reilly on BWE Valdi Semilly.

Ryan rode Koblenz VD Middelstede into ninth place in the day’s 1.50m class, while McHugh on Cruising With Alice placed ninth in the 1.30m class.

On Saturday, O’Reilly Hyland placed sixth with Balumba Z in the 1.20m class, while in the 1.10m class, Matilde Hughes Bravo on Miss Belgium III placed second, followed by Ellen Hughes on Luckystar EH Z in fourth.

The show concluded on Sunday, with Richard Howley on Millfield Chrisis finishing eighth in the Big Tour 1.45m class, while Condon rode SFS Vincomte to place third in the Small Tour 1.30m class. Twomey on La Vie placed fifth in the Big Tour 1.35m class, with Burke on African Affair third in the 1.50m Medium Tour Grand Prix.

The Medium Tour 1.40m class saw Monaghan on Cornet Clover Girl finishing second, with Twomey on Chat Botte ED in fifth and Jonathan Smyth on Deloughtane Matoaka in eighth. O’Reilly Hyland claimed a seventh place in a 1.25m class on Balumba Z.

The Small Tour 1.45m Grand Prix saw McEvoy take third on Jasmim Da Hermida, with Twomey sixth on Julius and Ryan ninth on Korbach Van De Renger.

In the day’s 1.10m class, Caroline Gaston on Miss Roman Kora were runners- up, with Ellen Hughes on Luckystar EH Z in ninth and Amanda-Jayne Comyn on GMH Ability in 10th. Meanwhile, Chloe Hughes Kennedy rode Starouge into eighth place in the 1.35m Grand Prix.