TIPPERARY’s Trevor Breen was runner-up in the three-star Grand Prix in Arezzo, Italy, last Sunday and Jenny Rankin finished in seventh place.

The 1.50m ranking class was a difficult test for the 60 starters and just eight managed to jump clear inside the 81 seconds time allowed. Meath’s Alexander Butler missed out on a place in the jump-off when picking up a single time fault aboard Chilli B to place 10th.

Against the clock, only Breen and eventual winner Switzerland’s Alan Jufer, could produce a second clear round. Breen guided his mother-in-law Heather Black’s 10-year-old home-bred gelding Highland President (Clinton x Kannan) to a clear in 47.72 seconds, earning €10,300. Jufer landed victory went faster aboard Dante MM, breaking the beam in 45.46 seconds.

Rankin also posted a good time (47.99) with Vanessa Mannix’s Carmela Z but a fence on the ground meant they finished seventh and earned just over €2,000. The combination had earlier finished third in Thursday’s 1.45m Grand Prix qualifier with a double clear round.

Three-star win

Rankin was in top form at the venue and landed a three-star win on Saturday with the Mannix and Conor Swail-owned Flower. The experienced 18-year-old mare raced to victory in the 1.45m speed class.

From a huge startlist of 89, they were the best of 23 clear rounds in 70.80. They had a two-second advantage over Belgian runner-up Thibault Philippaerts with Aqaba de Leau (0/ 72.06).

Rankin’s win with Flower came off the back of a runner-up finish in Friday’s 1.45m. Rankin is based at Barry O’Connor’s Malahide Stable in north county Dublin. With O’Connor’s Kainville VDS, she won Tuesday’s seven-year-old class at the venue.

Trevor Breen also landed his own victory when guided Sultan Saud’s 10-year-old gelding Dancing Wold O.L to win Saturday’s 1.40m two-phase class. Some 16 of the starting 50 produced clears and Breen was the fastest in 27.50 seconds.