A GREAT weekend of show jumping was held at the five-star FEI World Cup Show at Stuttgart in Germany at the end of last week, with Tipperary’s Denis Lynch securing a superb runner-up position in the 1.60m Grand Prix on Sunday, with the 15-year-old gelding Brooklyn Heights.

There were 40 starters in the class and, despite there being some very well-known combinations, only three of them managed to jump clear in the first round. All three were guaranteed a podium place, but that did not lessen the competitive nature of the jump-off round.

Lynch was first to jump in round one and completed a flawless clear round. He was also first into the arena for the jump-off and, after having a good look around the course, he and Brooklyn Heights set off at a blistering pace, jumping the 1.60m obstacles at breathtaking angles and speeds. He stopped the clock in 44.37 seconds, laying down the gauntlet to his two rivals.

France’s Kevin Staut and Dialou Blue PS did his best to better the Irish man’s time and jumped a faster round in 42.67 seconds, but a frustrating pole on the ground at the last fence left him in third place.

Germany’s Richard Vogel and United Touch S were last to go and went even faster than Staut, but kept all the poles intact in a time of 41.39 to take the win, along with the top prize of €56,100. The pair are on a roll, following on from a win in Lyon the previous week. Lynch took home €34,000 for second place.

Following the class, Lynch was asked if he viewed going first as a disadvantage. He laughed: “I’m used to going first - it’s my job in the Irish team. The real disadvantage today was that Richard was in the jump-off.”

Although not through to the jump-off due to a time fault in round one, Norway’s Victoria Gulliksen finished fourth, while Britain’s Tim Gredley placed fifth with two time-faults.

Vogel now sits in second place in the provisional Western European League standings on 42 points. Meanwhile, Lynch, who collected 17 points in Stuttgart, will be hoping to qualify for the final, which will take place in Basel (SUI) in early 2025.

The next leg of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Western European League will be held in Madrid on December 1, followed by legs in La Coruña, London and Mechelen rounding out the calendar year.

International classes at Stuttgart commenced last Thursday, November 14th and Irish riders made a good start in the 1.45m opening class, with Shane Breen placing sixth on Cato Boy, followed by Lynch on Chicago in seventh, from a start list of 39. It was a home win for Germany’s Tim Hoster riding Cirro 3.

Friday saw a win for the Irish Sport Horse, Rockwell RC, bred by Ronan Byrne in Co Kilkenny. The 10-year-old mare by Kannan (KWPN) out of Urban Sea (ISH) by Guidam (SF) was ridden by Germany’s Jana Wargers to take the red ribbon in the 1.45m Accumulator class, when they were more than two seconds ahead of their nearest rivals.

Boland runner-up

In Saturday’s 1.35m FEI Jumping Ponies’ Trophy class, Annie Boland and K-Little Hero were runners-up in a class of 24. Nine combinations jumped clear to progress to the jump-off, with only four managing to stay clear second time out. Boland’s time of 38.54 seconds wasn’t quite fast enough to catch Lieselot Kooremans (NED) on Elando van de Roshoeve, who won with a very fast time of 35.91. Kooremans is currently in the lead in the overall standings on a score of 60, after winning each of the three legs so far. Boland is sitting in second on 32.

Lynch took another top 10 placing in the day’s 1.55m class, when finishing ninth with King Blue.