LOUTH’S Mark McAuley had a good show at Fontainebleau in France over the weekend, with several placings against high-class competition – the most notable being two third places at 1.55m level. McAuley partnered GRS Lady Amaro (ISH) to a third place finish in the €120,000 five-star 1.55m Prix Audevard Speed class on Friday.

From 60 starters, McAuley was one of 11 clear rounds, with his time of 68.90 seconds being quick enough to secure a podium place and €18,000 of the prize fund. GRS Lady Amaro is an 11-year-old mare, bred at Garryrichard Stud in Co Wexford by Denis Hickey and is by Amaretto Darco (BWP) out of Legal Lady (TB), by Over The River (TB).

The class was won by Germany’s Daniel Deusser on Killer Queen VDM, whose time of 66.42 seconds was uncatchable, with runner-up position going to another German, Kendra Claricia Brinkop on Do It Easy (67.17).

McAuley wasn’t done there though, as he managed to get onto the podium again with another third place, this time riding Destinee De Vains in Saturday’s five-star 1.55m Two-round class, which was again won by Deusser.

McAuley was one of only three from the 30 starters who jumped double clear, with 11-year-old mare Destinee De Vains showing her talent and finishing in a time of 51.83 seconds to claim third place and €9,000 in prize money. Deusser and Scuderia 1918 Tobago Z rode a very fast second round to stop the clock in 48.14 to secure another win. Second place went to Colombia’s Rene Lopez Lizarazo riding Londina (48.85).

Placings

Show jumping at ‘The Spring of Equestrian Sports’ show at Fontainebleau commenced on Wednesday, April 24th, when McAuley made a good start for the Irish, as a joint winner of the CSIYH1* Eight-year-old 1.35m Prix Fontainebleau Cheval class, riding Gaia De Farjonniere. The pair went on to place sixth in the CSIYH1* Eight-year-old 1.40m Prix Les Maisons De Charlotte class on Thursday.

Sunday’s CSI5* 1.60m Grand Prix saw Denis Lynch taking sixth place on board Brooklyn Heights. From a start list of 50, only three jumped a clear first round to get into the jump-off, with Lynch among the fastest of the four-faulters in a time of 74.17 seconds. The class was won by Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat riding Dynamix De Belheme, who jumped double clear with a jump-off time of 39.28 seconds.

Hagen

The show at Hagen in Germany last weekend saw Michael G Duffy riding Kyara Rock into second place in the three-star 1.45m Grand Prix qualifier on Friday. There were 58 combinations on the start list, 30 of whom managed to jump clear rounds. Duffy was among them and he and his nine-year-old mount, owned by Ashford Farm, rode a fast round to stop the clock in 63.55 seconds.

The pair were seventh in the running order and theirs was the time to beat for much of the class, until German rider, Carsten-Otto Nagel and GK Curacao flew round in 62.78 seconds to snatch victory; this combination went on to win Sunday’s Grand Prix.

Kronenberg Driving

Tipperary 17-year-old Kris Rohrssen had a worthwhile trip to the international carriage driving competition at Kronenberg in The Netherlands recently.

Kris and his pony Checkmate were runners-up in the Junior Pony Single two-star class, after finishing second in the Dressage phase and second in the marathon; the pair were the only ones to go clear in the cones section to win that phase and secure second place overall.