IT was definitely the Allen brothers’ show at Gijon in Spain last week, with both Bertram and Harry performing well and securing numerous good placings, while Billy Twomey also had a very successful show.

The best of the Allen successes came on Sunday, when Harry and Daredevil Z won the Young Horse six and seven-year-old 1.30/1.35m class, completing a double clear in a jump-off time of 39.27 seconds, almost a second faster than his nearest challenger, Fidel Davila Garcia (ESP) on Arezzo de Llamosas (40.17).

Bertram almost equalled his brother’s success, when claiming second place in Sunday’s four-star 1.45m ‘Faults and Time’ class on board the eight-year-old Gary de Cerisy. Their time was only beaten by Canada’s Kara Chad.

Bertram had been 27th of the 35 starters into the arena, they swiftly negotiated the course to finish in 67.62 seconds and moved to the top of the leaderboard. However, third-last to go, Canada’s Kara Chad on Igor Gph found another gear and stopped the clock in 65.19 to knock Bertram into second place – he was still a second and a half quicker than third placed Julio Arias Cueva (ESP) on Dolce Vita des Ouches (69.13).

Corkman Twomey was in good form in Friday’s four-star 1.55m jump-off class, when he took the runner-up spot with Chat Botte ED.

The start list consisted of 38 combinations, with 10 making their way through to the jump-off, where nine of them succeeded in keeping the fences intact second time round. Twomey and his consistent 16-year-old partner sped round the jump-off with ease in a time of 50.74, which put him into the lead. That was until Abdullah Alsharbatly on Ermindo W entered the arena. They rode a lightening-quick round to finish just over a second ahead of Twomey in 49.53.

Ribbons

The show at Gijon began on Tuesday, August 27th, with two-star classes, while four-star competition started on Wednesday, August 28th. Harry Allen and Calculatus secured their first top 10 finish of the show, with a ninth place in the four-star 1.40m Special Two-phase class.

Thursday saw the pair claim another top 10 placing, when finishing eighth in the four-star 1.45m ‘Faults and Time’ class, where the Wexford rider was narrowly beaten by his brother Bertram, who rode Gary de Cerisy into seventh place.

Twomey made his mark in the last class of the day, the four-star 1.50m Special Two-phase class, when he placed fourth with the talented eight-year-old Ace of Hearts Z. There were 39 starters in the class, of whom 16 combinations jumped double clear. Twomey’s time of 29.58 seconds meant he finished just outside a place on the podium. The class was won by Emeric George (FRA) on Dune du RU (28.72), followed by Brazil’s Santiago Lambre on Zeusz in second (28.79) and British rider Laura Renwick on Enjoy Ck Z in third (29.24).

Friday saw Harry Allen finish in the top five of the Young Horse one-star Six and Seven-year-old 1.30/1.35m class when fifth with Daredevil Z.

Saturday’s Young Horse Six and Seven-year-old 1.30/1.35m ‘Faults and Time’ class, saw Bertram Allen take fifth place this time, riding Huricane de Champloue. The pair finished in 65.84, exactly two seconds behind the class winner, Spanish rider Olivia Alvarez Garcia on Allkey Sr Z (63.84).

Harry was back in fifth place again in the two-star 1.45m Grand Prix with Kazelli VDL. Just six of the 51 starters jumped clear first rounds, with only three repeating the feat. Allen incurred eight faults, but secured fifth position.

Harry, who is ranked fourth in the Under 25 show jumpers’ rankings, outdid himself in the four-star 1.50m Winning Round class, when he was runner-up with the 13-year-old Lukaku Vd Bisschop (44.02), only being beaten by Spain’s Alvaro Gonzalez de Zarate on Casa Diva PS (43.54). From the 26 starters, they were the only two to jump double clear over Frank Rothenberger’s course.

Both Allen brothers finished in the top 10 of the four-star 1.60m Grand Prix, with Bertram finishing fourth on Caprisco and Harry in seventh with Calculatus.

Bertram was quickest of the four-faulters in the jump-off to claim fourth place and €20,000, with the win and the €66,000 prize pot going to Sanne Thijssen (NED) and Con Quidam RB. Harry earned €6,000 for his seventh placing.

After such a successful show for both, it was hardly surprising that Bertram Allen won the Best Rider in the four-star classes, while Harry placed third and also took joint second in the Best Rider in the Young Horse one-star classes.