IRISH riders had a great show at Gorla Minore in Italy last week, with Dublin’s Matt Garrigan securing a third-place finish in the two-star 1.45m Grand Prix on Sunday riding Jaguar. Garrigan and the 10-year-old gelding jumped double clear, but their time of 45.17 seconds wasn’t quite fast enough to catch Italian winner, Christian Fioravanti on Ekarlus BH, who stopped the clock in 43.62.

Garrigan performed even better in the CSI2* Small Tour 1.35m Two-phase class, which he won on board Lincoln LB, jumping double clear with a jump-off time of 27.57 seconds, more than a second ahead of German runner-up, Joel Ehinger riding Caesar 216, whose time was 28.85.

Irish-bred horses also made their mark at the show, with Irish Sport Horse BP Pocahontas, bred in Tipperary by Greg Broderick, winning Friday’s CSI2* Big Tour 1.45m class with Britain’s Oliver Fletcher in the saddle. BP Pocahontas is a 10-year-old gelding by Emilion (KWPN) out of BP Hero (ISH) by Pacino (BWP).

Placings

Show jumping at Gorla Minore commenced on Thursday, March 28th, when Garrigan rode Grace V into eighth place in the CSI2* 1.40m class. He went on to take fourth place in the CSI2* Small Tour 1.35m Two-phase class with EIC Ambiance Du Seigneur.

Friday’s CSIYH1* Seven-year-old 1.35m Two-phase class saw Ireland’s Ivan Dalton on top form, winning the class with Harry D’Ete, and placing fourth with Philly Fogarty.

Garrigan rode Jaguar to take eighth place in the CSI2* 1.45m class and followed that with a 10th place in the CSI2* Small Tour 1.40m Two-phase class riding Grace V.

Dalton made a great start to Saturday’s classes, when he claimed a one-two in the CSIYH1* Seven-year-old 1.35m class riding Philly Fogarty and Harry D’Ete respectively.

Meanwhile, Garrigan scored another top 10 placing when finishing sixth in the CSI2* 1.40m class with EIC Ambiance Du Seigneur.

On Sunday, Dalton placed sixth in the CSI2* Small Tour 1.30m class on Hermes D’Armanville.