MAJOR League Show Jumping moved to Toronto from August 15th to 18th, with Irish riders making their mark at the Angelstone event.

David O’Brien and El Balou OLD showed the strength of their partnership, with the Galway rider claiming two podium places and a substantial share of the prize money within a 24-hour period.

The five-star $300,000 team competition in the early hours of Saturday morning saw great excitement and some spectacular jumping, when the Helios team claimed the top spot. O’Brien on El Balou OLD incurred a couple of time penalties in the first round, with team mate Abdel Said (BEL) on Figueras De Laume also a victim of the clock, incurring one time fault. Their third team member, Skylar Wireman (USA) jumped a speedy clear round. All three jumped fast and clear in the second round to take the win. Ireland’s Philip McGuane on Orphea HQ was on the third-placed Trelawny Trailblazers team. Team Helios now move ahead of reigning champions Trelawny Trailblazers to the head of the season standings, following this win.

O’Brien and El Balou OLD were back on the podium again when third in Saturday’s five-star $200,000 1.60m Grand Prix. Some 33 combinations took on the course, but just seven made it through to the jump-off. Five jumped double clear, including O’Brien (42.06), with the fastest being Lillie Keenan (USA) on board Kick On, whose jump-off time of 39.17 seconds could not be caught. Fellow American Kent Farrington rode Toulayna into second place in 40.57, followed by O’Brien in third. Ireland’s Paul O’Shea and Little Magic D’Asschaut placed seventh after incurring four faults in the jump-off.

Ribbons

Last Thursday’s opening five-star 1.40m Two-phase class saw two Irish getting off to a good start with top 10 finishes, with McGuane on Orphea HQ finishing seventh and O’Brien on El Balou OLD in ninth.

The following $62,500 five-star 1.50m qualifier saw Kerryman Dylan Daly secure a place on the podium, when he rode Cinderella Z into third place with a double clear and jump-off time of 42.04 seconds. This was his first bid at a five-star class.

Germany-based Michael G Duffy and Clitschko 17 took seventh place when they were among the eight first-round clears through to the jump-off, but then had a pole on the ground when up against the clock. Just five of the 36 starters jumped double clear, with the win going to Daly’s wife, Canada’s Jacqueline Steffens Daly on Freaky (41.46), followed by Alessandra Volpi (USA) on Candy Luck Z just 0.5 seconds behind in 41.96.

Friday saw an eighth-place finish for McGuane and Orphea HQ in the five-star $62,500 Speed class when they were among 13 of the 35 starters to jump clear.

McGuane’s time of 67.33 seconds was three seconds off the pace of the class winner, Israel’s Daniel Bluman on Gemma W, who stopped the clock in 64.35, with Colombia’s Roberto Teran Tafur on Iron Maiden in second (64.88) and USA’s Farrington on Myla in third (65.95).

Saturday’s five-star $31,200 1.45m winning round was won by Simon McCarthy on Gotcha, who have been having a fantastic run of form lately. From 27 starters, only 10 proceeded to the jump-off, with seven jumping clear second time round. McCarthy was the fastest of these, when he broke the beams in 39.59 seconds. USA’s Giavanna Rinaldi on Kiekum was hot on McCarthy’s heels in 39.82 for second place, while Alessandra Volpi on Glamour was third in 41.39.

To conclude the show, O’Shea went on to take the runner-up spot in Sunday’s $25,000 1.35m National Grand Prix with Primo CBI Cornet, jumping double clear in 38.80 seconds, behind American winner Virginia Bonnie on Heldorado (35.62).