DENIS Lynch has been on the crest of a wave in recent weeks, in and out of the arena, and he continued his remarkable trend with a five-star triumph at Hamburg on Thursday.

It was a magnificent day for Irish riders at the German event, with Mikey Pender recording a fourth-place finish in another five-star class on Wednesday, while Alexander Butler claimed the honours in a four-star competition that concluded with Diarmuid Howley standing on the bottom step of the podium.

Just three days after selling his stallion, Dark Chocolate at auction for €2.3m to a student of Cian O’Connor’s, Lynch took the spoils in the 1.50m class against the clock, with an inch-perfect piece of navigation on 12-year-old Cornets Iberio.

This comes less than four weeks after Lynch scored a five-star double on the Longines Global Champions Tour in Mexico City, with Cordial and Brooklyn Heights.

Later on, Pender finished fourth in the €80,500 five-star Grand Prix Qualifier. Riding the Irish Sport Horse HHS Los Angeles, bred by Marion Hughes, the Kildare native posted one of the 18 clear rounds in the 1.55m class.

The evening ended with Butler victorious in a four-star 1.45m speed class on Espoir de la Loisne. The Meath man and his Milestone Farm-owned 10-year-old partner were 21st into the arena, posting a flawless round in a time of 65.79 seconds.

Teriffic third

Howley followed his Irish compatriot into the ring and clearly took some inspiration from Butler’s efforts, the Enniscrone pilot zipping around on Coden VA clear and in a time of 71.14 to bag third.

This Irish success came after Shane Breen and Z7 Zurich won the four-star Derby Qualifier on Wednesday, finishing 5.91 seconds faster than their nearest challengers.

It was a good class too for Stephan Dubsky, who finished fifth on his own 10-year-old C The Stars.

Later on yesterday, Breen’s brother Trevor placed third in the opening five-star class at the show with Highland President, less than a second and a half behind the German victor, Rene Dittmer, riding Corsica.