Shane Sweetnam got back to winning ways in stunning fashion at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Florida, scoring a hat-trick, but just losing out in Saturday’s $82,000 grand prix.

Show jumper Denis Lynch is almost assured of a place in the Rolex World Cup final following his second place in the qualifier in Leipzig yesterday.

The Winter Equestrian Festival in Florida opened last week with a double for Shane Sweetnam, and Wednesday saw the Corkman join Conor Swail and Darragh Kenny to kick off week two with a hat-trick of Irish wins.