Tipperary rider Trevor Breen won the Hickstead Derby for the second year in a row yesterday, describing it as “surreal”, after posting the only clear round from 37 starters.

Ireland manager Robert Splaine yesterday had one piece of advice for Bertram Allen going into next week’s World Cup final: Play your usual game, writes John Tynan.

Equestrian: Horse Sport Ireland chairman Pat Wall yesterday said Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney is applying his own stamp to the sport horse sector strategic plan before its publication.

Irish riders failed to make an impression in Saturday’s $372,000 World Cup grand prix at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Florida, but Darragh Kenny and Conor Swail scored a couple of consolation prizes in the run-up.

Billy Twomey landed in Verona, Italy, yesterday confident he can boost his World Cup account after making his first deposit last Sunday.

Equestrian: Lady luck is capricious, as show jumper Cameron Hanley will attest.

Show jumper Billy Twomey yesterday described himself as "disappointed" after he was replaced by manager Robert Splaine for tomorrow’s crucial nations cup contest at the Discover Ireland Dublin Horse Show.

Shane Breen was taking a lead from his horse’s name yesterday as he prepared for the first Chinese leg of the Global Champions Tour.

The first Irish equines exported to China under a ground-breaking protocol signed last July arrived last Monday.

NIJINSKY A Life

Swiss-based show jumper Niall Talbot won the grand prix in Lisbon yesterday with Nicos de la Cense to round off a successful weekend for the Irish in the Portuguese capital.

Showjumping Ireland (SJI) chairman Tony Hurley is optimistic the work of its insurance taskforce will pay dividends and he is “hopeful” of a substantial reduction in the premium for next year.

ONE hundred years ago this month Stravinsky debuted the The Rite of Spring at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris.

Britain’s Anna Edwards showed you can’t keep a good thing down yesterday by winning the €50,000 Millstreet International Horse Show Grand Prix.

William Whitaker gave Britain its second feature win in as many days at Millstreet International Horse Show yesterday, but Alexander Butler also laid down a marker ahead of tomorrow’s €50,000 grand prix.

ALICE Halliday hadn’t even graduated from college when Florence Welch’s stylist came calling.

It is 44 years since Time Magazine placed London, The Swinging Capital on its cover and declared: “In a once sedate world of faded splendor, everything new, uninhibited and kinky is blooming.” The cast may change, but the characters remain the same, writes Allan Prosser

Champion trainer Aidan O’Brien is set to have two runners in the Prix du Jockey-Club (French Derby) at Chantilly on Sunday.