Hughes claims second in World Cup qualifier

Marion Hughes kept the Irish flag flying in China on Saturday when second in the World Cup in Chengdu.

The Kilkenny woman, now based in Dubai, had discovered her borrowed Chinese horse was lame, but her husband Miguel Bravo came to the rescue and offered her his Chinese mount, Exillio.

She went on to beat 13 foreign rivals in what was the third leg of the Red Mills Chinese FEI World Cup Qualifiers, hosted in the Sichuan city’s new €20m stadium.

Kilkenny-based Connolly’s Red Mills is the only foreign horse-feed company to have secured stringent import registrations and licences for China.

Hughes’s performance, which comes a fortnight after Cian O’Connor won the World Cup class in Beijing, will further enhance the Irish reputation, as efforts continue to strengthen equestrian links between the countries.

It was a different story in the opening leg of the Western European League Rolex World Cup in Oslo, Norway, where neither Dermott Lennon (Hallmark Elite) nor Denis Lynch (Abbervail van het Dingeshof) progressed beyond round one, both exiting on eight faults.

Victory by four-hundredths of a second in an eight-horse jump-off went to Dutchman Jeroen Dubbeldam (BMC Utascha SFN).

In the run-up to the World Cup class, Lennon notched up a number of good placings. On Friday, he rode Hallmark Elite to third in a speed class, while the former world champion also shared third in a knock-out class with Newmarket Venture Clover, having piloted the eight-year-old bay gelding to fourth in a 1.45m speed class.

In the eventing nations cup at Boekelo, the Netherlands, Ireland overcame the elimination of Steven Smith (Fernando), with the trio of Ciaran Glynn (Craic), Jonty Evans (Double Dutch) and Patricia Ryan (Tullineaskey Hi Ho) fighting back from 10th after dressage to finish seventh of the 12 nations competing.