O’Connor has time on his side

The clock was on the side of show jumper Cian O’Connor’s on Friday night, when he landed the Gain/Alltech Autumn Grand Prix League at Cavan International Show.

The Meath-based rider missed out by two-hundredths of a second to force a jump-off for gold in the London Olympics, but claimed the Autumn League title by half that time in a thrilling finale.

Eddie Moloney had won the preceding two grand prix to join O’Connor at the top of the leaderboard as they headed west for their showdown.

Both made the jump-off, but it was O’Connor who steered Ulano across the finish line the faster, his 35.70 seconds denying Moloney and Macushla R by 0.01 seconds.

Moloney was bidding to add to his Premier Series crown and earned praise from Olympic bronze medallistO’Connor.

“Eddie’s an amazing competitor and didn’t make it easy for me.

“I was thrilled for Ulano, who I ride for Turkish rider Sevil Sabanci and, as he won the final and also at Eglinton, he was awarded the Leading Horse title.

“Gain are a great supporter of mine, so I was thrilled that the league was such a success from the huge exposure it received,” said O’Connor, who also rode ISHD Dual Star to third place in the competition.

In yesterday’s Rolex World Cup qualifier in Verona, Italy, Antrim’s Jessica Kürten was denied a part in the jump-off, when putting up eight faults on Vincente. Spain’s Sergio Alvarez Moya and Zipper came out tops in a 12-horse jump-off to open up a 20-point lead at the top of the Western European League.

In the run-up to last night’s feature class, Kürten had placed third in two contests with API Largo.

In Toronto, Canada, Irish riders continued to make an impression, with Conor Swail piloting Lansdowne to second place in a 1.60m jump-off. Dermott Lennon and Hallmark Elite placed third, the former world champion having already scored a brace at the four-star show.

Meanwhile, it was reported at the weekend that Horse Sport Ireland has filed a request with the Department of Agriculture seeking an extra €5m from the Horse and Greyhound Fund. The fund, which raises much of its money via a levy on betting, amounted to €57m in 2011. The sport horse sector currently receives €3m, a fraction of the amount given to the thoroughbred industry.