Kelly’s double success

Capt Michael Kelly enjoyed a bright couple of days on the Sunshine Tour in Vejer de la Frontera, Spain, scoring a double. 

The Longford rider opened on Thursday by winning the 1.50mtr grand prix qualifier with Drumiller Lough, coming home with almost two seconds to spare on his nearest rival.

Capt Kelly followed up yesterday by topping the leaderboard in a 1.35mtr speed class with Mullentine Loughall.

Drummiller Lough was due a win, he said.

“I was early to go in the class of 95 starters. I’m delighted for the horse, as he is very consistent and deserves the win. He has been second in eight classes in the last nine months and is always in the ribbons.”

Wexford show jumper Bertram Allen is aiming to accelerate his drive for a place in the Longines World rankings top-10 this weekend when he lines out in the five-star show in ’s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.

The 19-year-old emerged in 11th place in the rankings last week, and helped his cause last Sunday when winning the grand prix with the 17-year-old Romanov at the three-star show in Dortmund, Germany, rewarded with the keys to a Mitsubishi car.

However, with the rankings calculated over 12 months, points earned for his fifth place in last year’s ’s-Hertogenbosh grand prix will be dropped when they are published in April, so he needs to at least match that. He was out of luck last night, putting up eight faults with the stallion Romanov in a 1.55mtr jump-off class.