Bertram Allen returns to World Cup action

Ireland’s Bertram Allen makes his first FEI World Cup appearance of the 2018/2019 season in what is the third round of the series in Verona, Italy this weekend, writes Mike Dunne

The Wexford rider includes Molly Malone in his string for the meeting, evoking memories of when the pairing finished third in the final in Las Vegas in 2015 when he was just 19 years old.

Allen and Molly actually tied for second place on that occasion with France’s Penelope Leprovost (Vagabond de la Pomme), both partnerships finishing on nine faults, just one behind Swiss winner Steve Guerdat (Albfuehren’s Paille), but the Irish rider had to settle for third on time.

The best Irish performance since then came in 2016 when Denis Lynch finished fifth with All Star when the final was staged in Gothenburg, which will also host this season’s decider.

For the Verona round Allen also brings GK Casper and Christy Jnr.

Other Irish riders joining in are Mark McAuley with Jasco VD Bisschop, Miebello and Vivaldi du Theil, and Michael G Duffy, who includes his Nations Cup final mount Lapuccino 2 along with Chappo Chey and Ugo de la Tour Vidal.

So far this season Denis Lynch is the only Irish rider to have scored World Cup points on the European circuit, having collected 10 in Oslo in the opening round two weeks ago riding The Sinner.

An American round takes place this weekend at Washington International Horse Show at which Shane Sweetnam and Cormac Hanley will represent Irish interest. Sweetnam already has clocked up 10 World Cup points in America, where Conor Swail (17) and Kevin Babington (8) are also on the scoreboard.

Swail had the best Irish result of the weekend when winning the $384,000 (€334,386) Rolex Grand Prix in Tryon, North Carolina on Rubens LS La Silla with the only double-clear of the event.

Paul O’Shea had a good payday as well in second place with Skara Glen’s Machu Picchu and Shane Sweetnam didn’t come away empty-handed after a seventh place finish on Indra van de Oude Heihoef.

The Irish Sport Horse (ISH) studbook came out best at the weekend in the World Breeding Eventing Championships for Young Horses at Le Lion d’Angers in France.

It was a welcome boost following the news that the Dutch Warmblood (KWPN) studbook had topped the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses annual standings in eventing, knocking the ISH off its usual top spot.

It was in the six year-old competition that the Irish-breds shone brightest, taking second, third and fourth places. Great Britain’s Kitty King came out on top with the French (SF) horse Cristal Fontaine. In second place was ISH Emerald Jonny ridden by Britain’s Piggy French, followed by ISH Cooley Moonshine under American Elizabeth Halliday-Sharp, with fourth place going to ISH Universal Cooley ridden by yet another British rider Camilla Millie Dumas.

It was these three placements for Irish horses that saw the ISH take the overall honours.

In the seven year-old contest won by Germany’s Ingrid Klimke on Alpha B of the German Brandenburg breed, the Irish-bred Cape’s Hollow Drift under Tom Jackson of Great Britain came second, although this pairing’s score was not required for the ISH to top the weekend as it was the fourth-best ISH score over the six and seven-year-old events and only the top three scores for each breed counted.

Second place went to the SF studbook with the KWPN horses in third.

The best Irish horse/Irish rider performances came from Clare Abbott who rode Jewelent to eighth place in the six-year-old category and Cathal Daniels who came 10th in the seven-year-old competition with OLS King Aragon. Daniels, who was a member of Ireland’s silver-winning team at the World Equestrian Games last month, also partnered KWPN mount Galant DHI to eighth in the seven-year-old class.

It was not a good meeting for Germany’s Olympic champion Michael Jung who led after dressage with Choclat in the seven-year-old class but the pairing took a tumble in the cross-country phase. Horse and rider got up straight away but Jung later had to visit hospital with arm and shoulder injuries which, while not requiring surgery, will keep him out of action for a while.