Lennon in upbeat mood following lucrative sponsorship deal

THE NEW YEAR is already shaping up to be a watershed in the career of Dermott Lennon.

Having recently secured one of the most lucrative sponsorship deals in show jumping history worth more than 1.7m the world champion is, not surprisingly, in upbeat mood. On the negative side, however, a cloud still hangs over the future of his gold medal winning ride Liscalgot. The Touchdown mare suffered a ligament injury last year and recuperation is proving slow.

"It is really unbelievable, what has unfolded up to now. In fact, it scares me to say how much this is worth," said Lennon this week of his sponsorship arrangement with His Royal Highness Prince Sultan Bin Fahad Nasser Bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia, computer giant Sun Microsystems, Dutch airline KLM and, amongst others, well-known show jumper Princess Haya of Jordan.