Mixed fortunes for Irish riders in world rankings
German-based Tipperary native Lynch rose one place to seventh, but Corkman Twomey fell seven places and now lies in 19th place.
Former world champion Dermott Lennon is making impressive headway. The Co Down man had one of his best years for some time in 2011 and in the latter stages scored some good results with Hallmark Elite and the Irish-bred Loughview Lou Lou. This included a notable win in the grand prix at London’s Olympia last month, which has seen him jump 23 places to 106.
It is the reverse for his fellow Northerner Jessica Kürten, who continues her dive and has exited the top 100 having lost the ride on her best horses due to a falling out with their owner Georgina Forbes. The German-based Antrim rider now lies in 108th place and has acknowledged it will take at least two years before she returns to the level that saw her a regular resident of the rankings top 10.
Other Irish riders featuring are Tipperary’s Shane Breen (57th), Meath-based Cian O’Connor (69th) and US-based Corkman Shane Sweetnam (83rd).
Swede Rolf-Göran Bengtsson has genuine reason to is celebrate after securing the world number one slot for the first time in his career.
The Olympic individual silver medallist in Hong Kong in 2008 also made history by becoming the first Swedish world number one in an Olympic discipline.
Bengtsson is 81 points ahead of Canadian Eric Lamaze, the reigning Olympic champion, who had topped the rankings since last June.
Bengtsson, who turns 50 this year, is to train Irish rider Nicola FitzGibbon in the spring.
While her new mentor lifted European gold at last year’s European Championships, Kildare rider FitzGibbon’s lack of experience was exposed. As such, she has opted to tap into Bengtsson’s expertise and experience at his German stables.
“I went on a fact-finding mission to Rolf’s for a week in December,” she said. “I got to ride some great horses and had the best of training with Rolf and Bo Kristofferson, his business partner. Importantly, I also got on with all the people there,” she said in Wednesday’s Irish Examiner.
“I enquired about a couple of other riders, including Switzerland’s Beat Mandli, but like most of the top riders he is away much of the time, but Bo is around seven days a week, which means I will get the full benefit of my time there.”
