Kurten wins Leipzig Grand Prix, O'Connor third

In a thrilling finish to the Grand Prix at Leipzig today Ireland took both first and third places, with Jessica Kurten claiming the €33,000 winner's prize and Cian O'Connor taking third place.

Kurten brought out Lady Moira Forbes's mare Castle Forbes Libertina for the feature contest of the World Cup show, and was one of 13 combinations to qualify for the jump-off from a starting field of 39 top international horses. The 39 year-old Munster-based rider rode a cool foot-perfect round to record the fastest time, beating the Netherlands' Gerco Schoder into second place by a seventh of a second.

Dublin-born O'Connor, meanwhile, was not far behind on Aileen Bryan's 11-year-old bay gelding Rancorrado, again delivering a fault-free round to take third overall.

O'Connor and Kurten chalked up an impressive series of top 10 finishes for Ireland during the Leipzig weekend, with Meath-based O'Connor adding a seventh, a fourth and a second place to today's Grand Prix placing, while Kurten was second in the Young Horse Final and also had a seventh, a sixth, a fifth and a fourth place during the three days of competition.