Sport

Equestrian: Two wins for Irish riders in Geneva

Darragh Kenny and Bertram Allen both took runner-up spots

Bertram Allen (IRL) riding Gk Casper during the Credit Suisse Challenge in Geneva, Switzerland. Photo: Scoop Dyga/Icon Sport via Getty Images

Margie McLoone
Sun Dec 9 2018 - 14:30

Irish riders recorded two wins and two second-place finishes in Geneva, Switzerland on Saturday with Darragh Kenny and Bertram Allen both filling the runner-up slot in the day’s featured 1.55m classes.

In the first of these, the afternoon’s jump-off competition, Offaly native Kenny was one of six riders to record a double clear but his time of 32.96 with Ann Thompson’s Cassini Z was bettered by the host nation’s Pius Schwizer who was home in 32.12 with About A Dream.

In the evening’s speed competition, in which six of the 44 starters failed to complete, Allen looked do have done enough to take the honours when clear in 60.54 on GK Casper, which is owned by his Wexford family’s Ballywalter Farm. However, the USA’s Kent Farrington stopped the clock on 58.79 to win with Creedance.

The first of the Irish successes was landed in the indoor cross-country competition by the World Equestrian Games eventing team and individual silver medallist, Padraig McCarthy. Here riding Tatiana Brent’s Rosemaber Lancuest, the Devon-based Tipperary man finished closest to the optimum time to win narrowly from Britain’s Alex Bragg on Alcatraz with France’s Maxime Livio finishing third on the Irish Sport Horse gelding Boleybawn Prince.

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The late night 1.45m speed and handiness class was won by Switzerland-based Co Louth native Mark McAuley on the nine-year-old Selle Francais gelding Vivaldi du Theil.

At La Coruna in Spain, Ireland’s Michael G. Duffy had a fence down in the jump-off round with Carl Hanley Sporthorses’ Chappo Chey to finish fifth in the 1.60m jump-off class won by Belgium’s Gudrun Patteet on Sea Coast Pebbles Z.