Show jumping/International: The Dutch, who shared third place with Ireland in Friday's Aga Khan Cup, made amends yesterday when sending out Wim Schroder to win the Samsung Grand Prix that brought down the curtain on the 2003 Dublin Horse Show.
Twelve months ago it was a similar picture when Marc Houtzager put Holland at the head of the line-up, but the defending champion went out in the first round yesterday to leave his compatriots Schroder, Eric van der Vleuten and Peter Geerink to fly the flag. And fly it they did, with the 32-year-old Schroder coming off best in a seven-horse jump-off at the expense of Billy Twomey, whose pay cheque was slashed by €10,000.
Robert Smith led off for Britain, hoping to make it a double after compatriot William Funnell had claimed the earlier speed championship from Lieut David O'Brien and Cian O'Connor. Smith, at least, had Irish horsepower for his bid but, for once, the Western Promise gelding Mr Springfield let Smith down.
Known as one of the fastest horses on the international circuit and second behind Peter Charles and Corrada in last year's Hickstead Derby, the 10-year-old Mr Springfield did indeed clock by far the speediest time, but he trailed off the front rail on the second-last in the process and a target of four in 42.12 was obviously vulnerable.
Cian O'Connor, one of two through for the home side, was next in with Waterford Crystal, but a brave angle to the second left one of the blue-and-white Samsung rails on the floor, and he was well off the pace, too. But sixth in the final line-up was still good enough to clinch the leading international and national rider titles for O'Connor, for the second year in a row.
That left home side hopes on the shoulders of Billy Twomey who, along with O'Connor, is one of the five named for next week's European championships in Donaueschingen, Germany, where the Irish will be defending the team title claimed in Holland two years ago.
Twomey has had a fantastic season, more than earning his European selection as a member of the winning teams in both St Gallen and Aachen.
Formerly with top British international Michael Whitaker but now out on his own in Cheshire, Twomey rode Luidam to claim the La Baule Grand Prix and was hoping to add the Dublin honours to his tally. He certainly had the right partner to do it, but his time of 47.37 left the door ajar and there were plenty of hotshots waiting to burst through the gap.
"I would have been lucky to win bearing in mind the quality of horses and riders after me," he said later. "I put in an extra stride to the double of parallels and lost a bit of time and there were a few fast ones coming after me." There wasn't too much speed about Swede Rolf-Goran Bengtsson, who looked like he was taking MacKinley for a stroll in the park when clocking 49.30, but Wim Schroder blasted into the arena next and blew away Twomey's hopes in no uncertain terms.
With his Monaco Masters winner Eurocommerce Montreal tuned to perfection, Schroder raced round more than a second to the good to take a lead that neither of his fellow Dutchmen, last in the draw, could challenge. So it was Schroder who took the biggest slice of the Samsung cash, with a €33,000 payout, while runner-up Twomey had to settle for €23,000.
The Irish, at least, had topped the line-up in Saturday's ebookers Masters, which went to Peter Smyth and the former trotting mare Zara's Pride, but Cian O'Connor's hopes of adding a second consecutive Puissance title went awry when Irish Independent Absolon, which joined his string only a fortnight ago, faulted at the final ebookers wall to share second with Harry Marshall and XL. Michael Whitaker claimed the winner's purse for Britain.