Limerick's Paul Kennedy finished third in Sunday's four-star Grand Prix at the Bolesworth international show in Cheshire, England.
Four Irish riders progressed to the second round of the 1.60m class but 22-year-old Kennedy was the only one to record a double clear, stopping the clock in 49.81 on the 10-year-old Olympic Lux mare Cartown Danger Mouse which is owned by the rider’s mother Jane. Against the clock, only two others fared better than Kennedy, The Netherlands’ Michel Hendrix whose clear in 43.88 on Baileys saw him take first place ahead of Roberto Teran Tafur of Colombia on Brilliant du Rouet (47.11).
Ireland’s Darragh Kenny, who finished fifth with a pole down in 42.83 on Go Easy de Muze, was crowned champion rider of the four-day show where among other Irish winners were David Simpson, Marion Hughes, Elizabeth Power, Dermott Lennon, Michael Pender and Richard Howley.
At Sommerstorf in Germany, Jack Dodd riding Quarto Mail, placed fourth in the 1.50m Grand Prix won by the host nation's Jorg Naeve on Quantas. Bertram Allen, who won Friday's jump-off class at Treffen in Austria with Molly Malone V, failed to make it to the second round of Sunday's Grand Prix when picking up four faults with the grey mare in round one.
At home, weather conditions forced the cancellation of Sunday’s Horseware/ITM premier Grand Prix at the Galway county show at Ballybritt racecourse where, the previous afternoon, Ger O’Neill won the national Grand Prix on Eamonn Murphy’s Dondoctro Ryal K.
In eventing, Co Down-based Joseph Murphy fared the better of the two Irish riders who competed in the CCI4* in Luhmuehlen, Germany. On board the 15-year-old Ricardo Z gelding Sportsfield Othello, Murphy completed in 12th place on a score of 62.10 penalties while Alan Nolan finished 23rd of the 24 finishers (28 starters) with Bronze Flight (129.80).
The event was won for the second time by Germany’s Andreas Dibowski who had a three-phase total of 43.80 penalties riding the former racehorse It’s Me, a son of the deceased 1988 Irish Derby winner Kahyasi.
Nine Irish riders competed at the Hopetoun international event in Scotland over the weekend. Their best result came in the CIC2** where Co Wicklow’s Sam Micklem finished fourth on 68.6 penalties with gelding Smart Spirit. The 12-year-old Grange Bouncer gelding is owned by the rider’s grandmother Noreen Slazenger and was bred by his father William Micklem.
On Saturday, the Irish polo team of Niall Donnelly, Mike Henderson, Seb Dawnay and Max Hutchinson defeated England by seven goals to six at the Beaufort Polo Club’s Festival of Polo in Gloucestershire.
