A good weekend for Ardee native Mark McAuley continued at the five-star show in Rome on Sunday when he finished fourth in the Grand Prix riding Eva Lundin’s Miebello.
Twelve combinations qualified for the jump-off of the 1.60m competition where only Jur Vrieling of the The Netherlands managed to record a second clear round to take the €50,000 first prize with VDL Glasgow vh Merelsnest.
Switzerland-based McAuley was one of five riders who picked up four faults in the jump-off, his time of 46.76 with Lundin's 13-year-old Swedish Warmblood mare placing him behind the home pair of Alberto Zorzi on Fair Light van T Heike (45.92) and Lorenzo de Luca on Ensor de Litrange LXII (46.02).
Meanwhile in Germany, defending champions Billy Twomey and Terry Payne's Diaghilev also had to settle for fourth place in the Hamburg Derby with the fastest four fault score in the first round. Slovenia's Pato Muente, riding Zera, recorded the only clear in the three-horse jump-off to claim the winner's prize of €30,000.
Derry's Daniel Coyle dominated the $86,000 Jumper Classic in Caledon, Canada on Saturday on horses belonging to Sue and Ariel Grange at whose nearby Lothlorien Farm he is based.
The 22-year-old qualified three horses for the jump-off of the 1.45m class and set an unbeatable standard when clear in 36.85 on first-to-go Tienna, a Canadian Sport Horse mare home-bred by Sue Grange. He also recorded a double clear to finish second on Dillinger (40.23) and, with a pole down, placed fifth on Grafton.
At home, Ballypatrick Stables' Greg Broderick filled the first two placings in the New Heights Champions Series staged on Sunday in the showgrounds, Ballinasloe. From a starting line-up of 30, nine combinations went through to the second round of the 1.50m competition were four recorded double clears.
Broderick claimed the first place prize-money when stopping the clock on 35.54 with Molly Tracy's 10-year-old Verdi gelding Chinook II, a performance he backed up when second in 37.18 with Gretchen Biedron's Charmeur. Fellow Tipperary rider Liam O'Meara placed third on Mr Coolcaum (38.80) with Co Waterford's Francis Connors fourth on Centolina RB.
There is plenty of action on the home front this week with the Tattersalls international horse trials in Co Meath running from Wednesday until Sunday and the Mullingar international horse show taking place from Friday until Bank Holiday Monday.
