Held under lights following a Florida rainstorm last Saturday night 21st
March, the $400,000 FTI Finale Grand Prix at Wellington saw Ireland's Shane
Sweetnam make it to the eight-horse jump-off but finish seventh after having two
poles down.
The Cork-born rider was piloting his new
horse 'Amaretto d'Arco', that had helped Ireland secure joint second place at
the US Nations' Cup competition at Wellington in February.
Ireland's other contender for the rich Grand Prix prize was Sligo's Darragh
Kerins, but a single pole down in the first round saw him in ninth place at the
end of the competition with 'Night Train', as the fastest four-faulter.
Winner of the Grand Prix, in which there were only four double clear rounds,
was two-time US Olympic Gold Medal winner McLain Ward with 'Sapphire', while
Wellington resident Todd Minikus picked up the $200,000 FTI Rider Challenge
trophy, thus making Saturday the richest night in US show jumping history.
SHOW JUMPING - TWOMEY NINTH IN
FINAL, SUNSHINE GRAND PRIX 15th MARCH
Cork’s Billy Twomey was best of the Irish in this afternoon's (Sunday) Invitational Grand Prix at Vejer de la Frontera, the final competition of the two-month Spanish Sunshine Tour.
The 31 year-old rider placed ninth with the stallion 'Goldex', jointly owned by Twomey and England's Sue Davies, after dislodging a single pole in the first round, but topping the four-faulter list with the fastest time.
The eight-horse jump-off was won by Britain's Guy Williams and 'Torinto van de Middel', who took home a €24,000 prize purse.
Earlier, Ireland's Frank Curran secured the runner-up spot in the Small Tour Invitational with John Curran's 'Pepp'.
Irish riders claimed more than their share of prize money at the Sunshine Tour during February and March, with Twomey, Cian O'Connor, Dave Quigley, Ivan Dalton, Mark Kinsella, Thomas O'Brien and Paul O'Shea all featuring regularly in the top ten listings.
IRISH
SUCCESS AT THE FLORIDA CHALLENGE CUP – 13TH MARCH
Irish riders kept up their high batting average at the DeNemethy show grounds in Wellington, Florida on Thursday 12th March with two top five places in the tenth round of the WEF Challenge Cup series.
Forty year-old Kevin Babington from Carrick-on-Suir rode his own Holsteiner 'Caracas' into third place in the four-horse jump-off but along with Brazilian runner-up Rodrigo Pessoa had a single fence down in the final round. American double Olympic Gold Medallist Beezie Madden won the class with the only double-clear round of the night on 'Onlight', though posted a much slower time than her immediate challengers.
Cork-born Shane Sweetnam secured fifth place in the Grand Prix with 'Little Emir'.
Babington has had two fourth places in the Challenge Series so far, and both he and Sweetnam contributed to Ireland's joint second place in the US Nations' Cup in February. Sweetnam also took second place in the US World Cup Qualifier at Green Cove Springs in January.