Turloughmore’s Michael Duffy and his Helios squad came third at the lucrative Major League event in Greenwich last weekend (27th/28th September).
His horse RMF Clinton Son produced one clear round, and only four faults, in their two trips.
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Green Jackets shine on four continents
On a week when Irish athletes posted big results on four continents, Conor Swail was the big winner in America, where Michael Duffy also performed strongly.
There were strong performances from other Green Jackets too, with Cian O’Connor really consistent at the five-star show in Mexico with a trio of podiums and a top-five Grand Prix return, Bertram Allen also making a podium in Austria and Susan Fitzpatrick posting a fourth-place finish at four-star level in Morocco.
Swail was involved in the lucrative Major League Show Jumping event in Greenwich week and the Down native played a crucial role with two clear rounds on Casturano to lead the Trelawny Trailblazers to victory in the €200,000 Trelawny Farm five-star team competition.
There was another Irish presence on the podium as Galway man Duffy was a member of the Helios squad that was ranked third when the dust had cleared, steering RMF Clinton Son to a clear and four faults in their two trips.
The event kicked off with a five-star speed class, in which both Irish athletes were flawless but Swail and Casturano were quicker, slotting into the third, only four-tenths of a second behind Germany’s Rene Dittmer in second, with a brilliant with a time of 69.55.
That was a crucial return for the home team, with Egypt’s Nayel Nassar having one down on speed specialist Ivory TCS and Natalie Dean (USA)) also registering four faults on Oasis van de Bucxtale.
Swail and Casturano were foot-perfect once more in the second round of the team event, and with Nassar and Ivory TCS matching that effort, an opportunity for top spot was presented to Dean in a gold medal jump-off.
The American grasped it with both hands, crossing the line clear in a rapid 39.70 to land the spoils.
Further south, O’Connor made the long trip to Mexico pay with some strong results at the Coapexpan five-star show .
The Olympic medallist kicked off with a fourth-place finish in the first part of the 1.45m two-phase class on the Grass Arena with Kentucky TN, despite being first into the arena.
It proved a real test for the contestants with many failing to navigate the power sector. Only the top three managed double clears with O’Connor and his bay the best of the rest on a total of three faults in a time of 48.36.
And the Karlswood Stables supremo followed up with third in the second, piloting Pegasus to a double clear in a time of 45.42.
O’Connor returned on Friday with Kentucky TN to record a brilliant double clear for a silver medal return in the 1.55m jump-off class.
Only three combinations qualified for the tiebreaker from Peter Grant’s initial examination and the Irish pair stopped the clock at 37.77. Victory went to Brazil’s Rogdrigo Lambre, with Take-Off Diara PS.
O’Connor also had Bentley De Sury with him and they finished fifth in the fiercely difficult Grand Prix on Saturday.
Only Lambre and Take-Off Diara PS managed a double clear but with only two in the jump-off, the Meath-based Kildare man and his trusty steed were among the quickest four-faulters to claim a sizeable share of the prize money.
Back in Europe, Bertram Allen made his presence felt on the Longines Global Champions Tour by finishing third in the Grand Prix of Vienna on Sunday with Qonquest de Rigo.
Allen and Aloga Stables’ talented nine-year-old have competed on the biggest stages together this year and the best should yet be to come given the manner in which the Wexfordian is bringing his young charge through.
They excelled in the Austrian capital behind Philipp Wishaupt (GER) with Kilmister, and Harrie Smolders (NED) with Monaco, posting two clear rounds and getting themselves on the podium with a jump-off time of 42.31 seconds, to earn €46,290.
And finally, in Rabat, Susan Fitzpatrick and the talented nine-year-old mare Lovely Stassi PS posted an outstanding fourth-place finish in a four-star two-round class that was won by Abdulrahman Alrajhi (KSA) with Heartbeat W.
There was no horse younger than the bay the Kilkenny pilot owns with Rosemary Farm and the duo were among only five to register two clear rounds in Friday’s 1.55m class, the speed time of 44.35 ensuring a valuable ribbon.
