IRISH riders have been quick out of the blocks at the five-star Dutch Nations Cup fixture in Rotterdam, with Offaly’s Darragh Kenny and Tipperary’s Shane Breen filling the top two places in Thursday's 1.55m Dura Vermeer prize, and later Co Louth's Mark McAuley making it a clean sweep when landing victory in the two-phase 1.45m.

In the 1.55m Breen raced into the lead when drawn 45th to jump with Ispwich van de Wolfsakker – the nine-year-old stallion crossing the line clear in 65.97 seconds. Cashel-born Breen was denied victory when his team mate Kenny shaved almost half a second off the target when fourth last to go of the 59 starters. Riding the nine-year-old mare Chanel, who is owned by Kerry Anne LLC, Kenny stopped the clock in 64.39 to take the winners prize of almost €7,000, while Breen collected €5,400 for his runner-up finish. McAuley also finished in the prizes, taking seventh place with Miebello in a time of 69.74

McAuley then galloped to victory in the two phase 1.45m class at Rotterdam’s five-star show. With the eight-year-old mare Jacintha V Kriekenhof, owned by Nicole Mordasini, he crossed the line clear in 33.62 seconds to take the winner prize ahead of Swedish runner-up Peder Fredricson riding Hasard (34.32). Maikel Van Der Vleuten finished third for The Netherlands with Dana Blue (34.96).

Kenny and Breen will be joined by Bertram Allen and Cian O’Connor for the Dutch Super League Nations Cup in Rotterdam on Friday, with Rodrigo Pessoa’s team drawn third to jump of eight teams. The class will be live on FEI TV at 2pm Irish time.

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