FOR an incredible fourth time, Bertram Allen rose to the top of the leaderboard in the prestigious IDA Development Grand Prix CSI3* at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington on Sunday.

Riding Pacino Amiro (Pacino x NC Amiro), the Irish rider delivered yet another standout performance for Aloga Stables Ltd.

In an exciting jump-off, the pair secured victory with a blistering short-course time of 47.67 seconds, enough to edge out the rest of the field in the $140,000 Grand Prix class.

Riding on the grass derby field and going last in the 1.50m jump-off, the duo laid down a flawless round.

Close on their heels, Belgium’s Zoe Hank Conter and Tombola Z claimed second in 49.6 seconds, while Israel’s Yali Kass guided Obor A’s Crunchy Nut to third in 55.3 seconds.

Speaking after his win, Allen said: “He’s been back now the last few months, but even before Christmas, he wasn’t in the best form, but he seems to really like it here. My grooms do a great job. They have him feeling much better. He’s looking great and he jumped that super this weekend.

“He was second in the qualifier and won today, so I couldn’t be happier. He’s been a great horse for me. He’s a special horse in the stable. Everybody loves him. He’s been there now for seven years, and now we all love him.

“It was a little bit of a funny jump-off, because Zoe wasn’t really fast, but she was clear. So it was to gauge how much to go and not go sometimes that’s nearly harder than just giving it everything. But he is an experienced horse, and he knows his job.

“I’d love to do the World Games this year in Aachen, it’s a special place.

“Hopefully, the Irish can have a good team maybe with my other horse, Conquest. He’s a bit younger, but we’re here for the season to build him up for that and aim at a few of the Grands Prix along the way and the horses seem like they’re in good form at the moment, so hopefully it will continue.”

In the qualifier on Saturday, it was Venezuelan Olympian Luis Fernando Larrazabal and his 11-year-old Westphalian mare Baroness who took the win from Allen - their third international victory of the 2026 WEF season.

Here, Allen and the Irish-bred gelding owned by Aloga Stables stopped the clock at 46.61 seconds. Max Wachman and Kannem JAZ also qualified for the tiebreaker but had a rail down, though that still bagged them a fifth-place ribbon.