MICHAEL Pender finished on the podium in the five-star Longines FEI Jumping World Cup fixture at A Coruna in Spain over the weekend, when he rode HHS Orchidee (ISH) into third place in Saturday’s five-star 1.50m Grupo Eulen Trophy speed class.

Pender rode the nine-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare HHS Orchidee in a class of 42 starters, of whom 15 managed to keep the poles in the cups. Pender’s clear round in 61.09 was good enough for a podium place, behind French winner Julien Epaillard on Easy Up de Grandry, whose time of 59.86 could not be beaten, and Swedish runner-up Henrik von Eckermann on Glamour Girl (60.34).

HHS Orchidee (Le Roi x HHS Tiffany by Luidam) was bred by Miguel Bravo and is owned by Bravo Hughes Ltd and Molly Hughes Bravo.

Placings

The Casas Novas Winter Edition five-star World Cup fixture was held at A Coruna in Spain from December 5 until 7, hosting both one-star and five-star classes, with Irish riders in attendance.

Saturday’s five-star 1.55m Gran Premio Longines Marques De Riscal Trophy jump-off class saw 44 combinations on the start list, with Denis Lynch and Brooklyn Heights finishing just outside the top 10, who all jumped clear in the first round, when a single time fault in round one ruled them out of the jump-off and put them in 11th place. Six combinations managed to complete without fault, with Pieter Devos (BEL) taking the win on board Jarina J with a double clear round in a jump-off time of 40.04. Robert Whitaker (GBR) was a close second with Vermento (40.42), with Christian Ahlmann (GER) on Blueberry in third (40.83).

Forty combinations lined up for Sunday’s five-star 1.60m Longines FEI Jumping World Cup class, where seven managed to negotiate the first round without fault to proceed to the jump-off. Unfortunately, Lynch was out of luck when incurring a time penalty with Chicago, which meant they did not get the chance to jump again and had to settle for eighth place. Four pairs completed double clear rounds, with the best of these being Willem Greve (NED) on Pretty Woman van’t Paradijs NOP, who were clear all the way in a jump-off time of 42.76. Norway’s Oda Charlotte Lyngvaer on Carabella vd Neyen Z took the runner-up spot in 44.70, followed by Simon Delestre (FRA) on Golden Boy DK in third (45.16).

Lynch currently sits in 19th place in the overall standings after the fifth leg of the Western European League on 16 points, while Greve’s win puts him in the lead on a total of 40 points to date. The next leg will be held in London from December 17th to 22nd.

Friday night had seen the 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Latte Macchiato (Pacino x Torboy Lady by Boherdeal Clover), bred by Michael Kelly, ridden into third place in the five-star 1.50m Caixabank Trophy speed class by Britain’s Matthew Sampson (67.11). The win went to Henrik von Eckermann (SWE) on Glamour Girl (64.34), with Armando Trapote (ESP) on Tornado VS as runners-up (66.85).