KILDARE’S Michael Pender proved unbeatable in the second Longines Global Champions League competition, a five-star 1.60m speed class, held at Riesenbeck in Germany on Saturday, when he rode the 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare HHS Los Angeles (Le Roi (ZDP) x China Cavalier (ISH) by Cavalier Royale (HOLST)), bred by Marion Hughes, to a clear round in the fastest time of 72.78 seconds. There were 51 starters in the class, 19 of whom jumped without fault within the allocated time.
Germany’s Jana Wargers and Dorette OLD took second placed in 73.05, while third place went to French rider Simon Delestre with Golden Boy DK (74.26). Austria’s Max Kuhner and the Irish Sport Horse gelding EIC Cooley Jump the Q, bred by Pam Walshe, took sixth place in 75.68.
On tour
The Longines Global Champions Tour moved to Riesenbeck, Germany over the weekend, with show jumping action running from Thursday until Sunday.
The three-star 1.40m opening class saw Ireland’s Jenny Rankin finish as runner-up aboard the 12-year-old gelding Ibiza, when clear in a time of 59.43. Germany’s Stephanie Bohe and DSP Granada P were just a bit quicker in 59.14 to take the win.
Cavan’s Neal Fearon won Friday’s 43-strong five-star 1.45m Ludgers Welcome two-phase class riding Deirdre Reilly’s 10-year-old mare Derryglen Obsidian (Kafka vd Heffinck x Clinton). There were 29 combinations who jumped clear in the first round, but a staggering 18 of them retired from round two. Of the 11 who jumped again, nine kept the poles intact second time out, including two Irish men – winner Fearon and eighth-placed Cian O’Connor on Kentucky TN. Fearon’s second-phase time of 32.73 was almost a second ahead of Belgian runner-up Annelies Vorsselmans on Trezeguet. Germany’s Hannes Ahlmann placed third riding Cayadino.
Rankin scored another top-10 finish in the three-star 1.45m Prize of Mercedes-Benz Autohaus Senger class, when placing seventh with Quatinka. The pair jumped double clear in a jump-off time of 48.29 – almost four seconds off the pace of German winner, Tim Hoster on Claus 68 (44.35). Ciaran Nallon rode Serendepety into fourth place in the three-star 1.40m Prize of Kingsland speed class with a clear round in 71.88 seconds. The undoubted winner was Hallie Grimes (USA) on Casachessa PS, who stopped the clock in a super-fast 66.97.
Saturday’s first GCL competition, a 1.55m speed class, saw two Irish men in the top eight. Max Wachman placed seventh on Lexington in a time of 74.04, closely followed by Fearon on Cocktail de Talma in eighth (74.99). Austria’s Katharina Rhomberg on Colestrus Cambridge won the class in 66.39.
The team competition on Saturday was won by the Istanbul Warriors (Simon Delestre, Henrik von Eckermann and Hasan Senturk), but Valkenwaard United (represented by Marcus Ehning and Hans-Dieter Dreher) are clear front-runners in the current overall standings on 231 points.
The three-star 1.50m Prestige Grand Prix of Surenburg saw Rankin finish fifth with Quatinka, when they jumped double clear in a time of 56.82. Hoster (GER) on Claus 68 won the class in 49.22.
The one-star 1.35/1.40m Youngster Tour class saw O’Connor place seventh with eight-year-old gelding Pegasus in a time of 64.74 – four and a half seconds behind the very speedy winner, Richard Vogel (GER) on Dollar Girl (60.24).
Special win
Sunday’s one-star 1.40/1.45m LVM Youngster Tour Final was won by Nallon riding Little Special in Red M, after they jumped double clear in a jump-off time of 36.31. Brazil’s Yuri Mansur on Blitz van de Molenbrug Z finished a mere 0.05 seconds behind in 36.36 and had to be content with second place.
There were no Irish riders in the top 10 of the five-star 1.60m Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Riesenbeck, but Kuhner and EIC Cooley Jump the Q (ISH) took fifth place. Unusually at this level, the class was won by a skewbald - the 10-year-old gelding Ping Pong van de Lentamel, ridden by Germany’s Gerrit Nieberg.
Gilles Thomas (BEL) comfortably tops the overall standings at this point in the league on 241 points, with Christian Kukuk (GER) currently in second place on 187 points.
Rankin concluded a good show when placing 10th in the three-star 1.45m Prize of Werte-Bank-Munsterland speed class with Ibiza. The pair jumped clear in 67.42, whilst the class winner Hans Thorben Ruder on Singu stopped the clock in 61.99.