IT was a one-two for Ireland in Sunday’s five-star 1.50m two-phase class at the five-star HH Sharjah Ruler Cup World Cup fixture at Sharjah, UAE (February 19th until 22nd), when Tipperary’s Trevor Breen and the nine-year-old gelding Konrad Obolensky came out on top, followed very closely by Kildare’s Michael Pender on the 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare HHS Orchidee, bred by Miguel Bravo. That wasn’t the end of the Irish ribbons though, with Shane Breen placing fifth on Scarteen.

The start list of 39 was whittled down to 16 for the jump-off, where seven combinations remained fault-free. Trevor clocked the fastest time of 29.94 seconds to collect the winner’s prize pot of €18,000, with Pender just a whisker behind in 29.99 for a prize of €12,000. David Will (GER) rounded out the podium with Oak Grove’s Big Blue in a time of 30.32 to take home €9,000.

Impressive

Pender had an impressive show, having already ridden the 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare HHS Los Angeles (Le Roi x China Cavalier by Cavalier Royale), bred by Marion Hughes, to win Friday’s 1.50m Longines Grand Prix qualifier from a large start list of 69, 19 of whom jumped clear in the first round. Pender stopped the clock in 64.20 seconds to claim the first prize of €18,750, with Sweden’s Henrik von Eckermann on Calizi close behind in 64.52 for the runner-up prize of €15,000. Omar Abdul Aziz Al Marzooqi (UAE) on Chacco Bay placed third in 66.15 to take home €11,250.

The 14-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding BBS McGregor was ridden into ninth place in the class by Abdullah Mohd Al Marri (UAE), when they finished in a time of 71.16.

In Saturday’s 1.55m jump-off class, Trevor’s brother Shane Breen finished fifth on board the 13-year-old gelding Scarteen. Shane and his mount were among just five combinations from the 38 starters to jump clear in the first round, but they retired second time out and settled for fifth place. Only one horse and rider completed double clear, namely Brazil’s Joao Victor Castro Aguiar Gomes de Lima on Kenzo Quality Z, who were deserving of the €32,100 top prize.

Germany’s David Will on Xixo Borgia were runners-up with four faults in 34.56 in the jump-off for a prize of €21,400, while Henrik von Eckermann (SWE) on Qasirah van de Reistenhoek placed third with four faults in 35.00 (€16,050). Breen collected €6,420 for fifth.

Meanwhile, in the two-star 1.45m Grand Prix, Shane Breen finished in the top 10 again with the 10-year-old mare Be Alcantara placing 10th of the 48 on the start list. David Will took another win for Germany on board Qualido M with one of only two double clears in the class.

Shane Breen then had further success in the concluding class of the show, the five-star 1.55m Grand Prix, when he rode the 10-year-old gelding BP Arctic Blue into fourth place. From a start list of 40, 11 managed to jump clear within the allocated time for a chance to jump again. Of these, seven kept the fences standing for a second time, with the win going to Belgium’s Abdel Said on Quaker Brimbelles Z in a time of 50.18 for which the pair took home €60,000. Breen earned a pleasing €20,000 for fourth place.