IRISH riders were in good form at the three-star fixture at Azelhof Horse Events in Lier, Belgium last weekend (August 20th to 23rd) and brought home a number of placings.

Thursday’s three-star 1.45m speed class saw Killian Norris place 10th with Passe Partout, with a clear round in 75.32 seconds. From the start list of 43, there were 16 clear rounds, the fastest of which was recorded by Nicole Holmen on H&M Bahia, who stopped the clock in 68.38 to take first place.

In Friday’s one-star Young Horse six-year-old two-phase special class, Daniel McAlinden placed fifth with Cuantos Obolensky JK Z, when they jumped double clear in a phase two time of 31.67. It was a home win for Belgium’s Jean-Christophe de Grande on Ultimus Prime Van Ter Moude, whose time of 27.91 could not be beaten.

McAlinden was back with a seventh-place finish in the day’s seven and eight-year-old two-phase special, riding Orlando VZ to a double clear in 37.68. Sanne Thijssen (NED) on Cosmiq Rebelle took the win when they stopped the phase two clock in 33.49.

Top five

In Saturday’s three-star 1.40m speed and handiness class, an Irish Sport Horse scored a top-five finish when British rider Charlotte Penny rode the nine-year-old mare Landown Cruise On Air (Avos Jordan Z x Cruising), bred by Sean Nugent, into fifth place from a start list of 65. Meanwhile, in the 1.45m Longines Ranking jump-off class, the nine-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Gracefield Apollo (Luidam x Coriall), bred by Barry McCann, placed 10th from 86 starters.

The day’s one-star Young Horse six-year-old speed class saw McAlinden ride Cuantos Obolensky JK Z into sixth place with a clear round in 62.36. Jean-Christophe de Grande (BEL) secured another win with Ultimus Prime Van Ter Moude in a very fast 58.62.

Sunday’s one-star 1.30m Grand Prix saw Norris ride Areno Sho Z into eighth place. From a class of 57 starters, there were 11 clear first rounds, with 10 opting to jump again. Seven of those completed double clear rounds, with Norris and his mount being the fastest four-faulter (44.46). Germany’s Stefan Engbers on Stenmark 3 won the class when double clear in a jump-off time of 41.92.

Daniel Fitzgerald rode the nine-year-old mare Fleuriske Z into sixth place in the three-star 1.50m Grand Prix on Sunday. There were 60 starters in the class, of whom just eight negotiated their way round the first-round track without penalty for the chance to jump again, with four remaining fault-free second time out. Fitzgerald and his mount set a good time of 40.06, but picked up an unfortunate four faults, while class winner Yuri Mansur (BRA) on Incanto VDL completed double clear in 39.86.

McAlinden was runner-up in the day’s 72-strong one-star Young Horse seven and eight-year-old jump-off class on board Orlando VZ. The first round produced 14 clears, with nine of those jumping clear again in the jump-off. McAlinden set a fast time of 39.39, but was just beaten by Shoorendran Nageswaran (MAS) on Omara Kis Z in 38.70.

There were two Irish in the top five of the one-star Young Horse six-year-old final jump-off class, with McAlinden riding Cuantos Obolensky JK Z into a podium position in third and Graham Grant taking fifth with Piece Of Art W. Out of 43 starters, 13 booked a place in the timed decider, with 11 of those jumping again and nine completing double clear rounds. McAlinden’s time of 40.38 was just off the pace of German winner Katrin Eckermann on Forfly, who stopped the clock in 39.06, ahead of Belgian runner-up Nathan Budd on Charly des Rosiers Z (39.30). Grant clocked 41.63 to secure fifth place.