Howley runner-up

THE three-star Autumn Mediterranean Equestrian Tour in Oliva, Spain saw Richard Howley take the runner-up spot in the Gold 4 1.45m Grand Prix qualifier on Friday, riding Caprice d’Elle. There were 95 participants in the one-round class, with Howley’s time of 57.24 just a whisker behind Belgian winner Andres Vereecke on Halima van het Bonte Hof Z (56.97). Niall Talbot, who won a Grand Prix last week, maintained his form with FTS Elliot when placing fourth in the class (58.31).

Two-star win for Kenny

AT the two-star fixture at Riesenbeck in Germany, Paraic Kenny steered the eight-year-old Ganele De Rie Z to win Friday’s Large Tour 1.45m speed class in a time of 67.49. They were almost two seconds ahead of runner-up Micky Morssinkhof (NED) on Quintendros E (69.28).

James Connors Smyth on Dia Chapila PS placed sixth in a time of 70.58, while Kenny also took eighth place riding Chacoon Cherry PS.

Grand Prix win for Thomas Ryan

TWO-star action at Lier in Belgium saw some Irish successes, with Kilkenny’s Jack Ryan and Keatingstown Mister Cool, owned by Susan Fitzpatrick, winning the 91-strong 1.45m jump-off class on Friday and Thomas Ryan (who is unrelated) winning the 74-strong 1.45m Grand Prix on Sunday, riding the eight-year-old Millions Grey

Shane Breen placed in Abu Dhabi

IN Abu Dhabi, Shane Breen rode the nine-year-old BP Arctic Blue to a podium place in the four-star 1.45m two-phase class on Saturday. The pair finished in third place when clocking a time of 27.38 in round two. It was a very close finish, with Syria’s Shady Ghrayeb taking the win with Cabernet de Mars in 26.99, followed by Kristaps Neretnieks (LAT) on Sir Schmidt in second (27.20).