CO Clare’s Philip McGuane took the top spot in the three-star $5,000 two-phase class at Lake Placid Horse Show in New York on Thursday, when steering My Lady Van De Krekel to a double clear round in a second-phase time of 32.32.

Runner-up Beat Mandli (SUI) was agonisingly close with Qoachella, when he stopped the clock a mere one-hundredth of a second behind in 32.33! From a start list of 43, 25 jumped clear first rounds to proceed to the jump-off, where 14 kept the fences intact.

On the scoreboard

The three-star horse show at Lake Placid ran from June 24th until 29th. McGuane got on the scoreboard in Thursday’s 1.40m Speed Challenge when placing sixth with Oilily Van’T Eigenlo with a clear round in 69.63. Kate Eppinger (USA) won the 22-strong class with Chacco’s Cherry PS when clear in a very fast 63.18.

McGuane then placed fourth and fifth in Saturday’s 1.30m/1.35m Stakes riding Oilily Van’T Eigenlo and Crislin Van Den Bosrand Z, when double clear with both in jump-off times of 32.03 and 33.03 respectively. Laura Chapot (USA) on Tyson Fury was best of the 33 starters when double clear in 28.98.

Christian Coyle placed sixth out of 17 starters in the Adirondack Jumper Classic when among just six combinations who jumped clear in the first round to make it into the jump-off. Only four managed to keep a clean sheet, with Coyle incurring an unfortunate four faults for sixth place. The class was won by Alexa Pessoa (USA) on Northern Light in a jump-off time of 37.34.

Meanwhile, McGuane finished ninth in the three-star $32,000 speed class with My Lady Van De Krekel when incurring four faults. There were only two clear rounds from the 19 starters.

The feature class of the show was the three-star $100,000 Grand Prix on Sunday, where McGuane claimed sixth place with Paso Doble SCF.

There were 29 starters in the class, of whom only eight jumped clear to get the chance to jump a second time. Five combinations kept all the fences standing in the jump-off, with McGuane finishing just behind them as the fastest four-faulter.

The win went to Israel’s Alberto Michan on Joint De Canabis Van De Doornhoeve, who took home $33,000 for his efforts, while McGuane pocketed $4,500 for his sixth-place finish.