CIAN O’Connor may have been the sole Irish representative at the five-star fixture at Coapexpan in Mexico over the weekend, but that didn’t deter his name from appearing in the results lists for multiple classes through the duration of the show.
His best result was a top-five placing in the five-star 1.60m Grand Prix on Saturday, when he rode Bentley De Sury into fifth place. There were 20 starters in the class and an extremely tough first-round course saw only two clear rounds proceed to the jump-off, where only Brazil’s Rodrigo Lambre on Take-Off Diara PS completed a double clear round to take a well-deserved win, with Argentina’s Ignacio Maurin on Conchado settling for second place.
Top five
In Wednesday’s five-star 1.45m two-phase class, O’Connor placed fourth with Kentucky TN. Eight of the 22 starters jumped clear in round one for their chance to jump again, with four of them retiring in round two. All but three faulted second time out, with O’Connor incurring three time penalties for fourth place. The class was won by Colombia’s John Perez Bohm on Gigi-Carmen in a second phase time of 41.43 seconds.
O’Connor rode Pegasus into third place in the second five-star 1.45m two-phase class of the day, jumping double clear in 45.42. Argentina’s Ignacio Maurin on Chacco-Conno PS took the win in a very fast time of 38.75, ahead of Mexico’s O Luis Alejandro Plascencia in second place (44.36).
O’Connor finished second of the 30 starters in Thursday’s five-star 1.55m jump-off class riding Kentucky TN, with a double clear round in a jump-off time of 37.77. The pair were only beaten by Brazil’s Rodrigo Lambre on Take-Off Diara PS who stopped the clock in 36.91.
Friday’s two-star 1.45m two-phase class saw O’Connor finish on the podium again when placing third with Emeraldo 4, jumping double clear in a phase two time of 34.27. This was less than 0.3 seconds off the winner, Samuel Parot (CHI) on David Guetta (34.10).
O’Connor and Pegasus then placed sixth in the day’s five-star 1.50m jump-off class, when they were among seven of the 24 starters to jump a clear first round, but they incurred four faults second time out. There were just three combinations to remain fault-free and rightfully claim the podium places.
Sunday’s five-star 1.50m two-phase class saw O’Connor take another sixth place with Pegasus, in a class where only four of the 23 starters managed to jump double clear. O’Connor was among the fastest of the four-faulters.
The day’s two-star 1.45m Grand Prix saw O’Connor finish fourth with Emeraldo after incurring two time penalties in the first round. Only three of the 51 starters jumped the first round without fault and they shared first place.