GALWAY eventer turned show jumper Cathal Daniels galloped to victory in Wednesday night’s Indoor Eventing Derby at the Stuttgart German Masters with Shannondale Mari for the second year in-a-row, while his partner Jennifer Kuehnle finished fourth aboard his former championship mount Rioghan Rua.

The 13-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Shannondale Mari (Shannondale Sarco St Ghyvan x Lux Z), owned by Sofia Sjöborg and Sarah Hughes, earned the top prize of €5,000 with a brilliant smooth and fast round in the indoor to break the beam in 40.87 seconds, seeing off Olympic champion Michael Jung (GER) and Safran by almost one second. Third place went to the Frenchman Quentin Faucheur atop his gelding RNH MC Ustinov

Kuehnle and the Mags Kinsella-owned and bred Rioghan Rua (Jack of Diamonds x Flagmount King), who won a team silver medal at the 2018 World Equestrian Games and individual bronze at the 2019 Europeans under Daniels, produced a brilliant round that defied her 19 years to finish in 42.43 seconds for fourth place.

A delighted Daniels, who is now based with the Duffy family in Mayo and concentrating on show jumping, punched the air on winning and commented: “It’s a very special show. I really wanted to go for it today – and everything worked out.”

German-based Thomas O’Brien who hails from Galway Equestrian Centre won Wednesday’s national 1.40m class with the 10-year-old grey stallion Saint Vidal S after a faultless performance in 61.86 seconds.

On Thursday, Tipperary’s Shane Breen and the 10-year-old mare BE Alcantara scored an impressive win in the 1.45m two-phase class. They crossed the line clear in 21.58 seconds to finish almost half-a-second ahead of German runner-up Tom Schewe.