SUNDAY’S 1.40m Grand Prix at the Cavan September Indoor Championships had the unusual result of being divided between two riders, when both crossed the finish line double clear in exactly the same time.

Jonathan Smyth with Ann Doherty’s home-bred Crystal Graf, and Cian McMunn riding Lisboy Emerald both recorded a time of 38.14 to share first place and the lion’s share of the €5,000 on offer.

Crystal Graf (Lux Z x Graf Magna) at 12 years old is showing no signs of slowing down, matching long-time leader Lisboy Emerald’s (Emerald Vant Ruytershof x Lux Z) round stride for stride in the jump-off.

A large field of 71 lined out for the class. Of these, just 15 produced a first-round clear. Four combinations were caught out by the time allowed, to collect one fault apiece.

A further 18 had a single fence down for four faults, while seven more collected four plus one for time for five faults.

With 15 through to the timed decider, it was always going to be a fast jump-off. McMunn set the target with the first clear in a very good time to head proceedings.

Tom Wachman and a recent addition to his string, Hawaii, provided the next clear, theirs coming in 38.82 for eventual third place.

Billy Sinnott and the Dutch-bred eight-year-old Macgyver also managed a double clear, but were off the mark in 45.20.

Niamh McEvoy rode North Star Sport Horses’ BE Kentucky and left all the poles in place, but were slightly too slow in 40.06, which left them just inside the money in sixth place.

Camryn Clarke and Miracle Es also posted a double clear but in 41.17, which kept them out of the money.

Jenny Dunlop and Gidion B added their names to the fault-free list, but once again their time wasn’t quick enough in 41.08.

Gracefield Apollo (Luidam x Coriall), bred by Barry McCann, owned and ridden by Nicola Fitzgibbon, provided another double clear round, in 40.01 which slotted them into fifth.

The penultimate pair in was Smyth and Crystal Graf. Try as they may, the best they could do was match McMunn’s time for a share of the lead.

Last to go was Dermott Lennon riding Bronte Stables’ Millview Cicero (Cicero Z Van Paemal x Oklund), bred by Harry Marshall. They were clear, stopping the clock at 39.06, which put them into fourth place.