WEXFORD’S Bertram Allen scored a sixth place finish in the final round of the Longines Global Champions Tour at Doha in Qatar last Saturday, with the points gained helping the Irishman to secure a top 10 finish on the overall league standings.

Allen and the grey mare Molly Malone V, knocked a single fence in the opening round of the lucrative final at the stunning Al Shaqab arena, however a super fast time saw the pair advance as one of 18 combinations through to the second round.

A perfect clear round second time out, saw Allen and the 11-year-old daughter of Kannan climb up the leaderboard as the fastest of those to finish with one fence down and into sixth place overall.

Allen collected €13,500 for his sixth place finish, while he added another €19,000 for finishing his second season on the Global Tour circuit in 10th place overall. His results in Doha brought 20-year-old Allen’s 2015 Global Champions Tour prize winnings to a cool €232,480, with his best result coming in Paris last July where he grabbed the winners prize aboard Romanov.

A thrilling Doha final saw Portugal’s Luciana Dinz halt Scott Brash’s march towards a third title in-a-row, as she was crowned tour champion for the very first time.

DISAPPEAR

World No.1 Brash, saw his hopes of a third title disappear when he knocked a fence in both opening rounds with Hello Sanctos. An eight place finish in Doha wasn’t enough for the Scottish rider to remain at the top of the standings.

However Diniz was made to fight all the way by Sweden’s Rolf Goran Bengtsson, who was also looking to win for the first time after he had twice finished as tour runner-up.

Bengtsson needed to win the final leg to take the title. Despite three clear rounds from the Swede aboard the 16-year-old stallion Casall Ask, he already knew his chance had gone before Diniz entered the arena as last to jump. German rider Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum had posted a faster final round than Bengtsson with Fibonacci 17, to move into the lead as Diniz entered as last to jump.

At this stage, the Portuguese rider knew the overall title was already in the bag, as the worst she could now finish was fourth, giving her an unassailable points total. However she wanted to win in style – and she did just that.

Diniz and the brilliant 11-year-old For Pleasure mare Fit For Fun, scorched around the massive arena, knocking half a second off Beerbaum’s target to score a fabulous win.

Diniz walked away from Doha with an incredible €350,000, taking the Grand Prix winner’s purse of €150,000 along with the Champions’ Tour overall prize of €294,500.

Ireland’s other contender at Doha, Meath-based Cian O’Connor, lowered just a single fence in the opening round with the nine year-old stallion Good Luck.

Their time of 77.31 meant they failed to make the cut for the second round by three places.

IRISH COMBINATIONS

Irish show jumping manager Robert Splaine said afterwards from Doha: “It was great to see two Irish combinations, Bertram and Cian, representing us so well in this Global Champions’ Tour final.

“Bertram Allen and Molly Malone again showed that they can jump with the best. A clear round in the second round for a sixth place finish, up against the world’s top show jumping talent in a global competition of this magnitude is a major achievement.”

Both Allen and O’Connor scored third-place finishes on the opening day of the five-star meeting at Doha last Thursday.

O’Connor finished third in the opening 1.45m two-phase class with the nine-year-old stallion Super Sox behind Italian winner Emanuele Gaudiano riding Guess. Allen slotted into fourth place with Quiet Easy 4.

Allen was back on the podium later that afternoon in a 1.55m jump-off class, taking third spot with Molly Malone V, finishing just over a second behind Moroccan winner Abdelkebir Ouaddar with the stallion Quickly De Kreisker.

The Irish duo again featured in Saturday’s 1.50m speed class which was won by America’s Lauren Hough with Royalty Des Isles. Allen slotted into fourth place with Quiet Easy 4 while O’Connor was just over half a second further back in fifth with Super Sox.