WEXFORD’s Bertram Allen recorded a superb third place finish in the €400,000 Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix, which took place in Mexico City in the early hours of last Sunday morning.

Allen and the stallion Hector Van d’Abdijhoeve were one of just four combinations to jump clear in the opening two rounds, as the prestigious five-star Global Tour visited Mexico for the first time.

Nine-year-old Hector is owned by Noel Delahunty from Connaught Bloodstock and was previously produced in Ireland by Thomas O’Brien from Galway Equestrian Centre.

Twenty-year-old Allen and Hector were last to go in the final jump-off and lowered a single rail when chasing the target set by Frenchman Roger Yves Bost and Qoud Coeur De La Loge who held on for victory.

Another 20-year-old rider, Jos Verlooy from The Netherlands, finished second with Caracas, while German star Christian Ahlmann missed out on a place on the podium with Epleaser Van’t Heike.

Bost collected over €130,000 for his Mexican win, with Allen taking a prize of €60,000 for third place, along with 35 Global Champions Tour points which moves the Irish rider into the top 10 on the league table.

Speaking to The Irish Field, Allen said: “I’m very pleased with the way Hector is jumping, he was very well produced in Galway by Thomas O’Brien. I think he’s going to be a top horse.”

Allen now returns to Europe and is part of Robert Spaine’s five-man Irish squad for the opening leg of the five-star Furusiyya Nations Cup series at Lummen, Belgium.