CO Louth’s Mark McAuley landed a brilliant win in the Speed and Handiness competition at the five-star Geneva Horse Show in Switzerland last Saturday.
The class, which included galloping through an open water, tight rollbacks and two doubles of verticals, was highly competitive and McAuley guided Scea Kalimba’s nine-year-old gelding Vivaldi du Theil to a ultra quick clear round in a time of 61.34.
Just six other combinations managed to keep a clean sheet around the long track, and Switzerland’s Niklaus Rutschi claimed the runner-up position with Baloubelle CH (0/ 61.79), ahead of leading French rider Pénélope Leprevost and Voyou Des Noualles (0/ 61.95) in third.
McAuley also managed a runner-up place in Friday’s 1.50m two-phase class. Riding Eva Lundin’s Miebello, his time of 30.29 in the second round earned him 6,000 CHF. Victory went to Belgium’s Gregory Wathelet and Spike VD Withoeve (0/0 29.88).
Darragh Kenny finished second in Saturday’s 1.55m jump-off class aboard Ann Thompson’s Cassini Z. Some 15 combinations made it through to the timed round where Kenny’s time of 32.96 seconds with the 11-year-old gelding was just beaten by Switzerland’s Pius Schwizer and About A Dream (0/0 32.12).
Bertram Allen also claimed a runner-up place on Saturday, aboard GK Casper in the 1.55m Table Table A against the clock. A fluid round with the 10-year-old Canto-sired gelding saw him set the standard when breaking the beam in 60.54 seconds, but he was pipped at the post by America’s Kent Farrington and Creedance (0/ 58.79). World champions Simone Blum and DSP Alice finished in third place.
Co Clare’s Eoin McMahon earned an entry to Geneva at the recent Rolex Young Riders Academy five-year anniversary and he finished fifth in Sunday’s 1.40m Accumulator aboard Chacon 2.
MCCARTHY WIN
Tipperary’s double world eventing silver medallist Padraig McCarthy became the first Irish rider to win the exciting Indoor Cross-Country challenge at the Palexpo arena on Saturday afternoon.
The innovative track, with 26 obstacles, went between the two arenas at the venue and McCarthy bested the rest when guiding Tatiana Brent’s Rosemaber Lancuest to the winning round when closest to the optimum time of 150 seconds.
He broke the beam in 151.82 seconds, just two-hundredths of a second closer to the optimum time than Britain’s Alex Bragg, who took second place with Sarah Hughes’s Alcatraz.
France’s Maxime Livio finished in third place on Arinadtha Chavatanont’s Irish Sport Horse Boleybawn Prince (Colin Diamond x Clover Hill), with fellow Frenchman Karim Florent Laghouag and Agnes Celerier’s Punch de l’Esques delivering the fastest round of the night (146.99 seconds) to take fourth.