KILKENNY’S Marion Hughes scored a double of wins last weekend at the three-star World Cup show at Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates aboard the Irish Sport Horse HHS Fortuna.

Hughes and the 16-year-old mare by Heritage Fortunus, who was bred by Thomas Hughes, first came out on top in Thursday’s two phase class when posting the quickest clear round in 26.85 seconds to relegate French rider Clement Boulanger and Lenna Z to second place.

The former Olympian then added a second win within 24 hours in Friday morning’s one round speed competition. They finished a tenth of a second quicker than UAE rider Abdullah Mohd Al Marri aboard AMS Catch Me.

Mikey Pender also grabbed another win in the UAE, this time victorious in Saturday’s Puissance competition. The 17-year-old from Co Kildare guided Team Z7’s puissance specialist Acorad 3 to set a new record in the UAE when clearing the wall at 2.17m.

The 16-year-old gelding has won the Land Rover Puissance at the Dublin Horse Show on two occasions, most recently in 2016 with young Irish rider Jack O’Donohue on board, when he shared the spoils with Shane Breen and Cisero (ISH), jumping 2.20m. Pender has also ridden Acorad 3 to win a puissance at Bolesworth Castle last June.

Pender rounded off another successful week with a sixth place finish in the CSI*** HH Sharjah Ruler Cup, a leg of the Arab League World Cup series. Riding Z7 Cordanos V (Catoki x Lordance), Pender was one of eight clears in the first round, where Marion Hughes faulted just once to finish in ninth place with Can Ya Makan.

Pender bettered the winning time in the jump-off, but a single fence on the floor meant he had to settle for sixth with the 11-year-old gelding in 41.46 seconds. Germany’s Jörg Naeve produced the quickest clear round (41.68) to take top spot on the podium with Carena 11. Qatar’s Bassem Mohammed was the runner-up in 42.25 seconds aboard The Toymaker.