THE Miami Celtics team, which is made up of four Irish riders alongside USA’s Jessica Springsteen, finished second in the Global Champions League final in Doha last weekend, helping them secure third place overall in the league, rocketing them straight through to the semi-final stage of the €12 million GC Playoffs, which take place in Prague next month.

Last weekend’s Maimi Celtics team was made up of Under 25 rider Michael Duffy from Co Galway and Springsteen. Duffy picked up a single time fault on the first day of competition with Egalini, a nine-year-old gelding owned by Jane Davies, while Springsteen guided RMF Swinny du Parc to a perfect clear round to leave them well in the hunt.

In the second competition, Duffy alternated his mounts to ride Quintano 35, another nine-year-old who is relatively new to his string, and again left all the poles standing with just a time fault to add. Springsteen once again produced a foot-perfect round to leave the team on a score of two faults and in second place behind the London Knights.

ROLLERCOASTER

Speaking afterwards, British-based Duffy said: “It’s been a really rollercoaster year to come to these shows with the atmosphere and tradition that the Longines Global Champions Tour holds is phenomenal. We are a newly formed team so to be on the podium I think is a good achievement.

“We’ve had our ups and downs, we started with a couple of really not so good results, I came here with a couple of green horses so we were with our backs to the wall a bit. The Rome Gladiators and Shanghai Swans were jumping at the bit and on our heels so we had to try and get it done and thankfully we did. Yeah, we finished well and hopefully that will be a good marker for GC Playoffs,” Duffy added.

It was the perfect end to an exceptional GCT season for Ben Maher who had already won the championship when he gallop to another Grand Prix victory with Explosion W, and helped the London Knights to win the final leg and the overall league.

Maher was winning his fifth Global Champions Tour of the season in Doha.“I don’t know if I’ll have another season like this – I did nothing different this year, but fortunately for me everything went right and I had a great team of horses,” the 2018 champion said.

“Explosion has been in our programme for a while but Shanghai was my first big show on him. We had quite a surprise result there and then built on that.

“The horses give you such confidence, but I think many riders in today’s course changed their mind – I think I even asked Harrie at one point what his thoughts were! I trust Explosion, and that’s the difference – the quality of horse that he is and the luck I’m having at the moment.

“Prague will be new territory – I haven’t jumped him indoors yet, we’ll give him a break and then produce him for the Playoffs. But we’ll just enjoy this one right now and let it sink in,” Maher added.

Sweden’s Peder Fredricson was the runner-up aboard Hansson WL, ahead of last year’s champion and the world number one Harrie Smolder with Don VHP Z N.O.P.

Shane Breen was among the nine combinations to make it through to the second round after a clear first round with Golden Hawk, but 12 faults against the clock saw them finish in ninth place. However, the Tipperary man has already qualified for the Playoffs after winning the GCT in Estoril earlier this season.

The Irish Sport Horse MHS Going Global finished in seventh place under Greece’s Athina Onassis.

Wexford’s Bertram Allen made a good start to the show when he finished third in Thursday’s 1.55m two-phase with GK Casper, while Shane Sweetnam also picked up a similar placing in Friday’s 1.55m jump-off class with Main Road.