BERTRAM Allen ended his stint at the Spanish sunshine tour in Vejer de la Frontera in style last weekend, landing the four-star Grand Prix with Dino W.

Five Irish riders were among the 49 starters over the 1.55m track and three of those finished in the top 10, with Mayo’s Alex Duffy in fifth place aboard the Irish Sport Horse WCE Cruco and Tipperary’s Greg Broderick just one place behind with Charmeur.

Allen set the early target in the eight-horse jump-off aboard the talented nine-year-old stallion by Berlin. Throwing caution to the wind against the clock, he broke the beam in 43.46 seconds to collect the winner’s prize of €16,275.

The Czech Republic’s Emma Augier de Moussac gave Allen’s time a good try, just coming up short in a time of 44.43 for second place with Diva. Frenchman Alix Ragot finished third with Thais De Pegase (0/0 44.55).

Alex Duffy guided Carl Hanley and Martin O’Dea’s 13-year-old gelding WCE Cruco (Cruising x Darco) around in a very fast time of 43.80 but four faults left them in fifth place. Greg Broderick was unlucky to drop a rail in the second round after jumping a superb clear first time out with the 10-year-old KWPN gelding Charmeur (Calvaro Z x Heartbreaker).

The victory for Allen and Dino W came off the back of another win in Friday’s 1.50m class. The Wexford rider picked up a further €6,150 when he guided the grey stallion to a double clear in 38.03. Broderick finished eighth in that class, also with his Grand Prix mount (0/0 46.00).

DEVELOPMENT

Speaking after the class, Allen said he was pleased with the development of his horses during his time in Spain. “I was only here for two weeks but I couldn’t have had a better two weeks, everything went to plan.

“I’ve come for the last few years. It’s amazing here, the arenas are some of the best in the world. I love it for the young horses and the older horses because they learn so much. I could only come for two weeks this year but I’m really happy I did.”

Allen added: “My horses are on the plane now to Doha so I fly there this week and then I have a busy season ahead.”

Allen racked up a number of other wins at the four-star venue, including the 1.45m on Saturday with the consistent High Valley (Obourg x Kashmir van Schuttershof). Coming of the back of their win in the Small Grand Prix a week previous, Allen guided the 10-year-old to the quickest time of 32.06 against the clock. Cork’s Billy Twomey finished in sixth place with Eindhoven G.H (0/0 35.88).

The 21-year-old steered seven-year-old Fairytale 86 (Verdi TN N.O.P x Cantos) to victory in Friday’s 1.35m Table A, clear in a time of 68.57.