TIPPERARY’s Denis Lynch gave himself a fighting chance of booking a place in this year’s FEI World Cup final, when he grabbed a runner-up finish in last Sunday’s ninth round of the series at the five-star show in Leipzig, Germany, with the stallion All Star 5.

Lynch also hinted that he has one eye on the world rankings, with the all important March deadline for individual places at the Olympic Games fast approaching

“We’ve been very unlucky in Madrid - one down, at Mechelen - but today luck was on our side and I’m very happy with that,” commented Lynch afterwards. “The jump-off was definitely quite tricky. All Star is a very consistent horse, not the quickest but consistent. It was an important result for us (in Ireland) because we are trying to win the second spot for Olympic qualification so the pressure is on,” he said.

Lynch was one of 14 combinations to make it into the second round jump-off, where the relatively unknown 22-year-old German rider Niklas Krieg scored the biggest win of his career with the mare Carella.

As Leipzig was the third last leg of this year’s Longines series, the battle for league points reached fever pitch, with Lynch joined by three more riders from Ireland among a top class field. The Irish have yet to book a place in the final which takes place at Gothenburg in March, so Billy Twomey, Bertram Allen and Dermott Lennon and Lynch all travelled to the German fixture. Lennon lowered two fences in the opening round with Judith Sossick’s Irish Sport Horse mare, Loughview Lou-Lou, while Twomey could count himself extremely unlucky not to make it into the jump-off with Tinka’s Serenade. The Cork-born rider and the now 19-year-old mare jumped a superb round, however the penultimate fence fell to the floor after the lightest of rubs to end their chances.

German rider Krieg, who turned 22 just three days before Sunday’s contest, was making his debut in the World Cup series and he simply outclassed competitors with far more experience when producing a stunning performance from his 12-year-old mare, Carella. who is by Clearway out of a dam by Concerto II. Their time of 38.04 seconds forced many of the field to take chances that didn’t pay off.

Twenty-year-old Allen safely made it into the second round with Molly Malone and looked one of the favourites to lift the trophy. However they left two fences on the floor when trying to post a fast time to eventually finish 12th overall.

Lynch lined up second with All Star ahead of The Netherlands’ Harrie Smolders and Don VHP Z in third when they were the only others to leave all the fences in place second time out. Krieg won with a massive three-second advantage to announce his very definite arrival at the top end of the sport.

The fastest jump-off round was recorded by Belgium’s Gregory Wathelet, but the man who took individual silver at last summer’s FEI European Championships in Aachen was one of many who faulted at the oxer at fence 12.

French superstars Kevin Staut (Reveur De Hurtebise HDC) and Simon Delestre (Chesall) also failed when going for the inside-turn angled approach here, before Smolders changed the tactics. Taking the longer and safer route around the final oxer he safely negotiated the bogey fence 12 to post only the second clear of the jump-off with Don VHP Z in 46.85 seconds. And when Denis Lynch and All Star upped the pace but also took the more scenic route, they slotted in ahead of the Dutch pair in 41.04.

The Irish Sport Horse Castlefield Eclipse also made it through to the second round with Swiss rider Paul Estermann, but one fence down saw them finish 11th.

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Krieg admitted that he changed his plan during his jump-off round. “I talked with my father before I went in and we decided I should go around fence 12, but then the first two fences came up really nicely and I thought to myself - no risk, no fun! - so I just went for it!” he explained.

He has absolute faith in the mare he rode to team gold at the FEI Young Riders European Championships in 2014 and to team silver last year. “I have had Carella since she was two years old and no one else has ever ridden her so we have a big understanding between us. I know I can trust her every time - she is a bit of a diva, but I love her very much!” he said.

“This was for sure my biggest success until now. It was my first World Cup competition and additionally to win in your home country is tremendous,” he added.

There are just two more qualifying legs of the Longines World Cup Western European League left to run, at Zurich, Switzerland next Sunday January 31st and at Bordeaux, France on Saturday February 6th.