CORK’S Billy Twomey maintained the form which saw him crowned leading show jumper of the year at the Horse of the Year show in Birmingham the week before, to take another win at the first World Cup show of the season in Oslo last weekend.
Twomey claimed victory in last Friday night’s 1.50m speed class with Sue Davies’s grey gelding Tin Tin, knocking almost half a second off the target which had been set by Brazil’s Doda De Miranda and AD Nouvelle Europe Z.
Twomey collected €5,500 with the son of Cavalier who is out of an Animo dam, with De Miranda taking second place just ahead of German rider Daniel Deusser in third with Cornet d’Amour
Twomey was joined at the five-star fixture by Tipperary’s Shane Breen, who finished as runner-up in a 1.40m speed class on the same evening.
Breen and the nine-year-old gelding Acoustik Solo Du Baloubet, finished three tenths of a second behind Dutch winner Maikel Van Der Vieuten with Kisby
Clonmel-born John Hickey was in action in the two-star classes in Oslo and also lined-out in the puissance class, where he finished as joint runner-up riding the 14-year-old gelding Ian. Hickey reached the fourth round before knocking the wall, with Norwegian rider Geir Gulliksen the only rider to clear the final wall with Grand Balou
Hickey also scored a fifth place finish in the two-star 1.40m class with Fairplay vh Hellehof last Friday.
WORLD CUP
Billy Twomey was best-placed of the Irish riders in Sunday’s opening round of the 2015/2016 FEI World Cup series in Oslo, finishing in 15th place with Tinkas Serenade. The 18-year-old daughter of Tinkas Boy, did manage to go clear in the opening round but picked up 12 faults in the jump-off. Shane Breen and Acoustik Solo du Baloubet finished the first round with eight faults
French riders totally dominated the competition, filling four of the top-five places. Victory went to Penelope Leprevost with Flora de Mariposa. The stylish 35-year-old rider and her fabulous 10-year-old mare pinned her French counterparts, Simon Delestre and Patrice Delaveau, into second and third places, while Kevin Staut also carried the French flag into fifth spot behind Germany’s Marcus Ehning.
Ireland’s Twomey led the way into the jump-off with the veteran Tinka’s Serenade but lowered three fences, before Ehning produced the first clear when fourth to go with Comme Il Faut. Once the French got going however it was all about them, Delestre scorching home with the stallion Qlassic Bois Margot in 43.38 seconds to really put it up to the rest of the field, with and his fellow-countryman, Delaveau, only 0.12 slower to slot into temporary second place.
None of the field looked like touching Delestre’s target-time until Leprevost set sail. She explained afterwards where she believed she saved time: “In the jump-off, most of the other riders took an inside line (around fence 13) to the double but I went outside because I didn’t want to break the rhythm for Flora, who is always fast anyway - I think maybe that’s what made the difference.”
The decision paid off handsomely for Leprevost, with the clock showing 43.01, an advantage of 0.37 seconds over her French rival, as she galloped through the timers.
The second leg of the World Cup series will take place in Helsinki in Finland tomorrow Sunday, with Breen and Twomey once again the Irish representatives.