Róisín Sheridan

longines €200,000

grand prix of ireland

LORENZO De Luca was the talk of European show jumping last weekend after winning the €200,000 Grand Prix of Ireland on Sunday and being named the Leading Rider of the five-star show.

Speaking after his win on Sunday, the young Italian rider was overjoyed with his superb results; “I was pretty confident after the Nations Cup on Friday that my horse was going well but I never thought I would win this class.

“I’m over the moon. I’ve been riding my horse (Ensor de Litrange LXII) since last October. He is owned by Stephan Conter from Stephex Stables in Belgium, where I’m based, and Jos Lansink; together they decided that he would be a good horse for me and so I took him to Florida for the winter and since then we have got to know each other well and I feel confident riding him.

“I’m lucky because this horse is a genius. After my round I didn’t think I had done enough to win because Cian was coming behind me, but it turned out that I was the lucky one today and I still can’t believe it.”

As it turned out it was the Italian who literally had the rub of the green on Sunday; during his first round, De Luca’s mount rattled the green poles of fence 10, the Irish telephone boxes, and for a moment it seemed that his incredible luck was about to run out but it stayed up and guaranteed him his place in the timed decider.

Just four of the 40 starters returned first-round clears over Alan Wade’s challenging track. Two for the home-side, one for the USA, and De Luca.

As usual, Wade’s clever course building presented a track that asked plenty of questions and set the riders a contest worthy of the €200,000 prize fund. As a result, seven riders retired on course, four had five faults (the time allowed of 83 seconds presented a problem for several), 10 collected four faults, and two collected a single time fault to deny them passage.

The triple combination at fence four caught the most riders out with 10 collecting penalties here. Fence five, the hurling vertical, saw six add faults, while the wide water at fence 10 also caught out six. Fence 10, a tall vertical, which came quickly after the water, also claimed a few victims with five riders making a mistake here.

American Audrey Coulter and Capital Colnardo, an 11-year-old Holsteiner stallion she bought from South Africa in the winter of last year, were first to go in the eight-fence jump-off.

They saw their chances of victory fade early on when they hit the Salmon of Knowledge fence, the second jump, to finish on four faults in 48.79 for eventual third place.

Shane Breen was next in for Ireland and he recorded a foot-perfect round in 48.07 aboard the 11-year-old Belgian-bred stallion Golden Hawk. This would be good enough to see the British-based rider finish in the runners-up spot.

“I’ve had this horse since he was seven years old and, interestingly, he, like Lorenzo’s horse, came from Jos Lansink. He was off for some time with an injury and this is just his fourth show back so I’m really pleased with him.

“I slowed up a bit coming into the double so I knew I’d lost a little time here and left the door open for the riders coming behind me; but I’m delighted with the result and want to congratulate Lorenzo on a fantastic win and on a fantastic week of success. It was well deserved,” said Breen after the Grand Prix.

De Luca was third to go and he produced yet another impressive fast clear to shoot himself to the top of the leader board in a time of 47.44.

Last in was Ireland’s Cian O’Connor. He began well with the talented 10-year-old Belgian-bred Good Luck but, unfortunately, the stallion failed to live up to his name on this occasion and the pair glanced off the penultimate fence, the Library, having approached it at a very steep angle. They collected four faults in 57.11 for fourth place.

LEADING RIDER PRIZE

Following the presentation of the Longines trophy for his Grand Prix win, De Luca was named Leading International Rider of the show after his unprecedented six wins.

The 29-year-old Italian began with a win on the opening day of the show in Wednesday’s Sport Ireland Classic. He then went on to win two classes on Thursday, the Serpentine Speed Stakes followed by the Anglesea Stakes.

He was a member of the winning Italian team of Friday’s Nations Cup, went on to win the JLT Dublin Stakes on Saturday, and rounded it all off with a fabulous victory in the show’s richest competition, the Longines Grand Prix of Ireland.

Based in Stephex Stables in Wolvertem in Belgium, De Luca competes wearing an Italian military uniform, but unlike our own Army Equitation School riders, De Luca is not a soldier.

“It is the uniform of the Italian Air Force. The Italian government supports the country’s best athletes with a monthly salary. It doesn’t mean we serve in the military, we just represent them; it is a sign that the military stands behind me,” he explained.

In January 2015 he joined Stephan Conter’s Stephex Stables where he is second rider to German Daniel Deusser. “I’m very lucky to be part of a great group at Stephex. Daniel (Deusser) is one of the best riders in the world and Stephen (Conter) gives me great horses to ride and, therefore, great opportunities. I’m very grateful to be part of the Stephex team and surrounded by talented riders.”

“The horses I have are all so good that once I listened to them and learned how they work best, I could follow their system and it’s working really well. I feel that they are always on good form and if I can just keep myself on form too, they we can do well.”

When asked about the Irish crowd and the Dublin show main ring, he was quick to respond; “I feel like I’m supported by the Irish crowd, they are fantastic and have been brilliant this week. I love this ring, the conditions are fantastic and it has been so lucky for me.”

“From here we go to Hickstead and I hope we can take some points from there; I hope I can continue with some of this good form,” said De Luca.

Billy Twomey was named Leading Irish International Rider after a win in Thursday’s Speed Derby with Ardcolum Duke and several other top-10 finishes, including a runner-up spot behind De Luca in the Serpentine Speed Stakes with Tin Tin.

“I’m delighted to finish as best Irish international rider. I’ve won this a couple of times now but it still feels fantastic. Someone pointed out to me this week that I’ve been competing at this show for about 30 years now, which made me feel very old, but I still look forward to it every year.

“It’s one of the best shows in the calendar and the conditions are always great; the footing is probably one of the best in the world and it’s great to do well here.

“I think that Lorenzo is being too modest; he rode fantastic all week and his success is well deserved; he doesn’t give himself enough credit,” said a gracious Twomey.