McCarthy victory
IRELAND’S Oliver McCarthy scored a hard fought win in the level seven jumpers 1.40m at HITS Saugerties, New York last week.
McCarthy’s win came aboard the Mclain Ward owned Quesada D’Elle, while the Irish young rider also finished seventh in a $15 000 1.45m competition at Saugerties once again again riding Quesada D’Elle.
O’Shea features
PAUL O’Shea, claimed third place in Sundays 1.60m Grand Prix at the three-star show in Budapest on board nine-year-old Skara Glen’s Sienna. The Limerick rider was one of only three riders from the 54-strong field to negotiate the opening round without a fault, but four penalties in the decider meant they had to settle for third overall and a prize of €4,500.
Denmark’s Andreas Schon on Allstar claimed top spot.
Breen placed
SHANE Breen grabbed a third place finish in last weekend’s opening 1.45m speed class at Mannheim’s the five-star Nations’ Cup meeting. Riding Reconnaissance, Breen was last to go of the 37 starters and was chasing Italian leader Giulia Marquet Martinengo’s clear round time of 58.64, finishing just over half a second shy of the target. Second place went to Germany’s Felix HaBmann on Cayenne WZ.
Hanley second
MAYO’S Cameron Hanley took runner-up spot in Mannheim’s accumulator competition when riding Antello Z. Hanley finished with maximum points and just two tenths of a second behind German winner Felix Habmann and Cayenne WZ. Meanwhile in the CSI Amateur International classes in Mannheim, Irish rider Josephine Sorensen, scored three podium placings including a win in Sunday’s 1.40m class with the Cardento-sired Savanna.
McMahon win
EOIN McMahon from Co Clare was in action at the two-star show in Zuidewolde, The Netherlands and scored a win in the seven-year-old young horse final aboard the Cornado gelding Cool Feeling.
Danes on top
DENMARK won the fifth leg of the second division show jumping Nations Cup in Budapest, Hungary.
Sharing a three-way lead at the halfway stage, the Danes stood firm to finish ahead of the joint-runners-up from Czech Republic and Italy, while Austria lined up fourth ahead of the host nation in fifth place.
Barrel racing
TWO Irish riders made history last week, becoming the first pair to represent their country in Barrel Racing. Susanne Hehle from Co Leitrim and Anna Lehane-Davny from Waterford, were part of a group of international riders representing Australia, America, Costa Rica, Ireland and Germany, who competed against the top 10 Chinese Barrel Racers at the 2015 Damao International Horse Fair in Inner Mongolia.
Chinese riders took the top three places, with Ireland’s Anna Lehane-Davny taking an impressive eighth place, while Ireland’s second rider, Susanne Hehle, narrowly missed a spot in the top 10 when her horse knocked the second barrel during her first run, adding a penalty of five seconds to her time and placing her 16th.