LUKAS (Locorotondo x Ramiro’s Son), the 10-year-old old grey stallion formerly ridden at 1.60m and Nations Cup level by Germany’s Christian Kukuk will now be seen under Ireland’s Denis Lynch.

The horse has been under the ownership of Cian O’Connor’s Ronnoco Jump Ltd since November 2016 and he made the decision to move the stallion to Lynch's stable in order to strengthen Ireland's championship bid. “Christian and Ludger Beerbaum’s team have done a superb job producing this exciting stallion and to be honest myself and the other owners involved decided to move him purely for patriotic reasons,” O’Connor said.

“Ireland still has to qualify for the Olympics and with Denis without a championship horse at this stage we felt it could be a great match and perhaps strengthen Team Ireland’s cause,” he added.

Denis who only rode the horse today for the first time said: “I’m delighted to have been given such a great horse and now hopefully we can develop a strong partnership and build towards Nations Cups and possibly the European Championships.

“I have recently just moved stables to Weert and also All Star has just been retired and The Sinner sold so the timing couldn’t be better. That’s the way it goes in this job sometimes; one door closes and perhaps an even bigger one opens.”