IRISH riders were in fantastic form today in the Middle East, Europe and the USA, scoring a hat-trick of wins against top class opposition.

Wexford's Bertram Allen and his grey mare Molly Malone came out on top in the feature speed class at Al Shaqab's five-star fixture in Qatar. They saw off a world class line up which included five of the worlds top 10 ranked riders, to take the winners prize of €23,000 in a competition that Allen and Molly Malone finished as runners-up in 12 months ago.

Drawn second-last to go, Allen and Molly Malone produced a super fast clear round in 57.70 seconds, to deny flying Frenchman Rodger Yves Bost and Qoud 'Coeur De La Loge victory after they had earlier posted a target of 58.04. Switzerland's Pius Schwizer and Balou Rubin R finished third a further second further back, while the top 10 finishers included top riders such as Kevin Staut (FRA). Christian Ahlmann (GER), Steve Guerdat (SUI) and Britain's John Whitaker.

Meanwhile at the four-star Spanish Sunshine Tour in Vejer De La Frontera, Sligo's Richard Howley claimed the biggest competition of the day with the Neal Robinson-owned Calmond. Their clear round in 59.38 seconds saw them finish over three seconds ahead of runner-up Alvarez Moya Julio. Cork's Billy Twomey also featured in the prizes, taking sixth place with Kimba Flamenco.

At the four-star Nations Cup fixture in Wellington, Florida, Cork's Shane Sweetnam (pictured left), made it a hat-trick of Irish wins around the globe in the space of a few hours when he landed the $35,000 WEF Challenge Cup. Sweetnam guided Cobalt to the winning time of 69.13 in a competition which attracted 60 starters.

Sweetnam will be joined by Conor Swail, Paul O'Shea and Cian O'Connor on the Irish team for the Wellington Nations Cup which takes place in Florida on Friday night.