FOR the second week in-a-row, Limerick-born Shane Carey has won a two-star Grand Prix at Sopot in Poland.

Carey came out on top in last Sunday’s Grand Prix with the Maria Gretzer-owned mare Fecybelle, and the same pairing took victory again this afternoon after a 12-horse jump-off.

Carey crossed the line clear in 37.90 seconds to finish over half a second ahead of Polish runner-up Adam Grzegorzewski with Okarino.

Elsewhere, Ireland’s two representatives in the Longines FEI World Cup at Leipzig in Germany, Billy Twomey and Denis Lynch, failed to make it through to the jump-off which was eventually won by Germany’s Christian Ahlmann with Caribis Z.

SATURDAY

On Saturday, Co Louth’s Mark McAuley scored a fifth-place finish in the FEI World Cup Arab League Emirates Grand Prix at Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

McAuley and the 10-year-old gelding Vivaldi du Theil finished with one time fault in the first round, which saw them advance to the jump-off. They lowered a single fence against the clock to take fifth place and almost €9,000 behind Swiss winner Janika Sprunger with Bacardi VDL.

At the same venue, Derry’s David Simpson took runner-up spot in the 1m45 Accumulator at the five-star show with the 11-year-old stallion Jenson.

On Saturday night, Co Kerry’s Capt Brian Cournane and the 10-year-old gelding Armik grabbed a third-place finish in the $72,000 NetJets two-star Grand Prix at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Florida.

They briefly held the lead after jumping clear against the clock in 38.48 seconds, and were eventually overtaken by Mario Deslauriers (USA) and Amsterdam 27 who posted the winning time of 36.59. Lauren Hough and Valinski S finished second in 37.28.

Cournane and Armik won classes at the Bromont CSI 3* and Old Salem Farm Spring CSI 2* in 2018, but Armik “hasn’t gone fast in a jump-off like that before,” said Cournane.

“I really want to teach him to do it nice and be quick to the jumps and with the nice, short turnbacks under the lights, so it was an education for him.

“I’m really excited about him. He’s owned by my mother and father-in-law, Bob and Christine Stiller. They’ve been great to me. They own most of my best horses.”