WHILE his big brother was competing in France, Wexford’s Harry Allen finished a close second in the three-star Big Tour 1.45m jump-off class at Valencia in Spain on Friday on board the 14-year-old gelding Lukaku Vd Bisschop. From the 67 starters, just 18 managed to jump clear round the first-round track within the allocated time, with 10 combinations completing double clear rounds. Time was of the essence and Allen’s round in 40.53 was a mere 0.08 seconds shy of the winning time of 40.45 clocked by Victor Bettendorf (LUX) on Milky Way 111. Alexander Butler on Tequila des Sequoias Z wasn’t far behind in fifth.

On form