LOUTH’S Mark McAuley finished on the podium in the three-star Big Tour 1.45m speed class at the third week of this year’s Jump’Est international equestrian event at the Haras Régional de Rosières-aux-Salines in Nancy, France on Saturday, when he rode Django Ste Hermelle into third place.

From the 81 starters, just 16 remained clear within the allocated time, with McAuley’s clear round in 61.35 seconds proving good enough to finish on the podium. He was just a whisker behind runner-up Koen Vereecke on Merryweather VT Leeuwerokenhof, who finished in 61.27, while Brazil’s Marlon Modolo Zanotelli and the 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare Rockwell RC (Kannan x Urban Sea by Guidam), bred by Ronan Byrne in Co Kilkenny, stopped the clock just over a second ahead in 60.16 to win the class.