A trio of Irish riders, all under the age of 24, have finished in the top eight of Saturday's €350,000 five-star Longines Grand Prix at Al Ain in the UAE, pocketing over €46,000 between them.

Twenty-four-year-old Paul Kennedy from Limerick and the Irish Sport Horse Cartown Danger Mouse finished best of the Irish in fifth place overall. They were one of 14 combinations who made it into the jump-off, where they finished with a single rail down in a time of 54.80 seconds to collect a prize of €21,000.

Kildare 17-year-old Michael Pender and Can Ya Makan also finished with one down in the jump-off, coming home in 55.81, just one place further back in sixth to pocket €16,500.

Twenty-two-year-old Michael Duffy from Galway and Belcanto Z also jumped clear in the opening round and finished with eight faults second time out to take eighth place and a prize of €9,000.

The winner's prize of €75,000 went to Italy's Paolo Paini riding Ottava Meraviglia Di Ca' San G. The Irish team, led by Cameron Hanley, finished sixth in the Al Ain Nations Cup on Thursday.

On the other side of the globe on Friday night, the Irish show jumping team under the guidance of team manager Michael Blake, claimed victory in the Ocala, Florida Nations Cup. Shane Sweetnam, Kevin Babington, Richie Moloney and Cian O'Connor finished on a total of 12 faults to force the home USA team into second.

Also in Florida on Friday, Limerick's Paul O'Shea finished as runner-up in the three-star Grand Prix at the Winter Equestrian Festival with Skara Glen's Machu Picchu.