GLORIOUS SUNNY weather greeted thousands of spectators for yesterday’s €200,000 Longines Grand Prix in the RDS, one of the best competitions seen in the main arena for many years.
It was US rider McLain Ward, on his newly acquired Antares F, making his debut in the smaller classes this week, who excelled to win the €66,500 first prize from a 10-horse second round.
“I found Antares recently and bought him from an amateur rider,” Ward said. “I have been taking him slowly, he has major scope and Dublin is his first big outing.”
There were eight clear rounds over Bob Ellis’s track, including foot-perfect challenges posed by Ireland’s Denis Lynch on Nabab’s Son and Billy Twomey on the bay stallion Je T’Aime Flamenco.
Ten horses had jumped in the opening round before young Swede Daniel Zetterman rode the first clear round on Glory Days, followed by Laura Kraut and Cedric.
Six more clears came, including from Lynch and Twomey. Dermott Lennon and Hallmark Elite just missed out on the second round for 11th place having only four faults, but they were not fast enough to make the jump-off.
Pius Schizer and last year’s Dublin champion Carlina were the fastest four-faulters for the second round, while Spaniard Sergio Moya Alvarez on Action Breaker went through on one time fault.
Cian O’Connor’s K Club Lady was on form but was unfortunate to tip two fences. The vertical at seven and the water tray oxer at the sixth took an extensive toll on the start list. Ward, 39th to jump, followed by Kevin Staut in 40th, produced clear rounds, having had lots of time to view the other riders.
Strabane showjumper Peter Smyth was man of the moment in the main arena yesterday morning when he won the final of the seven- and eight-year-old championship.
With the Derry-owned grey gelding Hermione IV, Smyth gave a perfect display in the nine-horse jump off to win with a time of 50.11 “This has been a fantastic show,” he said. “I am over the moon to win. My horses have gone well all week in this class and Hermione was super.”
O’Connor was runner-up with trainer Jim Bolger’s Ballymore Eustace, a grey gelding which stopped the clock with another clear in 52.33 .
“This Ballymore Eustace horse will go to the very top and, give him two more years and I expect him to be on the main global circuit,” O’Connor said. “I am delighted that Jim Bolger bought him for me, I am very fortunate to have a good owner like himself from the racing industry.”
Third place went to Eric Van Der Vleuten from the Netherlands on board Dona Evita while fourth was Clement McMahon from Clones with Valentino, who won both the previous week’s qualifiers.
“I was very pleased to win both qualifiers with Valentino,” said Clement. “The horse is very consistent, he was unlucky to have the last fence down in the championship.”
Ireland dominated Saturday’s international classes with Twomey and Shane Breen taking outright victory in the Dublin Stakes and accumulator while O’Connor shared victory in the puissance.
Twomey and the chestnut mare Tinka’s Serenade, sired by Tinka’s Boy which had many successes with Nick Skelton, collected €7,000 with the fastest clear in the nine-horse jump off antho- Dublin stakes jump-off class.
Spanish rider Sergio Alvarez Moya was second with Wisconsin III, clear in 43.77, while the talented Nicola Fitzgibbon for Ireland finished third in the puissance.
Fourth was Ireland’s Niall Talbot on Nicos De La Cense.