IRISH riders took their fair share of the prize money on offer at the first day (Friday) of the five-star Zurich show in Switzerland.

Cork's Billy Twomey fared best in tonight's Rolex Grand Prix, taking eighth place with Sue Davies's 'Tinka's Serenade' and just under three thousand euro in prize money. The Grand Prix winner was Britain's Ben Maher with 'Wonderboy III', who scooped up the hotly-contested first prize of 24,000 euro.

Earlier in the day Jessica Kurten recorded Ireland's highest placing when she was runner-up in the Toshiba Knockout Qualifier with Lady Georgina Forbes's successful mare 'Castle Forbes Cosma', a result that netted the Antrim-born rider 4,000 euro. Tipperary's Denis Lynch was next best in fifth place on Thomas Straumann's 'Abbervail van het Dingeshof', with a reward of 1,400 euro.

Zurich's biggest competition will take place on Sunday afternoon, when the Rolex World Cup Qualifier will offer a total of 160,000 euro in prize money.