IRELAND'S Jessica Kurten came within a quarter of a second of snatching yet another first place at the four-star show in Antwerp, Belgium this afternoon (Saturday), but had to settle for a third, riding Lady Georgina Forbes's 10 year-old French-bred mare 'Castle Forbes Myrtille Paulois'.

In a finish so tight that a mere hundredth of a second separated French winner Kevin Staut and 'Major de Coquerie' from Brazilian runner-up Bernardo Alves with 'Bridgit', the competition also saw ten double clear rounds from a startlist of 50.

Kurten's 3,200 euro winnings today will be added to her Thursday night prize of a car for taking victory in the BMW Masters at Antwerp.

Riding the 'For Feeling' bay mare 'Fashion', Antrim-born Kurten battled it out for the new BMW 116i model against other world-class riders such as Brazil's Rodrigo Pessoa, Belgium's Jos Lansink, Australia's Edwina Alexander and current European Champion, France's Kevin Staut, who won today's two-round competition.

Jessica Kurten