IRELAND'S Jessica Kurten claimed the Queen's Cup at Belgium's five-star show in the city of Mechelen tonight (Tuesday) by six hundredths of a second, pipping French challenger Caroline Nicholas to the prize by the narrowest of margins.

Kurten, who was riding Lady Georgina Forbes's ten year-old chestnut mare 'Castle Forbes Cosma', beat Nicholas in a 15 horse jump-off and collected 2,200 euro in prize money in what is a ladies-only class.

Kurten was also in the ribbons earlier in the evening, when she took seventh place in the big 1m50 jump-off class with another mare from the same owner, 'Castle Forbes Myrtille Paulois'.

Forty-one year-old Kurten will now be looking ahead to Thursday afternoon's Rolex World Cup Qualifier at Mechelen, a competition in which she came a close second to Japan's Eiken Sato in 2009.

Jessica Kurten