THOUGH having one fence down in the opening round, Ireland's Denis Lynch staged a marvellous recovery in the Rolex World Top Ten Final at Geneva in Switzerland tonight (Friday) to finish second overall, and take almost 40,000 euro in prize money.

Riding Thomas Straumann's classy bay gelding 'Lantinus', 34 year-old Lynch lay fifth after the first round on four faults, with four other riders jumping clear, but the second round saw the competition get hotter as Lynch returned with a zero score while three of the others collected faults.

This left Lynch in first place on a two-round total of four faults, outpacing nearest competitor Canada's Eric Lamaze on time, but Switzerland's Steve Guerdat dashed hopes of an Irish victory with the only double clear round of the competition. Guerdat collected 50,000 euro and a Rolex watch for his win with the French-bred 'Jalisca Solier'.

Ireland's Billy Twomey, though now number nine in the Rolex world rankings, opted not to compete at Geneva in order to rest his horses for the next round of the Rolex World Cup series at London Olympia next week.
 

Denis Lynch