VICTORY eluded Cork's Billy Twomey in this evening's (Saturday) Grand Prix at the five-star show in Gothenburg, Sweden, with a single fence down in the jump-off relegating him to fifth place overall.

The 34 year-old Cheshire based rider, aboard Sue Davies's Belgian-bred stallion 'Je t'Aime Flamenco', was one of seven through to the jump-off from a tough first round, and his single mistake second time out was one of three recorded, the contest yielding just four double clear rounds. Fastest of these was France's Philippe Rozier, who collected 22,400 euro for his victory, while Twomey settled for 4,300 euro.

Ireland's Denis Lynch was also in the prize money, taking ninth place on 'All Inclusive NRW' after a single time fault in the opening round denied him a chance at the jump-off.

Earlier in the day, Limerick's Shane Carey scored a fifth place in the Accumulator competition with 'Pero-Z Hillock', finishing two seconds off the pace of an in-form Phillippe Rozier, who this time took first place with 'Ideal de Roy'.

Gothenburg's main event, the World Cup Qualifier, takes place on Sunday afternoon, with 120,000 euro up for grabs, as well as valuable World Cup points. Billy Twomey, who is currently ranked fifth in the World Cup standings, has already qualified for the May 2011 final in Leipzig, Germany, but Denis Lynch, ranked 38th, is still in need of qualification credits.

Billy Twomey