TIPPERARY-born Shane Breen took third place today (Saturday) in the Grand Prix Qualifier at Villeneuve-Loubet in France, riding the Irish-bred Mullaghdrin Gold Rain to a double clear round.

The grey gelding, owned by Adnan Al Baitony, was almost two seconds off the pace of Swiss winner Arthur Gustavo da Silva, but the place secured the 35 year-old Irishman 3,000 euro in prize money and a ticket to Sunday's 25,000 euro Grand Prix at the three-star venue.

Also in the top ten today was Ireland's Alex Butler, who slotted another Irish-bred grey gelding, Harold McGahern's 'Will Wimble', into sixth after a battle for places amongst the 19 combinations who made it through to the jump-off.