Lynch and All Star jump clear at World Cup Final – Reynolds and Vancouver K ninth in Dressage

TIPPERARY’s Denis Lynch began the Longines World Cup Final at Gothenburg in Sweden today (Friday), with a clear round aboard the stallion All Star 5.
The first of three tough days of competition saw 36 riders from 17 nation’s race against each other in a speed competition. Lynch opted for a cautious clear with the 13-year-old All Star, in the knowledge that a huge amount of jumping is still to come before the final round on Monday.
Penolope Leprevost won the hotly contested class with Vagabond de la Pomme, pipping fellow French rider and World No.1 Simon Delestre and Qlassic Bois Margot who finished second.
Lynch and All Star lie in 22nd position, while The Irish Sport Horse Flexible and American rider Rich Fellers are two places further back in 24th.
Tomorrow’s second day of World Cup jumping will see another round against the clock, and one jump-off which is also against the clock. Results are then converted into points which are carried into the third and last competition.
The Longines World Cup Final finishes on Monday, with two rounds of jumping over a Grand Prix course. The top 30 horse-and-rider combinations are eligible to compete on Monday but only 20 go through to the second round. The leading rider after the first two competitions goes last, and starts on a zero score.
Meanwhile, Judy Reynolds became the first Irish rider to take part in the Dressage World Cup final, when she finished in an impressive ninth place in the Grand Prix Special in Gothenburg with Vancouver K. Reynolds now goes forward to Sunday’s Grand Prix Freestyle on Sunday, after which the new Reem Acra World Cup Dressage champion will be crowned.
In Eventing, an Irish team made up entirely of Irish Sport Horses, lie in sixth place overall following the opening Dressage phase of the Fontainebleau Nations Cup in France.
Jonty Evans produced Ireland’s best score of 47.9 with Cooley Rorkes Drift (ISH), while Austin O’Connor, riding Kilpatrick Knight (ISH)(TIH) was next best on 52.7.
Clare Abbott and Euro Prince (ISH) finished on a score of 55.3, while Cathal Daniels and Rioghan Rua (ISH) scored 59.5. Team Manager Nick Turner’s Irish side lie on a team total of 155.9, with Australia leading the way on 133.6.
The Cross Country phase of the Fontainebleau Nations Cup takes place tomorrow (Saturday), with the final Show Jumping phase to follow on Sunday.