Three Irish Young Guns Finish in Top Eight of Longines Ail Ain five-star Grand Prix

A trio of Irish riders, all under the age of 24, have finished in the top eight of today’s five-star Longines Grand Prix at Al Ain in the UAE  – between them pocketing over €46,000.
Twenty-four-year-old Paul Kennedy from Limerick and The Irish Sport Horse Cartown Danger Mouse finished best of the Irish in fifth place overall. They  were one of 14 combinations who made it into the jump-off where they finished with a single rail down in a time of 54.80 seconds to collect a prize of €21,000.

Kildare 17-year-old Michael Pender and Can Ya Makan also finished with one down in the jump-off, coming home in 55.81, just one place further back in sixth to pocket €16,500.

Twenty-two-year-old Michael Duffy from Galway and Belcanto Z also jumped clear in the opening round and finished with eight faults second time out to take eighth place and a prize of €9,000.

The winners prize of €75,000 went to Italy’s Paolo Paini riding Ottava Meraviglia Di Ca’ San G. The Irish team, led by Cameron Hanley, finished sixth in the Al Ain Nations Cup on Thursday.