ALLEN WINS 50,000 EURO IN LUMMEN GRAND PRIX

EIGHTEEN year-old Wexford rider Bertram Allen took first place and 50,000 euro in prize money this afternoon (Sunday) at the five-star Lummen Grand Prix in Belgium. 

In a starting field that saw 50 of the world’s best riders compete for a share of the prize pot on offer, the Irish teenager was flawlessly consistent through all three rounds, and recorded one of only two triple clear scores achieved in the competition. 

Allen and Ballywalter Farms’s ten year-old grey mare Molly Malone V finished a third of a second faster than their nearest challenger, 44 year-old Dutch Olympic team medallist Jur Vrieling and the nine year-old gelding Flash Dance vd Kalevallei.

Irish show jumping manager Robert Splaine said after the competition: “To win a five-star Grand Prix at just 18 is a tremendous achievement for Bertram, and the future is certainly bright for him. Bertram also contributed as a team member towards Ireland’s joint third place in the Lummen Nations’ Cup on Friday, and it’s worth noting that all four members of that team have now had individual wins at Lummen. Bertram has polished off what has been a fantastic week for Irish show jumping here.”

Elsewhere, Meath’s Cian O’Connor, who has been selected for the Irish team who will compete at the French Nations’ Cup at La Baule in two weeks’ time, placed second at the Fontainebleau Grand Prix with Quidam’s Cherie, while in San Giovanni in Marignano, Niall Talbot took fourth place in the Grand Prix on Nicos de la Cense. At Maubeuge in France, Michael G. Duffy also had a fourth place in the three-star Grand Prix with Murchu.

Bertram Allen