Allen wins La Baule feature class as Splaine names Nations’ Cup team

WEXFORD teenager Bertram Allen kept up his recent winning streak by claiming victory in the main feature class at five-star La Baule in France this evening (Thursday).

The 19 year-old, partnering Billy Twomey’s 17 year-old stallion Romanov, collected 7,000 euro for his win in the Prix Conseil Général de Loire Atlantique, beating France’s former European champion Kevin Staut and the mare Ayade de Septon et Hdc by just under a second in a big 60-strong starting field.

Allen has also been chosen as anchorman for the Irish team competing in the Nations’ Cup on Friday afternoon at the seaside venue on France’s Atlantic coast.

Irish show jumping manager Robert Splaine’s quartet will line out as follows:

Cian O’Connor with Good Luck
Darragh Kenny with Sans Soucis Z
Greg Broderick with MHS Going Global (ISH)
Bertram Allen with Molly Malone

Olympic bronze medallist O’Connor is in the unenviable position of being the initial rider into the arena for the Nations’ Cup, as Ireland has been drawn first to jump of eight teams taking part. La Baule is an important points-scoring competition for Ireland, one of just four in the first division of the 2015 Furusiyya Nations’ Cup league.

In Lexington, Kentucky, meanwhile, Cork’s Shane Sweetnam and Cyklon notched up a victory for Ireland in the opening three-star speed class last night.

Bertram Allen and Romanov