Bertram Allen takes top showjumping awards for second consecutive year of the Irish Field Awards

YOUNG show jumping sensation Bertram Allen has been named The Irish Field Show Jumper of the Year for the second successive year.

The 20-year-old Wexford rider flew home to Ireland on Monday to accept his prestigious award at the K Club in Co Kildare.

Currently ranked number nine in the Longines world rankings, Allen has taken the global show jumping world by storm in the past 12 months, posting win after win on the international circuit.

Among his many top results for 2015 were his third place podium finish in the World Cup Final in Las Vegas with Molly Malone V in April and becoming the youngest rider ever to win a Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix in Paris in July with Romanov.

However his personal highlight was his role in helping the Irish senior show jumping team to win the Aga Khan Nations Cup on home soil at the Dublin Horse Show in August.

Nominated for an FEI Rising Star Award, Allen is on course to earn Ireland a place in the individual show jumping competition at this summer’s Rio Olympics.

Accepting his award, Bertram Allen said: “It’s always nice to get the recognition at home. It was an incredible year. The highlight for me was definitely the Aga Khan win in August.

“Hopefully me and Denis (Lynch) are going to win two qualifying spots for Rio, he’s going really good as well so that’s going to be the big goal for this year. The Olympics is the pinnacle of any sportsman’s career, it’s the one that everyone wants.

“It (2016) is going to be a very busy year and we are probably looking at doing four Nations Cup events. I’ll have to sit down with Robert Splaine (Irish chef d’equipe) and look at the schedule nearer the time. It’s a matter of keeping the horses fresh and keeping yourself fresh as well. It’s a huge team effort from everyone involved,” said Allen.

Asked what he thought the factors were that had contributed to his enormous success at such a young age, Allen said: “I don’t know but you have to have talent, focus and keep the horses and yourself healthy and happy.”

Allen was joined at the awards ceremony by other stars of the Irish equestrian scene including The Irish Field Dressage Rider of the Year Judy Reynolds, The Irish Field Senior Event Rider of the Year Michael Ryan, The Irish Field Junior Event Rider of the Year Cathal Daniels and The Irish Field Junior Show Jumper of the Year Jennifer Kuehnle.

 AWARD WINNERS

Kildare’s Judy Reynolds won The Irish Field Dressage Rider of the Year for the second consecutive year. Reynolds enjoyed an outstanding year in 2015, setting new Irish records on the world stage and putting herself in real contention for a place in the individual dressage competition at the Rio Olympics with her parents Joe and Kathleen’s gelding Vancouver K.

Cork event rider Michael Ryan won The Irish Field Senior Event Rider of the Year Award for his impressive performance at the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials. Ryan he climbed an impressive 39 places after the dressage phase and produced a faultless show jumping round to record his best ever finish at the four-star event riding Ballylynch Adventure.

Galway’s Cathal Daniels (19) won The Irish Field Junior Event Rider of the Year for the second successive year. A former European medallist at all under-age levels, Daniels made his senior team debut for Ireland at the Nations Cup in Boekelo in The Netherlands a winning one on Rioghan Rua. Daniels has been shortlisted for the Rio 2016 Olympics.

County Laois teenager Jennifer Kuehnle (13) won The Irish Field Junior Show Jumper of the Year Award for her victory in the 2015 Children on Horses European Championships in Austria. She delivered no less than six clear rounds against stiff competition to clinch the gold medal on Chaitanya 2.

GAIN HORSE FEEDS/THE IRISH FIELD STAR OF THE MONTH

Also presented on the day were the Gain Horse Feeds/The Irish Field Star of the Month awards, in which Bertram Allen was once again the biggest winner. He picked up the Gain Horse Feeds/The Irish Field Star of the Year award for his phenomenal achievements throughout 2015.

Voted for by readers of The Irish Field, the monthly winners were:

January: Shane Sweetnam, Cork international show jumper

February: Judy Reynolds, Kildare international dressage rider

March: Capt. Michael Kelly, Longford international show jumper

April: Robbie Clancy, Clare junior show jumper

May: Michael Ryan, Cork international event rider

June: Judy Reynolds, Kildare international dressage rider

July: David Blake, Clare international show jumper

August: Jennifer Kuehnle, Laois junior show jumper

September: Denis Lynch, Tipperary international show jumper

October: Cathal Daniels, Galway international event rider

November: Conor Swail: Co Down international show jumper

December: Bertam Allen: Wexford international show jumper

ENDS