Darragh Kenny grabs runner-up finish in Lyon Grand Prix with Shane Breen also in top 10

Offaly’s Darragh Kenny and Go Easy de Muze scored a runner-up finish in the five-star Longines Grand Prix at Lyon in France tonight, collecting €20,000, while Tipperary’s Shane Breen also finished inside the top 10 with Golden Hawk. Kenny’s runner-up finish comes just over a month after he scored his first ever five-star Grand Prix win at the Nations Cup World Final in Barcelona, again riding Go Easy De Muze.

Darragh Kenny and Go Easy De Muze (Photo: Sonya Dempsey)

Fourteen of the 49 starters made it through to the second round jump-off including three riders from Ireland. Kenny and Go Easy De Muze, a 10-year-old gelding owned by The McCahill family, produced a foot-perfect double clear round (37.29), finishing just over half-a-second behind German winner Tobias Meyer with the 14-year-old mare Cathleen (36.57).

Shane Breen and Golden Hawk posted what would have proved the winning time (36.49), however one fence down would see them take eighth place at the finish. Billy Twomey and Diaghilev jumped clear in the opening round but finished with 16 faults second time out pushing them just outside the top 10.

Kenny, Breen, and Twomey along with Tipperary’s Denis Lynch, will all line out in the third round of the Longines World Cup series in Lyon on Sunday.

Ivan Dalton and Umano des Dragons (Photo: Hervé Bonnaud)

Meanwhile at the two-star show at Oliva in Spain, Kilkenny’s Ivan Dalton led an Irish white-wash in the feature world ranking class, as riders in green jackets filled the top three places Dalton piloted Umano des Dragons to victory, while Niall Talbot and Nicos de La Cense followed close behind in second place, with Paul Kennedy and The Irish Sport Horse Cartown Danger Mouse finishing in third.