Denis Lynch and Cian O’Connor feature in five-star Grand Prix prizes in Spain and Switzerland

Irish riders featured strongly in two lucrative five-star Grand Prix competitions today (Sunday), with Denis Lynch finishing fourth in the Spanish Longines FEI World Cup in La Coruna, while Cian O’Connor finished fifth in the Swiss Rolex Grand Prix in Geneva.

Tipperary-born Lynch and Thomas Straumann’s 14-year-old stallion All Star were one of eight combinations who made it through to the jump-off in La Coruna, which was hosting the seventh round of the Longines FEI World Cup series. They jumped clear again in the second round, crossing the line in 45.77 seconds when fourth last to go against the clock and finished fourth overall to collect €33,000 and valuable World Cup points.

Fellow Tipperary native Shane Breen collected his first World Cup points of the season when finishing 12th with Laith. Victory in Spain went to Australia’s Edwina Tops-Alexander with California with a time of 40.08.

The result leaves Denis Lynch and Mark McAuley in equal fourth place on the league table on 37 points and in a strong position to qualify for the World Cup final next April.

Fifth place finish for Cian O’Connor in Geneva Rolex Grand Prix

Ireland’s Cian O’Connor and the grey gelding Fibonacci scored an impressive fifth place finish in today’s five-star Rolex Grand Prix at Geneva in Switzerland, which was part of the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping.

One of just five combinations to jump clear in the opening round, they lowered a single fence when last to go against the clock. Their fifth place finish saw them collect €76,000, while Co Louth’s Mark McAuley finished 10th with Miebello as one of the fastest four fault scores from the first round.

The massive winners prize of €400,000 went to America’s Kent Farrington with Gazelle.