Ennis and Townend triumpoh at Ballindenisk Horse Trials

IRELAND’S Sarah Ennis incurred just two time faults today (Sunday) in the final show jumping phase of the Johnson & Perrott Land Rover International Horse Trials at Ballindenisk, Cork, and with BLM Diamond Delux took home the CCI3* trophy.

The Meath-based rider held the lead from the dressage phase with a score of 45.2 and ended the three days of competition with just 47.2 penalties on her card, having gone clear in Saturday’s cross country phase.

Fellow Irish rider Katie O’Sullivan and the Irish Sport Horse Lowhill Blackout returned a zero score in show jumping this afternoon, but it was not enough to catch Ennis, who finished the day with 5.8 points in hand.

Meanwhile, Britain’s Oliver Townend also maintained his lead in the CIC3* with Imperial Master, setting himself up for a chance to win the €50,000 Goresbridge Go For Gold bonus prize, which will be awarded if the winning horse/rider combination of the CIC3* class goes on to win a CCI3* at Ballindenisk in 2013.

Townend also took second place in today’s class with ODT Sonas Rovatio, with Sarah Ennis again showing top form with a third place on the Irish Sport Horse Sugar Brown Babe.

In the CCI2* Italy’s Vittoria Panizzon narrowly held her overnight lead with Merlots Magic despite eight jumping faults, while Sweden’s Therese van Rijckevorsel and Buzzy Bee du Langwater retained their pole position in the CCI1*.

Likewise, Sweden’s Therese van Rijckevorsel and Buzzy Bee du Langwater held on to their pole position in the CCI1*, while in the CIC2* Ireland’s Ciaran Glynn and Craic came home in first place on a score of 51.1.

The CCIJ* saw Italy’s Giulio Guglielmi hold his lead on Porche Renkum after a clear cross country and show jumping performance.

Sarah Ennis