Nallon wins two-star Grand Prix in Riesenbeck
Mark McAuley was in the winner’s enclosure this week, holding his nerve in Saturday’s second round of the 1.50m two-round competition at Bourge en Bresse in France, and L’Arc En Ciel Z taking care of the rest, leaving the obstacles standing and too rapid for the opposition, to score in the four-star class (above).
As the last qualifier for the Grand Prix, there was a lot at stake quite apart from prize money in the Prix de la Région Auvergne Rhȏne-Alpes but the experienced Louth pilot has been honed in the white heat of five-star battles in Nations Cups for Ireland and elite Grands Prix, meaning he was the perfect foil for the 13-year-old stallion that was his on-course partner.
They were the only duo to break 40 seconds in that decisive outing, their 39.61 seconds too hot for Douglas Lindelöw (SWE) and Hermosillo d’Aubigny, who stopped the clock in 40.29.
Ciarán Nallon topped off a good week in Germany when galloping to success to the two-star Grand Prix of Riesenbeck on Sunday.
Nallon had been in good form all week, with two podium finishes including one with Megalon K, which clearly brought the nine-year-old mare nicely to the boil for the feature.
It was a tremendous show overall for the Irish, and James Connors Smyth and Páraic Kenny, a winner earlier in the week, completed the top five, just outside the podium positions, riding Dia Chapila Ps and Ganele De Rie Z respectively.
Seven combinations took part in the tiebreaker, including the three Irish. Four went double clear, with Kenny and his nine-year-old stallion the quickest of the four-faulters, dropping one rail in a time of 38.35.
Waterford athlete, Connors Smyth and his partner, also nine and from the same Beerbaum Stables that Megalon K represents, opted for safety first in getting around without a jumping blemish but there was no caution about Mayo native Nallon, who went out all guns blazing to stop the clock in 37.59 and claim the spoils.
Earlier in the week, Kenny and Chacoon Cherry Ps were resounding winners of the 1.45m speed class, clocking 70.20 and clear to prevail by more than two and a half seconds. He was joined on the podium by Nallon, who was third with Babuschka Dree Boeken and it was the Mayo athlete’s second third-place return of the week, as he had partnered nine-year-old mare Megalon K to be a major ribbon earlier in the week.
On Friday, Max Wachman missed out narrowly on a big win at the three-star Le Touquet Classic, guiding Kannem J.A. Z to second in the Priz Laboratoire LPC.
The Tipperary rider and his 11-year-old stallion were one of seven double clears in the 1.50m class and posted a very competitive time of 44.34 seconds in the tiebreaker. That was just a tenth of a second shy of that set by Brazilian Pedro Junqueira Muylaert and Captain Ciwano.
Cian O’Connor did qualify for the deciding round with Gospel Tame but Kildare-born, Meath-based athlete decided that his 10-year-old stallion had done enough for the day and took no part in the exciting denouement in the Terrain d’honneur.
On Sunday, it was the younger Wachman sibling Tom on the podium, in the week’s concluding Grand Prix de la Ville du Touquet-Paris Plage with Do It Easy (below).
The 1.50m competition attracted 60 entries, and 18 of those navigated the opening test, although with Karl Cook withdrawing Caracole de la Roque, that left 17 bound for the jump-off.
The added time pressure drew nine casualties but it’s a testament to Wachman and his 13-year-old gelding that despite there still being eight double clears and with the likes of Marcus Ehning (GER) and Nina Mallevaey (FRA) among them, they were still quick enough with a time of 39.56 for the bronze ribbon.
Belgium’s Robin Van Thillo recorded the biggest victory of his career with My Jewel’s Magic Touch (38.96), while World No 6 Mallevaey and Destine To Be, the last combination into the arena, nipped ahead of the Irish contenders by just 0.16 of a second to snatch the runner-up berth.
There was five-star action this week in Italy at the Longines Versilia Horse Show in Lido di Camaiore. Another son of Tipperary, Shane Breen and his lovable, homebred gelding Scarteen, were in a cohort of eight flawless rounds in the Longines Stakes, a 1.50m winning round Grand Prix qualifier, and their time of 42.90 earned them sixth-place prize money behind Jérôme Guery (BEL) with Killer Queen.