Lennon and O’Shea rack up two more Irish wins at Discover Ireland Dublin Horse Show

COUNTY Down’s Dermott Lennon and Limerick’s Paul O’Shea kept the Irish flag flying on the second day (Thursday) of the Discover Ireland Dublin Horse Show with two wins out of three competitions.

Piloting his own 13 year-old gelding Vampire, Lennon opened up a two second lead over his nearest challenger, Cork’s Billy Twomey on the Irish Sport Horse Ardcolum Duke, to claim the 6,600 euro winner’s prize purse in the Speed Derby.

This was Lennon’s second victory in two days at the Dublin show, having also won Thursday’s Sport Council Classic with Judith Sossick’s Irish Sport Horse mare Loughview Lou Lou.

Paul O’Shea finished today’s action in the main arena with a win in the Anglesea Stakes, a Winning Round class that attracted 47 entries and saw three Irish combinations finish in the top five.

Aside from O’Shea’s 8,000 euro win with the eight year-old gelding Skara Glen’s Machu Picchu, Tipperary’s Denis Lynch claimed third place on Abbervail van Het Dingeshof, while Offaly’s Darragh Kenny took fourth on the French-bred Picolo.

Ireland failed to make it a hat trick of wins today when a remarkable performance by Italy’s Emanuele Gaudiano and the bay mare Cocoshynsky relegated two of Ireland’s top riders into second and third places in the Serpentine Speed Stakes.

Speed expert Bertram Allen with Quiet Easy was for once outpaced, witnessing the Italian chop a substantial four-and-a-half seconds off his time, while the following Irish rider, Olympic Bronze medallist Cian O’Connor with his new grey gelding Coco II, was also unable to match Gaudiano’s pace.

Allen eventually settled for second, while O’Connor finished third. Co. Down’s Conor Swail also made it into the top five with Viva Colombia.

Dermott Lennon and Vampire.