Lynch adds to spoils with five-star triumph in Hamburg

Denis Lynch and Cornets Iberio (Sportfot)

Butler, Pender, Howley and Breen brothers also star

Denis Lynch has been on the crest of a wave in recent weeks, in and out of the arena, and he continued his remarkable trend with a five-star triumph at Hamburg today.

It was a magnificent day for Irish riders at the German event after a good start yesterday, with Mikey Pender recording a fourth-place finish in another five-star class, while Alex Butler claimed the honours in a four-star competition that concluded with Diarmuid Howley standing on the bottom step of the podium.

Just three days after selling his stallion, Dark Chocolate at auction for €2.3m to a student of Cian O’Connor’s, Lynch reminded us that he has a considerable depth of talent at his disposal by taking the spoils in the 1.50m class against the clock with an inch-perfect piece of navigation on 12-year-old Cornets Iberio, an imperious grey owned by Sebastien Schatzmann.

The Tipperary man had had to sit and suffer, having set his clear round over 14 jumping efforts in a time of 64.50 seconds when just 11th into the arena.

Hans-Thorben Rüder and Singu were last of the 53-strong field to have a stab at taking the Longines world-ranked No 37 rider down and they gave it a better go than anyone else, but had to settle for runner-up, 0.65 seconds in arrears.

This comes less than four weeks after Lynch scored a five-star double on the Longines Global Champions Tour in Mexico City, with Cordial and Brooklyn Heights, confirming that Lynch, who celebrated his 48^th birthday last week, has considerable artillery to utilise at elite level.

Later on, Pender finished fourth in the €80,500 five-star Grand Prix Qualifier. Riding the Irish Sport Horse HHS Los Angeles, bred by Marion Hughes, the Kilkenny native posted one of the 18 clear rounds in the 1.55m class.

The pair really turned on the after-burners in the jump-off however, ensuring a strong finish even with one rail down, the time of 50.29 giving them a prominent place on the final ranking.

The evening ended with Butler victorious in a four-star 1.45m speed class on Espoir de la Loisne. The Meath man and his Milestone Farm-owned ten-year-old partner were 21^st into the arena, posting a flawless round in a time of 65.79 seconds that that edged him just ahead of early pace-setter, Marvin Jüngel (GER), riding DSP Kontendra S.

Howley followed his Irish compatriot into the ring and clearly took some inspiration from Butler’s efforts, the Enniscrone pilot zipping around on Coden VA clear and in a time of 71.14 to bag third.

This Irish success came after Shane Breen and Z7 Zurich won the four-star Derby Qualifier yesterday, obliterating the field by traversing the 1.45m track without a fault and in a scarcely credible time that was 5.91 seconds faster than their nearest challengers, 69-year-old Karl-Heinz Markus (GER) and Fiona.

Winners in Sharjah in February, Tipperary native Breen and the 16-year-old owned by Breen Equestrian, Jos Lansink Horses & K stopped the clock at 72.12 to bag first prize.

It was a good class too for Stephan Dubsky, who finished fifth on his own 10-year-old C The Stars.

Later on yesterday, Breen’s brother Trevor placed third in the opening five-star class at the show with Highland President, less than a second and a half behind the German victor, Rene Dittmer, riding Corsica.

BREEDING

HHS Los Angeles (ISH) – 2014 mare by Le Roi (ZDP) out of China Cavalier (ISH) by Cavalier Royale (HOLST). Breeder: Marion Hughes. Owner: Bravo Hughes Ltd. Rider: Michael Pender (IRL).