Lynch takes top spot in Land Rover Masters at Mechelen

TIPPERARY-born Denis Lynch will take home a brand new Land Rover Discovery Sport after winning the elite Land Rover Masters competition at the five-star show in Mechelen, Belgium tonight (Sunday).

With the competition limited to the top five Belgian riders and the top five of the world-ranked riders from other countries taking part at the show, the Masters sees each rider who enters the ring raise the height of a fence of his choice. But a single fault leads to elimination, so the class becomes a nail-biting affair after the first jump-off.

Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat was eliminated in the first round, Belgium’s Gregory Wathelet on the first jump-off, and a further five riders on the second jump-off.

This left the 39 year-old Irishman battling it out with Germany’s Christian Ahlmann on Cornado NRW and Belgium’s Jerome Guery and Grand cru van de Rozenberg for the top prize in the third and fourth jump-off.

Riding Dr. Martin Fromer’s nine year-old stallion Songe de Toscane, Lynch produced two faultless rounds to claim the Land Rover, with Ahlmann and Guery both incurring four faults on the final round of jumping.

Lynch said afterwards:  “I have been coming to Mechelen for a very long time, but this is the first occasion on which I’ve won a car. Despite the fact that Songe de Toscane is only nine years old we did our best, which proved good enough. If you can win a car, I go for it. I am very pleased with the performance of the horse. I’ve not been riding this stallion for very long and this is just about the toughest test he has experienced.”

Denis Lynch winning the Land Rover Masters at Mechelen tonight