Teenager Allen snatches World Cup trophy at Verona

N HIS first-ever appearance at an FEI World Cup show, 19 year-old Irish rider Bertram Allen won the Longines World Cup Grand Prix this afternoon (Sunday) at Verona in Italy.

Up against 35 of the world’s best combinations, Allen and the ten year-old mare Molly Malone V were one of the ten through to the jump-off at the five-star show.

Second-last to jump, Allen sensationally shaved three quarters of a second off the time of Dutch leader Maikel van der Vleuten and VDL Groep Verdi TN N.O.P. to win the 43,750 euro first prize and rack up his first 20 World Cup points.

Speaking afterwards, Wexford-born Allen said of his mare, owned by Ballywalter Farms: “She’s fast and careful. This is a great horse and I’m very lucky to have her.”

Allen, who had a stellar career yielding multiple European medals at Pony and Junior level, is now ranked as one of the world’s top 20 international senior riders.

In Munich, Germany, meanwhile, Ireland’s Denis Lynch took second place in the three-star Grand Prix with his new horse Quote Zavaan, just under two seconds off the pace of British winner John Whitaker and Argento.

Bertram Allen