Two Seconds for Ireland in Italian qualifiers

IRISH riders have come within fractions of a second of winning two Grand Prix qualifiers at the three-star show in Parma Fiera, Italy, this weekend.

Meanwhile in Doha, Qatar, Tipperary’s Denis Lynch finished 13th in the final of the Global Champions’ Tour despite posting the fastest zero score in the opening round.

At Parma Fiera, Mayo’s Cameron Hanley and Antello Z tonight (Saturday) needed to better Switzerland’s Janika Sprunger’s time of 31.15 with JL’s Komparse in the 16 horse jump-off, but failed by just three-hundredths of a second, settling for the runner-up spot.

On Friday night, Meath’s Cian O’Connor and Carolus Z were outpaced by just under half a second in a similar qualifier, yielding first place to Italy’s Lorenzo de Luca and Elky van het Indihof.

O’Connor and Hanley, who are joined at the Italian venue by Bertram Allen, Alex Duffy and Jessica Kurten, will both be hoping for first place in Sunday afternoon’s Parma Grand Prix, where 60,000 euro is up for grabs in prize money.

Meanwhile at Doha, Denis Lynch’s very promising start in the last of this season’s Grands Prix in the Longines Global Champions Tour series came adrift in the second round, where he picked up eight faults with All Star 5.

Britain’s Scott Brash took victory with Hello Sanctos in the three horse jump-off, and also clinched the series title and the 294,000 euro prize that went with it.

Lynch’s 13th place, however, hoisted him three places to 18th in the series leaderboard, with a 7,000 euro prize.