Twomey maintains top form with fifth place in Stuttgart World Cup class

CORK’S Billy Twomey continued his return to top form on Sue Davies’s mare Tinka’s Serenade today (Sunday) with a fifth place in the German Longines World Cup class at Stuttgart.

The 36 year-old was one of just nine through to the jump-off from a starting field of 39, and though returning another zero score in his second round, finished two seconds off the pace of German winner Hans-Dieter Dreher and Embassy II, who took home a Mercedes ML 350 D Off-Roader as a reward for his victory.

Twomey nevertheless collected a 10,000 euro cheque for his fifth place on the 16 year-old chestnut mare.

The Cork rider is now 19th in the 2013/2014 Longines World Cup standings after its fourth leg at Stuttgart, with fellow-countryman Shane Breen in 14th. The table is headed by Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat, who finished as runner-up in Germany today.

Ireland’s other competitor in today’s World Cup qualifier, Denis Lynch, had two fences down in the first round with Abbervail van het Dingeshof and did not qualify for the jump-off.