World Cup podium finish for Cian O’Connor and Good Luck after thriller in Stuttgart

A magnificent performance from Ireland’s Cian O’Connor and Good Luck, saw them take third place on the podium after a thrilling fifth round of the Longines World Cup series at Stuttgart in Germany today (Sunday).

Cian O’Connor & Good Luck who finished third in the Stuttgart World Cup

A massive 19 horses and riders managed to jump clear in the opening round to set up a hugely competitive jump-off. O’Connor and Good Luck set the competition alight when fourth to go against the clock, with a brilliant second clear in 45.03 seconds. The 10-year-old stallion Good Luck, owned by Adena Springs & Ronnoco Jump Ltd, never looked like touching a pole and O’Connor made full use of the stallion’s huge stride, posting a time that put huge pressure on those who followed.

The reigning World Cup champion Steve Guerdat (SUI) eventually shaved eight hundredths of a second off O’Connors target to take the lead with Bianca, an exciting 10-year-old mare who was bred by Swiss-based Irish Show Jumper John Hickey.

Germany’s Christian Ahlmann then had the home crowd on their feet after a stunning round aboard the hugely experienced Taloubet Z. They broke the beam clear in 42.85 seconds to score a World Cup win in Stuttgart for the second year in a row.
Ahlmann drove away in a brand new Mercedes-Benz car after his victory, with Guerdat collecting almost €30,000 while Cian O’Connor pocketed more than €22,000 for his third place finish.

Speaking afterwards O’Connor said:

“I couldn’t be happier with Good Luck. He has jumped in two World Cups so far and was clear and 4 in Oslo and double clear placing third here. He’s getting faster and more agile all the time which the results are starting to show.”

Wexford’s Bertram Allen also made it into the jump-off in Stuttgart with Hector van d’Abdijhoeve and eventually finished in 16th place. Twenty-four hours earlier, Allen was at his brilliant best when taking victory in Saturday’s Prize of GEZE with the grey stallion Dino W.

The Stuttgart World Cup result moves O’Connor up to 10th place on the Longines leaderboard on 21 points, one place ahead of Shane Breen on 20 as the series moves to Madrid in Spain next weekend for the sixth round of action.