The Wexford rider and his bay mare were best of the 17 combinations to win the Paul Darragh Trophy in a time of 81.95 seconds to claim the €8,646 first prize.

Irish rider claimed the top four spots in the class, with Shane Breen and Z7 Ipswich, the long time leaders, taking the runner-up spot in 83.67 seconds.

Next best was Jack Ryan and the Irish Sport Horse mare Cavalier Teaca, stopping the clock in 85.30 seconds.

Mikey Pender, a winner in the Main Arena on the opening day of this year’s show, rounded out the top four with HHS Vancouver, clocking 86.21 seconds.

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Bertram Allen, Shane Sweetnam and Alexander Butler, all recent winners of the competition, will bid to join American rider McLain Ward as the only repeat winner of the class, having won it in 2019 and 2013.

It was in 2018 that an Irish rider last won, when Kanturk’s Shane Sweetnam and Indra van de Oude Heiheof took the win by just 0.59 seconds.

With Irish riders having taken victory on only four occasions from 2011, both Daniel Coyle with Legacy and Bertram Allen and Pacino Amiro will be be among the favourites to increase that winning number. They will be ably supported in the quest for an Irish win by Michael Duffy and Zilton SL Z and Trevor Breen and Highland President.

Statistical information kindly provided by Equiratings.

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One of only four riders to jump clear in the opening round, Sweetnam jumped another clear round in the jump-off in a time of 43.85 seconds, partnering his Aga Khan winning mount James Kann Cruz, an Irish Sport Horse owned by Gizmo Partners LLC.

Israel’s Daniel Bluman riding Ladriano Z won the class, finishing narrowly ahead of Sweetnam in a time of 43.24 seconds. American rider Karl Cook and Kalinka Van’t Zorgvliet finished third.

Earlier this week Sweetnam won the 1.45m ranking class on Friday evening with 14-year-old gelding Alejandro.

Wexford native Bertram Allen had a double. Allen won the 1.45m ranking class with the 9-year-old gelding Edison De Hus, owned by Ballywalter Stables and Maximillan Lill, on Wednesday and the 1.55m ranking class with his Tokyo Olympic and World Championship mount, the Irish Sport Horse Pacino Amiro, owned by Aiden McGrory, on Thursday.

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Ireland climbed from overnight ninth place to finish fourth overall and take one of the five Olympic places on offer – and at the finish, missed out on the bronze medal by just one penalty.

Just the top 10 teams from the 22 that started the week made it through to the final under floodlights. Ireland starting in ninth place overall, carrying forward a score of 17.15 penalties from the first two rounds held on Wednesday and Thursday.

Tipperary’s Denis Lynch was first to jump with his Rome Grand Prix winner Brooklyn Heights. The World No.25 produced an excellent round, jumping clear over the fences, picking up just one time fault over what was proving a very difficult course.

Wexford’s Bertram Allen then gave Ireland another boost when he jumped an outstanding clear round with The Irish Sport Horse Pacino Amiro. Those rounds from Lynch and Allen moved Ireland up five places to fourth with two riders left to jump for each of the 10 teams.

Third to go for Ireland, Meath’s Cian O’Connor and C Vier 2 were clear until the penultimate combination where they had one fence down and picked up one time fault for a five fault score. That score from O’Connor would prove crucial.

Derry’s Daniel Coyle had a couple of fences down with Legacy, after which Coyle decided to retire knowing he couldn’t improve Ireland’s score.

Sweden claimed a well-deserved team gold medal after finishing on a score of just 7.69. Netherlands took silver on 19.31 while Britain just pipped Ireland for bronze on 22.66 seconds.

Ireland in fourth had a final score of 23.15, while Germany took the last Olympic qualifying place on a score of 24.76.

Irish team manager Michael Blake said:

“Obviously we are delighted to take an Olympic qualification place at the very first opportunity as it now gives us two full years to prepare for the Games. It is slightly bittersweet as we came so close to winning a medal.

Horse Sport Ireland CEO Denis Duggan added:

“Huge congratulations to Michael Blake and his team on a fantastic performance at the World Championships and in gaining Olympic qualification. To qualify here at the very first opportunity against all of the top teams in the world, is hugely significant, as it gives us as much time as possible to prepare for Paris.”

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The Aga Khan, which takes place on Friday, 9 August 2022, will be Ireland’s fourth and final points-scoring round of the 2022 season in Europe Division 1.

The competition will be broadcast live as part of RTÉ Sport’s coverage of the Dublin Horse Show at the RDS, which runs from August 17th to 21st.

The Irish squad members are as follows:

Wexford’s Bertram Allen
Meath’s Cian O’Connor
Down’s Conor Swail
Cork’s Shane Sweetnam
Tipperary’s Max Wachman

Irish showjumping team manager Michael Blake said:

“We are very much looking forward to the Aga Khan, it is always a very important and special Nations Cup for us, even more so this year as we have missed Dublin Horse Show due to Covid for the last two years. It is always a huge privilege to compete on home soil and I’m very optimistic of a good result with what I believe is a very strong squad.”

Following the Longines FEI Nations Cup of Ireland at the Dublin Horse Show, the top seven teams on the league table will qualify for the Nations Cup final in Barcelona.

The teams who finish in eighth, ninth and tenth places on the table will be relegated to the EEF Series for 2023.

Five teams, (France, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland) will compete for Nations Cup points in Dublin. The USA and Brazil will also compete in Dublin but will not be eligible for points.

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With the Olympic Stadium packed to the rafters, the Irish rider defeated Daniel Deusser on Jasmien vd Bisschop to take the win by just 0.04 seconds. Local hero Peder Fredricson finished the podium off to take bronze on Catch Me Not S.

“A thrilling jump-off”

Wexford rider Bertram Allen told GCTV after his winning round:

“All the riders have been talking about it all week, how the atmosphere here is literally one of the best shows all year for that. I was very motivated for today and I wanted to make the most of it.”

“It was definitely a thrilling jump-off, it was fast and with Daniel and Peder both having good rounds I knew I had to take a lot of risks. My horse jumped fantastic today so it was nice to come out on top.”

There was disappointment for many of the top riders as poles fell all around the course, especially for Sweden’s Henrik von Eckermann who has been placed first or second in every other CSI5* class this weekend but a fast four faults still put him in the top ten with Glamour Girl.

Nine combinations qualified for the jump-off

It was a fast and furious 9 rider jump-off with Petronella Andersson and Cassina Z the first combination to return to the ring. Unfortunately, the pressure got to them and two down kept them out of contention for the win.

Jérôme Guery was the first to go clear with his relatively new ride Azaria Dinero. They threw down the gauntlet to the rest of the field stopping the clock in 36.38 seconds although he didn’t take out a stride in the first line so left room for improvement.

Germany’s Marcus Ehning and Priam du Roset opted to go very tight in the roll back that proved a little too much as he had to pull out, adding four faults to his score.

American Georgina Bloomberg with Tulara Colmine put in a top effort with a smooth and effortless double clear just off the time to beat but good enough for a top 5 finish.

Both Marlon Modolo Zanotelli on Luigi d’Eclipse and Michael G Duffy with Clitschko had a rail down and were forced to settle for a placing outside the top 5.

Daniel Deusser and Jasmien vd Bisschop made an amazing rollback to the penultimate fence, risking it all the pair had full trust in each other and managed to pull it off stopping the timers at 35.96 seconds, a time that for a while looked unbeatable.

Winner of this class in 2019 Peder Fredricson wanted to make it a home win on the final day of action onboard Catch Me Not S. They gave it everything fully determined but couldn’t quite match the pace of the speedy German falling just behind him in 36.38 seconds.

Bertram Allen and the huge-striding Pacino Amiro then powered around the course and were exactly level with Daniel at the halfway stage. They sprinted down the final line and took an angle to the last, shaving milliseconds off the time to take the win in 35.92 seconds

The Longines Global Champions Tour head to Paris for round 9 of the Championship from 24 – 26 June.

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The Tipperary rider has enjoyed an excellent run of results in recent months with his top string of horses which includes Cristello, GC Chopin’s Bushi and Rubens LS La Silla. He has climbed seven places on the rankings this month alone.

Offaly’s Darragh Kenny continues his long run inside the top 10 and is now at No.10.

Ireland has no less than 12 riders inside the top 100.

Wexford’s Bertram Allen (No. 21) and Cork’s Shane Sweetnam (No.25) are in the top thirty.

Kildare’s Mikey Pender has made a big jump of 20 places and is now at No.55.

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The line between success and failure in elite sport is thin and today Ireland had no luck.

After impressive displays in the jumping individual round, Team Ireland were confident of scoring high to reach the final tomorrow.

Team Ireland would be made up of Darragh Kenny, Bertram Allen and replacement Shane Sweetnam for the qualifiers.

The team would be without their highest scorer so far, Cian O’Connor on Kilkenny after the horse sustained a nose bleed in the individual event.

To read more about the thrilling individual event, see Olympic Equestrian Final: O’Connor misses final jump-off by 1 point.

Of the 19 teams in the qualifiers, only the top 10 would progress to the final tomorrow morning.

Best wishes to @TeamIreland @HorseSportIRL trio @dkenny08, @BertramAllen123 and Shane Sweetnam in tomorrow’s team qualifier where 20 teams line out and the best 10 go through to Saturday’s medal decider. We’re all right behind you.

pic.twitter.com/o4MwweKhn3

— Cian O'Connor (@Cian_O_Connor) August 5, 2021

Equestrian – Jumping Team Qualifier

Shane Sweetnam riding Alejandro was to be Ireland’s first rider in ninth position. He made a strong start showing good speed with his horse clearing the fences well.

The horse knocked a fence during a triple jump on five but tried to recover. At the sixth fence, everything began to go wrong.

Sweetnam and his horse knocked the sixth fence badly and in doing so, a shoe came off the horse. It is possible for a horse to complete the course without a shoe but Alejandro seemed uncomfortable and was now lacking confidence.

On the next fence, the horse jumped too high and landed back down on top of the poles. This caused his legs to buckle and he fell to his knees, knocking his rider off.

Luckily due to the safety measures in place, neither Sweetnam or Alejandro were injured by the fall but their routine was over.

The 40-year-old Sweetnam was clearly disappointed by what had happen. He knew that it left Ireland’s chances of qualification to the next round in tatters.

The new rules have it that any rider that is eliminated in a routine is awarded four more points than the worst score finishing score of the event.

Kenny and Allen would have needed perfect runs to have a chance of making the finals. After already competing twice in the individual event, the riders decided, in the interest of wellbeing for them and their horses, to retire from the competition.

#Equestrian

The Irish Show Jumping have withdrawn from the Team Qualifiers.

Our commiserations to all involved.#Tokyo2020 #IRL @HorseSportIRL pic.twitter.com/HKt3dAeU1H

— Team Ireland (@TeamIreland) August 6, 2021

This puts a damp mood on what has been a very decent Olympics for Ireland’s equestrian team.

Fans and athlete’s alike will now look to the marathons, the men’s modern pentathlon, Stephanie Meadow’s in golf and Kellie Harrington in boxing for our last chances at silverware in Tokyo.

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This is the first time that three Irish riders have made an individual final; Darragh Kenny riding Cartello, Bertram Allen on Pacino Amiro and Olympic bronze medallist Cian O’Connor on Kilkenny.

Kenny and Allen finished in the top seven fastest times in the qualifiers but all three riders have shown their capabilities of finishing on the podium.

To read more about the excellent qualifying performances by the Irish, click here.

The horses will have to do 14 sets of jumps including some triple fences and a 4m jump over water. They will have 88 seconds to finish the course with a four point penalty for any knocked fences and 1 points for every second over.

#Equestrian

The Show Jumping Individual Final gets underway & we’ve three Irish riders in the line up! Start order below

6. Cian O’Connor & Kilkenny (ISH)
25. Bertram Allen & Pacino Amiro (ISH)
29. Darragh Kenny & VDL Cartello

Best of luck! #TeamIreland #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/aPD0fTGEaN

— Team Ireland (@TeamIreland) August 4, 2021

Equestrian – Jumping Individual Final

Cian O’Connor was the sixth rider up and Ireland’s first. Riding Kilkenny, he came in after watching many penalties and two retired horse before him.

He started brilliantly, clearing every fence up until the water with ease. This continued with his experience and class shown throughout the course guiding Kilkenny home in 88.45 seconds.

He received no faults but will be disappointed to get one single time penalty. With this high, challenging track it was first after seven horses.

O’Connor and Kilkenny were finally knocked out of the podium positions by the 15th rider. He eventually finished the event in an impressive joint seventh place.

WOW WOW WOW @Cian_O_Connor CLEAR ROUND in individual final. Just one time fault. Superb horsemanship & wonderful Irish bred horse, Kilkenny. Now we wait! pic.twitter.com/IWYM5fVrNL

— Lucinda Creighton (@LCreighton) August 4, 2021

A while later and Allen was up 25th riding Pacino Amiro. He made a quick start showing good space over each obstacle until 6A where a wobble lead to the horse knocking a fence.

He evened himself out again but knew that the medal was now out of his grasp, he knocked over one more fence at 12 before finishing.

Allen and Pacino Amiro finished the event in 15th in a time of 84.64.

#Equestrian

Bertram Allen & Pacino Amiro (ISH) finish with two poles on the floor in a time of 84.64#TeamIreland #Tokyo2020 #IRL #EquestrianJumping @HorseSportIRL pic.twitter.com/UEuLbz29dI

— Team Ireland (@TeamIreland) August 4, 2021

The penultimate rider of the event was Ireland’s Kenny on Cartello. The world number nine started very well, casually jumping the early fences. All was going great until a double fence caught the horse off guard and a plank was knocked.

The Irishman continued on and knocked one more fence on his way to finishing the course in 85.11 seconds. This gave him a final position of 17th in the event.

8pen for Darragh Kenny & Cartello…

Just @BenMaher1 to go….#Tokyo2020 #EquestrianJumping pic.twitter.com/6gKRlDtNdf

— The FEI (@FEI_Global) August 4, 2021

The final had to be decided with a six-way jump-off. Team GB’s Ben Maher on Explosion W got gold, while Peder Fredricson on All In came second and Maikel van der Vleuten on Beauville Z bronze.

Cormac Kenny from Kilkenny was the groom for the Dutch rider that came in third for another Irish contingent at the Games.

These three Irishmen and their horses are not finished with their chances of an Olympic medal and will take part in the team event on Friday morning.

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The pair will compete in the Dressage competition at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Sixty competitors that take part in the opening Grand Prix. The top 18 will qualify for the individual final on Wednesday, July 28th.

Eventing

The Irish Eventing team is Sam Watson, Cathal Daniels, Sarah Ennis and Austin O’Connor (reserve). They will get their Olympic campaign underway on Friday, July 30th, with the opening Dressage phase. Next, the Cross Country takes place on Sunday, August 1st. The Eventing team and individual Olympic medals will be decided after the jumping phase on Monday, August 2nd.

Showjumping

The Irish Show Jumping team arrive in Tokyo hoping to challenge for the team gold medal. The team of Bertram Allen, Darragh Kenny, Cian O’Connor and Shane Sweetnam (reserve) will first compete in the individual competition on Tuesday, August 3rd.

Thirty of the 75 starters are set to qualify for the individual final on Wednesday, August 4th. The first round of the Show Jumping team competition takes place on Friday, August 6th, with 10 of the 20 teams looking to book a place in the team final on Saturday, August 7th.

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