IN HIS first-ever appearance at an FEI World Cup show, 19 year-old Irish rider Bertram Allen won the World Cup Grand Prix this afternoon (Sunday) at Verona.
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.”
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.
This information will also be available on HSI website www,horsesportireland.ie
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Colin McClelland
Press Officer
HORSE SPORT IRELAND