Irish horses and riders triumphed under the shadow of the Eifel Tower on Saturday in Paris in the five-star Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix on Saturday.

Bertram Allen and his grey mare Molly Malone were first of the 11 combinations in the jump-off. They went clear and set the time to beat of 36.86.

Egyptain rider Sameh El Dahan and Suma’s Zorro were drawn second last to go in the jump-off. The pair managed beat Allen’s time by less than half a second, taking first place and leaving the Irish rider in second place.

Horse Sport Ireland CEO Ronan Murphy commented: “This is another fantastic result for Irish breeding, Irish owners and Irish riders at the very top level of the sport.”

“I want to congratulate the breeders of Suma’s Zorro – Marily Power and Susan Lanigan-O Keeffe from Suma Stud in Kilkenny. It was a brilliant result for the mare’s owner Joanne Sloan-Allen and rider Sameh El Dahan.”

“With Bertram Allen and Molly Malone finishing second, it was a memorable night for Irish connections at such an iconic venue as Paris.”

Canadian success

Conor Swail sailed to victory in Friday night’s 1.50m Pepsi Challenge at Spruce Meadows five-star show. Swail came out on top with the 10-year-old gelding GK Coco Chanel, who is owned by Vanessa Mannix.

Six of the 25 starters jumped clear in the first round. Swail finished comfortably in the lead, 1.3 seconds ahead of both John Perez (COL) and Patricio Pasquel (MEX) who shared second place.

“He (GK Coco Chanel) likes coming here (Spruce Meadows) and every time he comes he grows up a little bit. I just had to be patient and the win would come,” commented Swail on his horse’s consistent results throughout the 2018 Spruce Meadows Summer Series.