Allen in the money

FRESH from picking up his third Irish Field Senior Show Jumper of the Year award last Monday, Wexford’s Bertram Allen got into the prizes at the rich Hong Kong Masters five-star event last weekend.

In the Longines Speed Challenge, Allen recorded the fastest time of the competition of 65.79 seconds on Quiet Easy but a single fence dropped him back to third behind Germany’s Daniel Deusser who won it in a time of 67.01.

Allen did not make the cut for the Longines Grand Prix which was won by Germany’s Christian Ahlmann on Caribis Z by Caritano.

Swail close in Grand Prix

County Down’s Conor Swail was fifth in the $350,000 Winter Festival Grand Prix at Wellington, Florida, USA, on the 11-year-old stallion Rubens La Silla. An 11-horse jump-off was won by USA’s Kent Farrington on his Gold Cup-winning mare Gazelle, by Kashmir van Schuttershof out of an Indoctro dam.

Industry awards

The inaugural Irish Sport Horse Industry Awards will take place on Saturday, April 22nd, at the Radisson Blu St Helens Hotel in Stillorgan, Co Dublin.

The brainchild of Liam Geddes of Ireland’s Horse Review, the awards aim to celebrate the achievements individuals, organisations and companies who contribute to Ireland’s €700m sport horse industry.

Some 15 awards will be presented with each category judged by an independent panel and the night will be hosted by hunting enthusiast Gavin Duffy, of RTE’s popular Dragons Den.

The public can nominate their candidates by submission and must say why they are doing so in 200 words or less. For more information see the ‘Irish Sport Horse Industry Awards 2017’ Facebook page.

HSI conference

HORSE Sport Ireland are hosting an International Marketing Symposium on Thursday, 9 March at the Hodson Bay Hotel, Athlone. All are welcome. Admission by pre-register is €45 with discounts available for groups and early booking by 28th February.

Topics include digital marketing, equestrian sport technology, equine tourism, breeding for a specific market, marketing products, marketing for the global market. HSI’s international marketing director, Elaine Hatton, will open the conference and the sessions are entitled, “Moving our industry forward through marketing” and “Reaching the global market place”.