Source:  News Release/Colin McClelland

LYNCH FINISHES NINTH IN SWISS GRAND PRIX

IN one of the more unusual World Cup competitions in the present series, Ireland's Denis Lynch claimed ninth place at the Rolex Grand Prix in Geneva, Switzerland this afternoon (Sunday), piloting Thomas Straumann's gelding Lantinus.

The first round yielded an almost unprecedented 16 clear rounds from a starting field of 40, but Tipperary-born Lynch was the only Irish rider to make the cut, Jessica Kurten having picked up 13 faults with Vincente and Niall Talbot and Nicos de la Cense faulting once.

Lynch jumped a third of the way through the field in the second round, and briefly held the lead, but a succession of faster rounds from some of the world's top combinations eventually relegated him to ninth and a 3,800 euro prize.

With almost every rider bettering the time of the previous competitor it came as little surprise when last-man-in, Brazil's Alvaro Miranda, took the trophy and the 42,000 euro first prize with the grey gelding AD Ashleigh Drossel Dan in an unbeatable time of 41.72 seconds.

Check the HSI website www.horsesportireland.ie