Source:  News Release/Colin McClelland

LYNCH FINISHES SIXTH IN STUTTGART AFTER TOUGH WORLD CUP CLASS

 IRELAND'S Denis Lynch was one of just six through to the jump-off from a starting field of 39 in the World Cup Grand Prix at Stuttgart, Germany this evening (Sunday), but a single pole dislodged left him in sixth overall, with prize money of 8,000 euro.

A very tough five-star course led to eight top riders retiring without completing the first round, including Cork's Billy Twomey and the stallion Romanov, who bowed out after incurring eight faults, while Shane Breen and the Luidam mare Luikka had four faults and didn't make the cut for the final round.

In the smallest World Cup jump-off field seen this season, the half dozen qualifying riders went all-out for time against the clock following the opening clear round by Switzerland's 24 year-old Janika Sprunger and Uptown Boy, but Lynch's attempt on Thomas Straumann's Abbervail van het Dingeshof left one fence down and ruled him out of a top three place. 

Victory, and a Mercedes 4x4, went to the fastest double clear round of German rider Ludger Beerbaum and the mare Gotha FRH.

However, the 11 points gained today by the Tipperary rider hoist his World Cup points to a total of 34 and put him in fifth place overall in the FEI Western European League rankings, just eight points behind current leader Rolf-Goran Bengtsson from Sweden, who finished third at Stuttgart today.


This information will also be available on HSI website www.horsesportireland.ie