Successful Olympia for Cian O'Connor

Ratoath-based Cian O'Connor enjoyed a successful outing at the showjumping at London Olympia last week. O'Connor won the opening competition on Thursday with Umberto. The duo fought off the opposition in the two-phase class to claim the trophy from John Whitaker. From a field of 37, the Meath rider set the target with a double-clear in 25.15 seconds, but Whitaker almost bettered that time when he recorded a round of 25.32 seconds. The Meath rider added the feature class to his tally on Saturday in a thrilling jump-off that featured 13 top international riders. Billy Twomey, who briefly held the lead in the final round, added to Irish dominance of the class by taking fourth place with Je t'Aime Flamenco'. However, O'Connor took the laurels. He was second last to jump with Splendor and cut almost a second off the time of Simon Delestre, whose performance up to that point had seemed fast enough to claim the trophy for France. Portugal's Luciana Diniz was the last rider into the arena, but one fence down incurred four faults and paved the way to victory for O'Connor. The Meath rider also took the runner-up position on Friday night in the Mistletoe Stakes with Umberto. The previous week, O'Connor was successful with Umberto at the Geneva Derby trophy in Switzerland. Splendor has already been sold to Egypt, but O'Connor retains the ride until after the Christmas period when he will travel to compete on the Gulf Tour. O'Connor has purchased the promising Larkhill Cruiser out of John Floody's stables as a replacement. Larkhill Cruiser won 14 competitions this season, mostly on the national circuit. Included were the Premier Series at Balmoral and the international Grand Prix at Tattersalls. Larkhill Cruiser is the only horse to have won both the Derby and the Grand Prix at Cavan.