Allen delivers five-star showing in victory as three Irish make jump-off
Bertram Allen was victorious in Saturday night’s Lugano Diamonds 5-Star Grand Prix at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida. Photo: Cody Glenn/Sportsfile
Bertram Allen posted a sparkling victory in Saturday night’s $401,000 Lugano Diamonds 5-Star Grand Prix at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida riding the Irish-bred Pacino Amiro.
From a star-studded 40-strong starting field, just five horse-and-rider combinations qualified for the second-round jump-off. And in keeping with the consistently strong performances being produced at the 12-week tournament, three of them were Irish. First to go against the clock was Lorcan Gallagher riding VDL Cartello, but the 29-year-old from Down left the door open with a fence down in 38.47 seconds.
Next in, Allen and Aidan McGrory’s nine-year-old gelding made no mistake when scorching through the timers clear and, more than three seconds quicker when breaking the beam in 35.32 seconds, they couldn’t be caught.
It was Derry’s Daniel Coyle who clinched runner-up spot with the 11-year-old mare Legacy, who crossed the line in 37.11 seconds, while Canada’s Mario Deslauriers and Bardolina finished third, Germany’s Daniel Deusser and Killer Queen took fourth and Gallagher slotted into fifth place.
Allen has been building up a strong team of new horses and Pacino Amiro has taken it all in his stride when asked to step into the limelight in recent weeks.
The horse made his 5-Star Grand Prix debut in Wellington two weeks ago and placed sixth that night while Cork’s Shane Sweetnam and Alejandro reigned supreme. So 25-year-old Allen was delighted when he turned up the pressure on Saturday. The gelding rose effortlessly to the challenge with a brilliant turn of foot under the floodlights.
The Wexford-born showjumper is on a roll after producing two wins with his brand new ride, Castlefield Vegas, the previous weekend. He steered the 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse to top the 3-Star Grand Prix qualifier, and the pair saw off 17 other combinations in the second-round jump-off to scoop the honours in the $137,000 IDA Grand Prix two days later.
Meanwhile, at the Sunshine Tour in Vejar de la Frontera in Spain yesterday, Mayo’s Michael G Duffy and the 13-year-old Irish-bred Lappuccino, owned by Carl Hanley Sport Horses, won the 3-Star Grand Prix ahead of Great Britain’s Joe Stockdale riding Equine America Cacharel. Long-time World No 1, Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat, slotted into third with Albfuehren’s Maddox.
