The Irish riders made an excellent start to the 2018 Stena Line Dublin Horse Show – winning all three international competitions on the opening day at the RDS in Ballsbridge.

The feature Sport Ireland Classic saw Darragh Kenny come out on top with Balou Du Reventon (Cornet Obolensky x Continue). They were among a massive 19 combinations who jumped clear in the opening round and took the winners prize with a clear in 35.83 seconds in the jump-off. Mark McAuley finished as runner-up with Miebello (Flyinge Quite Easy 958 x Cardento 933) in 36.46 seconds, ahead of Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat in third with Hannah (Dulf van den Bisschop x Kashmir van Schuttershof) in 37.11.

Along with his win in the Sport Ireland Classic, Darragh Kenny also chawked up two runner-up finishes, including in the 1m45 Minerva Stakes By Dublin Airport Central, where Billy Twomey collected the winners prize. Twomey and the Irish Sport Horse Ardcolum Duke (Gypsy Duke x Clover Hill) finished half-a-second ahead of Kenny in second with Cassini Z (Cassini II x Capone), while Britain’s Harriet Nuttall came home in third with Silver Lift (Easy Lift x Silver Cloud).

Daniel Coyle got Ireland off to the perfect start in the opening Alpes D’or 1m45 speed class, when he partnered Tienna (For Pleasure x Polydox) to a clear round in 51.48 to take the top prize of €7,425. Irish riders filled all of the top seven places, with Darragh Kenny finishing second with Billy Manjaro (Animo x Cevin Z) in 51.82 seconds and Bertram Allen third with Calafrieda (Canto 16 x Lavall 5) in 52.21. The top six also included Cameron Hanley, Clem McMahon and Capt Geoff Curran.