World of Showjumping
World of ShowjumpingWorld of Showjumping
Menu

Denis Lynch drives home in a brand new car after winning Land Rover Masters

Monday, 28 December 2015
CSI5*-W Mechelen 2015

Denis Lynch won the Land Rover Masters in Mechelen aboard Songe de Toscane. Photo (c) Dirk Caremans/www.hippofoto.be.
Denis Lynch won the Land Rover Masters in Mechelen aboard Songe de Toscane. Photo (c) Dirk Caremans/www.hippofoto.be.

Irish showjumper Denis Lynch rode the 9-year-old Songe de Toscane to victory in Sunday’s Land Rover Masters at Jumping Mechelen. Lynch and the son of Indoctro cleared every round of the Masters, and produced the only clear round in the fourth jump-off – finishing on 38.51. Christian Ahlmann, winner of the Stallion Competition earlier in the day, appeared to be able to claim the victory in the Land Rover Masters too – but the stallion Cornado II had an unlucky rail on the penultimate vertical.

Ten competitors gave it a try in the Land Rover Masters. Reigning Olympic champion Steve Guerdat immediately got one rail down on Concetto Son (Concetto x Drosselklang) in the first round, while reigning European silver medalist Gregory Wathelet and his relatively new mount Citizenguard Taalex (Tangelo van de Zuuthoeve x Alexis Z) made a mistake in the first jump-off of the Land Rover Masters.

The second jump-off took its toll on most of the riders. Belgium’s favorite for the victory – Jos Verlooy – and his multiple Puissance winner Sunshine (Diamant de Semilly x Hardi) got an early rail on the first fence, while his trainer and colleague at EuroHorse Harrie Smolders and Copernicus Stables’ Apollonia (Bogegardens Apollo x Bogegardens Capello) also missed out on qualification for the next round. The Belgian showjumping stars Pieter Devos and Olivier Philippaerts got both a rail down in the second jump-off, as well as Sweden’s Henrik von Eckermann.

Jérôme Guery was Belgium’s only hope in the fourth jump-off, after Guery, Denis Lynch and Christian Ahlmann left all the fences up in the third round. Guery and the 9-year-old chestnut Grand Cru van de Rozenberg (Malito de Rêves x Heartbreaker) produced an outstanding jump-off, but took all the risk at the final triple bar, which cost them four penalties. Ireland’s speed specialist Denis Lynch took his chances with the French bred Songe de Toscane (Indoctro x Quick Star) and produced a phenomenal clear round in 38.51 seconds. This result did not seem unbeatable to Christian Ahlmann, who gave everything from start to finish on Cornado II (Cornet Obolensky x Acobat I), stopping the clock at 38.42. But an unfortunate fault on the penultimate vertical put Ahlmann and Cornado II back to the runner-up position. 


Text © World of Showjumping by Peter van der Waaij// Pictures © Dirk Caremans/www.hippofoto.be.



This photo has been added to your cart !

Your shopping cart »
This website is using cookies for statistics, site optimization and retargeting purposes. You consent to our cookies if you continue to use this website. Read more here.