Irish showjumping sensation Bertram Allen had to settle for second place in the tenth leg of the Longines FEI World Cup Jumping series in Zurich, Switzerland.
Out-galloped
Bertram and his star mare Molly Malone were out-galloped by Spain’s Sergio Alvarez Moya and Carlo by one-tenth of a second.
Only seven combinations made it through to the jump-off out of 39 starters, and Bertram was the one to beat on time. Never one to hang about, he made a tight turn to the double and galloped home to record a fast clear in 39.48sec.
Sergio and Carlo have been off form in recent months, but they clearly meant business in Zurich and took a stride out to the last to clinch victory with a time of 39.39sec.
Not focused
“My head was not focused on the sport as much as it should have been, but that’s changed now and we are riding together again with great confidence,” said Sergio.
“When you don’t have good results you try to change things, and that isn’t always the right thing to do, so we went back to our olds ways and now we are jumping really well together again.”
Fantastic mare
Bertram was philosphical about losing the class, and is already looking foward to the FEI World Cup final in Las Vegas (15-19 April).
“I thought someone might beat me in the jump-off, but I’m happy with my result,” said Bertram. “Molly’s such a fantastic mare.
“I’ll give her another break, and then we’ll start getting ready for Las Vegas. It’s great to have picked up the points for the final and I’m looking forward to it now.”
Single fault
Sweden’s Rolf-Goran Bengtsson and Casall ASK were third (40.91sec) while France’s Penelope Leprevost and Flora de Mariposa were fourth with a steady clear (44.51sec).
Robert Whitaker came eighth withCatwalklV. The pairnarrowly missed out on a place in the jump-off after incurring a single time fault in the first round.