Twomey eyes olympic spot
EQUESTRIAN: Denis Lynch and Billy Twomey kept their powder dry on the opening day of the 5-Star World Cup show in Bordeaux, France yesterday where three-time World Cup champion, Marcus Ehning from Germany, topped the main class.
Twomey ran two horses in the opening 1.40m Speed event and slotted the nine-year-old mare, Wings Sublieme, into 19th place with a careful clear, while his top ride, Tinka's Serenade, finished one place further behind when picking up a single time fault.
Twomey then placed the 14-year-old stallion Romanov into 27th in last night's 1.45m Speed when collecting six faults, while Lynch retired with Night Train, a winner at last weekend's World Cup show in Zurich. Lynch jumped four clear rounds with Upsilon d'Ocquier in the Six-Bar competition, but faulted at his fifth and final attempt.
While World Cup points are always valuable, Twomey's main target now is ensuring his dominance of the Olympic ranking list, which he currently heads with Lynch in second. If the Irishmen can maintain form with continuing good results in big-money classes, including tonight's World Cup qualifier, then Ireland will have two show-jumping slots at London 2012.
Irish Independent
