Cian O'Connor came within a whisker of winning Friday’s Credit Suisse Grand Prix at the five-star event in Geneva, Switzerland
He had to settle for runner-up spot when America's Laura Kraut slipped across the line just over half a second faster in the 13 horse jump-off.
Meanwhile fellow Irish competitor Jessica Kurten claimed the Grand Prix fourth place on Lady Georgina Forbes's mare Quibell when finishing one-and-a-half seconds behind Kraut .
O'Connor (29), who beat world No.6 Edwina Alexander into third place, rode gelding Complete and he said afterwards:
'My horse has a huge stride and it's a great big arena but honestly I am just thrilled to be placed amongst such high-calibre opposition. Complete did himself proud for his owners Castlemartin Stud and Stephen O'Connor.'
O'Connor will ride Aileen Bryan's Rancorrado in Sunday's Rolex World Cup Grand Prix, while Kurten is expected to line out with Castle Forbes Libertina.
Meanwhile, Cork born Billy Twomey took second place in the Small Grand Prix at Porto, Portugal riding the Dutch-bred stallion Goldex, whose ownership he shares with England's Sue Davies.
Twomey, who has been having an excellent run of form since recovering from a serious riding accident earlier this year, was narrowly beaten by Holland's Harrie Smolders in a large starting field of 74, which yielded 17 combinations through to the jump-off.
Twomey (31) had a third place with the stallion in Thursday night's two-phase competition in Porto.
He racked up several Grand Prix wins throughout October and a collection of top five places in the international shows at Belfast and Birmingham, mostly on Je t'Aime Flamenco and Fantasia.
Porto's main Grand Prix takes place on Sunday.
