Jessica Kurten opened the scoring for Ireland at the five-star show in Paris this afternoon with a runner-up place in the hotly-
contested speed class.
The Antrim-born rider piloted Lady Georgina Forbes's 10 year-old
chestnut mare Castle Forbes Cosma to a scorching finish, but was
beaten to the €15,000 euro first prize by Ontario-based Olympic gold medallist Eric Lamaze, with the bay mare Take Off.
Kurten was just a third of a second off the pace of the Canadian, but shaded Britain's third-placed Ben Maher and Wonderboy III by a full second.
The 40-year-old Irish rider is joined at Paris by Tipperary's Denis
Lynch, and both will be hoping for a favourable starting position in
tomorrow's rich Paris Grand Prix, which offers €200,000 prize
money.
