Tipperary’s Denis Lynch added another €20,000 euro to his burgeoning prize pot at the five-star show in Lyon, France, on Saturday, when recording his third runner-up placing in 24 hours, this time in the elite Equita Masters competition.
Cork's Billy Twomey, meanwhile, took his first ribbons at Lyon this weekend with a third place in the same competition, pocketing €15,000.
Thirty-five year-old Lynch, who is now based in Munster, Germany, rode his own dark bay stallion Contifex in the two-round class, and was one of just two competitors to go clear in both rounds.
However Australia's Edwina Tops-Alexander, the last rider into the arena, shaved over three seconds off his time on the Dutch-bred stallion Vleut to collect the €30,000 Masters first prize.
Twomey, with Sue Davies's mare Tinka's Serenade, claimed third place as the fastest of the competition's 13 combinations on a four-fault tally.
The Equita Masters competition is open only to the best 12 riders in the World Rolex rankings who are present at the show, and also gold medallists from other Premier Championships.
Lynch earned almost €17,000 on his first day at Lyon with a second place on Thomas Straumann's Abbervail van het Dingeshof and then another on Lantinus, together with an eighth place with Contifex.
Sunday afternoon will see Lynch and Twomey join Shane Breen, the third Irish rider at the French show, in an attempt to secure the €60,000 first prize in the Rolex FEI World Cup competition as well as World Cup ranking points for the new season.
