Ireland's Bertram Allen and Romanov claimed the the three-star Dortmund Grand Prix on Sunday.
Up against an international field mostly made up of older riders and younger horses, the 19-year-old Wexford rider and his 17-year-old mount emerged from a 50-strong startlist to join six other riders in the second round.
A second faultless round, coming home with half a second in hand over German runner-up Mario Stevens and Brooklyn, saw Allen and Romanov collect the winner’s trophy and a white Mitsubishi car.
"I'm very lucky to have such a great team of horses, and to see Romanov win here today at the age of 17 is just marvellous," Allen said.
Allen, who is now based in Germany, paid tribute to his German trainer Marcus Ehning.
However, the teacher is now in danger of being overtaken by his pupil, as with today's ranking points added to his tally, the Irish rider might shortly break into the top ten of the world's showjumping ranking, where Ehning is currently ranked at number nine.
Allen jumped three places in last month's Longines table to hover just outside the top ten at number 11, and another success like Dortmund will almost certainly propel him into the elite rank by the end of March.
