Irish Sport Horses filled the top three places in a thrilling Puissance competition over the Big Red Wall at The Horse Of The Year Show at the NEC in Birmingham on Saturday night.
Co Tyrone's Peter Smyth, with Mary McCarthy's Cavalier Rusticana (ISH), cleared the wall in the fifth round at its final height of 2m20 (7ft 3 inches), but agonisingly knocked the much smaller triple bar on their way to the wall.
Smyth was joined in second place by 18-year-old Christopher Megahey from Templepatrick Co Antrim riding Britt Megahey's Seapatrick Cruise Cavalier (ISH).
The teenager jumped the wall clear on four occasions before finally knocking a brick at the final attempt.
The Irish Sport Horse Quality Old Joker, bred by Roberta Dowley from Co Kilkenny and ridden by Holly Smith (GBR), took the winner's prize.
They were the only combination to finish fault free in the final round. Another Irish Sport Horse, Culmore Prospect, also shared second place when ridden by Great Britain's Joss Williams.
There was also an Irish winner in the earlier Accumulator Class at HOYS, where Cork's Billy Twomey and the Joe Flynn-owned Irish Sport Horse stallion Ardcolum Duke were in unstoppable form.
They collected the maximum 65 points in a blistering fast time of 43.05 seconds.
Waterford's Anthony Condon finished fourth with Balzac, while Cian O'Connor also grabbed fifth place for Ireland with Aramis 573.
The earlier Irish Horse Gateway-sponsored 1m 45 Jump-off class at HOYS saw Louise Saywell win aboard Peiter VI. Denis Lynch was best-placed of the Irish riders finishing eighth with Campino 344
Across the Atlantic, Co Derry's Daniel Coyle continued his incredible run of form at the three-star Split Rock Tour in Lexington USA.
After scoring a one-two finish in Thursday's $35,000 Hollow Creek Farm class, he added another victory to his haul when taking the $10,000 Lugano Diamonds Under 25 Young Rider Cup with Ariel & Sue Grange's Tienna.
The next generation of Irish Show Jumping dominated the 1m 20 pony class at Chevenez in Switzerland. Irish pony riders filled six of the top 10 places including a win for Wexford's Harry Allen and Aughnashammer.
Kate Derwin finished second ahead of Robbie Clancy in third and Abbie Sweetnam in fourth. The Irish pony team scored a runner-up finish in the Nations Cup at the same venue on Friday.
In eventing, the Irish team lie in sixth place overall following the conclusion of the Cross Country phase of the Nations Cup at Boekelo in The Netherlands.
Padraig McCarthy is the best-placed Irish rider individually, holding eighth spot with Bernadette Utopia. McCarthy is joined on the Irish team by Jim Newsam, Tegan White and James O'Haire under the guidance of Team Manager Georgia Stubbington.
Irish-bred horses continue to shine in Boekello, with two Irish Sport Horses among the top five heading into Sunday's final show jumping phase.
