Wexford's Bertram Allen and Pacino Amiro took victory in last night's Lugano Diamonds five-star Grand Prix at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Florida, adding to a string of wins for Irish riders at the stateside venue over the past few weeks.
Only five combinations from the 40 starters made it through to the jump-off, with three of those five coming from Ireland.
Second to start, Allen sped through the course in 35.32 seconds, a time that couldn’t be caught by the remaining three competitors.
"There was no real standard set before I went in because Lorcan obviously had a fence down," said Allen, "and there were only three coming after me, but they were obviously three very, very good ones on fast horses.
"I know my guy is fast, and with only five in it, the worst case I was fifth. I was going to give it a good shot, and thankfully it came off."
In a class stacked with Irishmen, it was Daniel Coyle and Ariel Grange’s Legacy, an 11-year-old mare, who came closest to Allen’s leading time.
They were clear in 37.11 seconds to finish in second place.
On Sunday Michael G Duffy and The Irish Sport Horse Lapuccino 2 completed a good weekend for Irish riders when he took the four-star Grand Prix at Vejer De la Frontera in Spain.
The Mayo man finished nearly two seconds ahead of Britain's Joseph Stockdale on Equine America Cacharel, while Swiss star Steve Guerdat finished third with Albfuehren's Maddox.
