Congratulations: Mayo man triumphs in France

Mayo's Ciaran Nallon had what was surely one of the most lucrative shows of his career with two five-star victories at the Longines Global Champions Tour leg in Ramatuelle, St Tropez last week.

The first of those triumphs, on Thursday, came on a day when Cian O’Connor and Daniel Coyle also secured elite successes.

In all, there were six or seven international victories at two-star 1.45m or higher, and with a four-star Nations Cup win too in Sopot under the stewardship of Taylor Vard, and Jessica Kürten’s five-star squad fighting back for a bronze medal in La Baule, it was truly a green-letter week for Irish show jumping.

Nallon kicked it off on a tremendous Thursday for Irish riders, by supplying two clear rounds in contribution to his team, Riesenbeck International getting over the line in the Longines Global Champions League.

Coming just a week after Max Wachman’s League heroics for New York in nearby Cannes, the young Mayo pilot combined with German Christian Kukuk to secure the top spot.

Nallon and Casalla Blue PS (Beerbaum Stables) have been producing some excellent results on LGCT all year and they secured a silver medal in the opening 1.60m speed class before supplying another clear round in the 1.55m speed class to finish sixth.

Kukuk’s triumph on Checker 47 helped vault them to the summit of the table, as that duo’s eight faults in the opening class had left them in fourth.

And Kukuk was quick to praise his partner for keeping them in the mix.

“Even after the first round, I had a good feeling,” said Kukuk. “Ciaran had a really, really great round and, to be honest, I was also happy with my round despite the two down because Checker felt very good.

“Ciaran did a great round again (in the second class). His performance was outstanding today with Casalla.”