Wexford's Jason Higgins shares winner's prize in Puissance at Jumping in the City
29th June 2015
The "Jumping in the City" Final attracted a capacity crowd to Shelbourne Park Greyhound Stadium in Dublin on Friday 26th June, where Wexford's Jason Higgins shared the winner’s prize in a thrilling Devenish sponsored Puissance competition.
Higgins from Enniscorthy, riding the Ballywalter Farms owned Hadine Van’t Zorgvliet was one of three riders to jump the big red wall in the final round at a height of 2 metres 6 cm (6ft 7 inches) to share the €6,000 prize-fund.
Tipperary’s Liam O’Meara with the Irish Sport Horse Cisero and Galway's Gabriel Corless riding another Irish Sport Horse, Rockstown Park also cleared the wall in the final round to finish as joint winners with Jason Higgins.
Joanna Penfold from Co Tipperary, riding the grey Irish Sport Horse King Cruise opened the action with a win in the Amateur Speed Class, outpacing runner-up Paul Carroll and Castleroche La Roche (ISH) by just over a second to secure the win in the Williams 506 Horsebox.
Former World Champion, Co Down’s Dermott Lennon and the Judith Sossick owned Irish Sport Horse mare Loughview Lou-Lou landed The Grand Prix, when last to go in the deciding jump-off. Cheered on by up to 3,000 spectators they shaved just over half-a-second off the target time set by Kildare’s Alexander Butler and Vimminka, to be crowned champions in a competition worth €15,000.
Shelbourne Park marked the final leg of the 2015 ‘Jumping in the City’ series, which has also seen huge crowds attend at greyhound stadia in both Limerick and Cork earlier this month.
Wexford's World Number five Bertram Allen travelled home to compete in the ‘Jumping in the City’ grand prix but finished outside the prizes. Allen was riding the stallion Thriller P, a horse Bertram had never before ridden in a competition.