HORSE SPORT Lennon Finishes Fifth in Rolex World Cup Final

Forty year-old Co. Down rider Dermott Lennon took fifth place in the nail-biting final of the Rolex FEI World Cup Final in Geneva,
Switzerland this afternoon (Sunday) with a superb double clear round on Woods Rosbotham's gelding 'Hallmark Elite'.

The landmark competition was won by Germany's Marcus Ehning on 'Plot Blue', though just one fence ahead of the Irishman.

Lennon was one of three Irish riders to qualify for the World Cup Final, but with the withdrawal of Jessica Kurten due to injury, it was left to Lennon and Offaly's Darragh Kenny to fly the flag.

Kenny qualified for the first round of today's two-stage final, but collected 21 faults on his first outing, leaving Lennon, who went clear, to make a solo bid for glory. Carrying ten faults from his first two qualifying competitions at Geneva, the Irish rider, a former World Champion, kept a clear head and added zero points to his score on the second round.

Though finishing as runner-up in today's class, Lennon's total of ten penalties put him in a very creditable fifth place in the World Cup at the close of competition.

After today's final, Lennon said: "I'm delighted with the horse, he is relatively inexperienced at this level and we had only three World Cup qualifiers before arriving at the final. But over the weekend he answered every question I asked of him, and aside from a little mistake on Friday when we had one rail down, I couldn't have been more delighted. We were one of only three double clears in the final competition today, and I'm very happy with that performance from him."

The result leaves Lennon as one of just four Irish riders to finish in the top six since 1979, with Eddie Macken taking an equal third in 1979, Trevor Coyle placing second in 1999, and Jessica Kurten taking second place in 2006, and equal fourth in 2008.

Horse Sport Ireland's Show Jumping Team Manager Robert Splaine said:
"This was an outstanding achievement from Dermott on a horse relatively unexposed to competitions at this rank. But they proved over three days that they were able to compete very well indeed against the world's top combinations.

"It is a mark of the class of a rider like Dermott that he was able to produce such a remarkably good result from a horse that had not jumped a lot at this type of show - he was not a World Champion for nothing!

I'd like to offer my congratulations to both him and his owners, and I believe they have a very bright future ahead."

SHOW JUMPING RESULTS: CSI5*-W ROLEX FEI WORLD CUP FINAL GENEVA SWITZERLAND APRIL 15-18, 2010

32nd Rolex FEI World Cup Final 2010: Third part of the Rolex FEI World Cup™ Final Table A 1m60, two different rounds not against the clock FEI Art.659.1.2.5 Sunday April 18, 2010

1. Cristallo; Richard Spooner (USA) Faults 0.00/0.00

2. Hallmark Elite; Dermott Lennon (IRL) Faults 0.00/0.00

3. Gotha; Ludger Beerbaum (GER) Faults 0.00/0.00

FINAL RESULT AFTER THREE WORLD CUP COMPETITIONS AT GENEVA

1. Marcus Ehning (GER)/Plot Blue 6.00 penalties

2. Ludger Beerbaum (GER)/Gotha 7 penalties

2. Pius Schwizer (Sui)/Carlina 7 penalties

4. Lucian Diniz (POR)/Winningmood 9 penalties

5. Dermott Lennon (IRL)/Hallmark Elite 10 penalties.