IRISH riders narrowly missed out on claiming the top two places at the five-star show in Aachen, Germany today.

Fourteenth to jump of 46 competitors, Meath’s Cian O’Connor and the bay gelding Callisto notched up a top-speed clear round to take the lead, but 20 minutes later were overtaken by fellow Irish rider Jonathan Gordon and the chestnut gelding Fellini 131.

The two Irishmen held their dominance at the top of the leaderboard against considerable international pressure, but eventually US Olympic gold medallist Laura Kraut and the grey gelding Corfu – 40th to jump – shaved just over a second off Gordon’s time to claim first prize.

The third Irish competitor in the class, Bertram Allen with the stallion High Valley, had an unfortunate four faults and finished in 20th place overall. Earlier, Allen and GK Casper had finished third in this afternoon’s young horse class at Aachen with a clear round in 68.49.