Dalm delighted to pass Spanish test with flying colours

BELFAST showjumper Sophie Dalm, now based in Belgium with the highly-acclaimed stables of Marlon Zanotelli and Angelica Augustsson, has been showing her class in Spain, taking first and second in two international classes at the Winter Tour.

Dalm, on board the VDL Stud’s home-bred mare Fastday VDL, won the Silver Tour 1m 40 Grand Prix from 53 starters, and took runner-up in the 1m 40 Bronze Tour final jump-off class with Volnay de Choc.

She explained: “Fastday is incredibly careful and competitive. I know her so well, she will always fight for me in the ring. Volnay de Choc also loves her job.

“I feel she has a lot of ability to go far in the sport.”

Dalm has a top team of horses for 2020 and is also bringing out her older Grand Prix horse Remake Lande after a rest.

“He’s feeling fresh and ready to go,” she added.

The show, part of the Mediterranean Tour Winter Series near Valencia, attracts the world’s leading riders. Dalm, the daughter of Pim and Mandy Dalm of Clandeboye Lodge, is herself an accomplished equine artist.

In the Silver Tour GP, Dalm’s fastest jump-off time from 14 horses was 43.92, a fraction of a second faster than Belgium’s Gregory Wathelet with Sandero, who went clear in 43.95.

In the bronze tour, Dalm was second with Volnay de Choc, clear in 41.96, just behind German rider Laureen Budden and Gosbodino Z, clear in 37.80.

Antrim’s Conor Drain, now full-time in the Netherlands, has won the 1m 40 Ashford Farms Medium Tour final at Sentower Park, Belgium with his own C and M Stables Forever.

A fast time of 30.80 secured the win ahead of Belgian Jerome Guery’s BCO Milton Z in 31.34.

Drain was third with Inspiration in the Jos Lansink 1m 30 Grand Prix at Sentower Park.

Meanwhile, Denis Lynch excelled to win the Leipzig World Cup qualifier with GC Chopin’s Bushi.

Lynch took the lead after setting off ninth in the 16-horse jump-off with a stunning clear in 33.16, beating Germany’s Christian Ahlmann and Dominator Z clear in 33.37.

Third was German ace Marcus Ehning, clear in 34.25 with Comme il Faut.