KEEPING up the Irish pressure at the Barcelona Super League venue today (Saturday), 23 yr old Kildare rider Cian O'Connor mixed it with the senior German aces Ludger Beerbaum and Lars Nieberg in pursuit of the Lexus Trophy at the Queen's Cup competition in the heat of Barcelona. The trophy was, of course, a Lexus car.

And though he failed to badly dent German supremacy or win the vehicle, O'Connor nevertheless walked away with a cash prize of 4000 euro, slotting <Waterford Crystal> comfortably into third place in a field of 34 top international riders.

Ireland's Marie Burke, riding <Chippison>, a relative newcomer at this level of competition, nevertheless managed to finish in 10th place.

Tomorrow (Sunday), O'Connor joins his team-mates Robert Splaine, Harry Marshall and Lt. Shane Carey in a bid to maintain Ireland's No.2 spot in the final of the Samsung Super League. France has pulled ahead of Ireland in the table, with a gap of over 10 points, and Britain is snapping at Ireland's heels in the No.3 spot.

With double points being awarded for places tomorrow, an upset in the league rankings is more than probable.

SHOW JUMPING RESULTS: CSIO*****BARCELONA SPAIN SEPTEMBER 18 - 21, 2003

Class No.8 Queen's Cup - Lexus Trophy
LARGE TOUR Table A, against the clock and jump-off. Art. 238.2.2.
Saturday 20th September 2003

1) CHAMPION DU LYS; LUDGER BEERBAUM (GER) Faults 0.00 Time 40.18
2) LOREANA; LARS NIEBERG (GER) Faults 0.00 Time 42.74
3) WATERFORD CRYSTAL; CIAN O'CONNOR (IRL) Faults 0.00 Time 46.89

10) CHIPPISON; MARIE BURKE (IRL) Faults 0.00 Time 79.15

34 starters

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