Denis Lynch

CSI5*-W 's-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands: Going into this final opportunity for World Cup qualification, Lynch needed valuable points to move into the top-18 to earn qualification to the Final in Leipzig. He and Abbervail van het Dingeshof took maximum points in this leg by winning the Rolex FEI World Cup class ensuring a place in the final, and taking €58,000 in prize money. He and Lacroix also placed 4th in a 1m50 winning round class on Friday night to secure €2,700 in prize money, and in the 1m35 Table C Derby on Saturday evening, Upsilon d'Ocquier was beaten by just 0.37 second into second place to earn €5,000

CSI5* Global Champions Tour Estoril, Portugal: Nabab's Son jumped 4/4 in the Grand Prix to settle for 16th prize of €2,000.

Winner of 5 International Grand Prix, including four 5* – Doha, La Baule, Rome (2008), Aachen (2009). The pair have also been a member of two winning Irish Nations Cup teams – Falsterbo (2009), Aachen (2010). Lantinus also topped the WBFSH World Breeding Rankings of 2008.

A member of many 5* Nations Cup teams – in 2010, the pair recorded at least one clear round in each of the 3 teams they were selected including jumping double clear at Falsterbo, Sweden. He has also been placed in many International classes across the world, including finishing 3rd in the 5* Grand Prix of London Olympia, 2008.

Towards the end of April, Lynch was selected as part of Ireland's Nations Cup Team in Lummen, Belgium. He was selected as first to jump (with Abberuail van het Dingeshof) followed by Alex Duffy (Tampa), Shane Breen (Carmena Z), and Billy Twomey (Tinka's Serenade). In the first round they all jumped clear apart from Alex Duffy, who had 22 faults. As Duffy had the discarded score, he did not jump in the second round. The remaining trio then produced 3 more clear rounds to tie for first place with Australia on zero penalties. The jump-off saw Chris Chugg of Australia go head-to-head with Billy Twomey. With Chugg having four faults and Twomey jumping his third clear round of the competition, Ireland won. Lynch also achieved good placings on his new ride – Lacroix 9. He directed the 15-year-old gelding to 3rd place in the CSI2* Grand Prix, and 2nd in a CSI2* Table A class.

The opening leg of the Global Champions Tour in Valencia: Although many of the world's best riders – including Lynch – had faults in the €285,000 Grand Prix on Saturday, he was narrowly beaten into second in the 1m50 'Trophy Massimo Dutti'. The class was won by fellow Irish rider – Jessica Kuerten – just 0.32 seconds in front.

At the Global Champions Tour in Hamburg, Lynch (with Nabab's Son) won the 'Mercedes-Benz Championat of Hamburg' – the 1m55 qualification class for the Global Champions Tour of Germany Grand Prix.

He continued to chase the DKB Riders Tour shows, as he travelled to the CSI4* Balve. It was another worthwhile trip for Lynch as he finished second in the Grand Prix on his Olympic ride – Lantinus – putting him 18 points ahead of second place in the DKB Riders Tour standings at the half-way mark of the tour. Lynch also enjoyed the Medium Tour of the show, finishing 3rd in both the Grand Prix qualifier, and the Grand Prix with Abberuail van het Dingeshof

The sixth leg of the Global champions Tour was next for Lynch – the CSI5* Estoril, Portugal. On the opening evening, he jumped a double clear on Abberuail van het Dingeshof to secure 5th place and €1,750 in the 1m45 jump-off class – The 'Trophy Massimo Dutti'. He again chose to ride Abberuail van het Dingeshof in Saturday's GCT Grand Prix but were unlucky to have the final fence down in the first round.

Lynch travelled as part of the Irish squad to the CSIO5* Falsterbo, Sweden. In the opening competition – a 7-year-old class – he steered All Star 5 to 4th place. In the 5th leg of the Meydan FEI Nations Cup, which was won by the home team, Ireland finished 5th on 24 faults: Dermott Lennon (Hallmark Elite) 4/12, Jessica Kuerten (Castle Forbes Myrtille Paulois) (8)/(12), Shane Breen (Carmena Z) 4/4, Denis Lynch (Nabab's Son) 0/0. He then went on to win the 'Six-Bar' competition on Saturday evening with the 7-y-o All Star 5.

Next for Lynch was the World Equestrian Festival at the CSIO5* Aachen, Germany as part of the Irish team. On Day 2, he directed All Inclusive NRW to 3rd place in a jump-off class with a double clear to earn €3,000. In the 6th leg of the Meydan FEI Nations Cup on Thursday, the Irish team finished on a 4 fault score to win: Billy Twomey ( Tinka's Serenade) 4/0; Dermott Lennon (Hallmark Elite) 0/0; Cian O'Connor (K Club Lady) 0/0; Denis Lynch (Lantinus) (4)/(NS). On Sunday – although he failed to recapture the Grand Prix crown – he steered All Inclusive NRW to 4th place in the one round class.

Lynch was once again selected as part of the Irish Team – this time at the Royal International Horse Show at Hickstead, Great Britain. Although he did not have the most successful week, he helped the Irish Team secure their future in the Meydan FEI Nations Cup for another year by earning 3 points by finishing 6th in the Nations Cup on Friday, which was won by the host nation; Shane Breen (Carmena Z) 12/9; Dermott Lennon (Hallmark Elite) 9/(EL); Billy Twomey (Je t'Aime Flamenco) 5/1; Denis Lynch (Nabab's Son) 12/0.

CSI4* Paderborn, Germany – the 4th leg of the DKB Riders Tour: In the Grand Prix qualifier on Saturday, Lynch and Abberuail van het Dingeshof pulled off the fastest time in the jump-off but had 4 faults to finish 9th. On Friday evening, he and Lacroix stopped the clock 0.37 of a second quicker than Pilipp Weishaupt to win the 1m50 speed class (and €5,000). The pair also took the honours in the 1m45 2-phase class on Sunday, picking up another €5,000.

Denis then travelled to Kentucky as part of the Irish Team to the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, Jumping World Championships: (Dermott Lennon – Hallmark Elite; Denis Lynch – Lantinus; Cian O’Connor – K Club Lady; Billy Twomey – Tinka’s Serenade. After the opening competition – a Speed Class – Lynch lay in 65th on 7.42 faults, and the Team lay in 8th – less than 8 faults of Gold. Day 2 saw the Nations Cup competition. After the first round, Lynch dropped down to 85th after having an uncharacteristic 12 faults, and the Team had dropped to 12th – missing the cut to jump in the second round and fight for Olympic qualification.

Lynch then travelled to the CSI3* 'Baltic Horse Show' in Keil, Germany. In the 1m50 Grand Prix qualifier on Friday, he and Abberuail van het Dingeshof finished 8th with 4 faults in the jump-off. On Saturday night, he was first to go in the jump-off of the 1m50 'Cellagon' Championship of Keil, again with Abberuail van het Dingeshof. This time the pair posted a double clear to finish 4th – less than half a second behind the winner – to collect €1,200.

CSI5*-W Equita' Lyon, France: In the opening class – a 1m45 two-phase class – Lynch steered Abberuail van het Dingeshof to 4th place to earn €2,000. On Saturday, with the same horse, he finished 5th in a 1m55 jump-off class to collect a further €3,000. Then in the 'Equita Masters' that evening, Lynch posted the fastest jump-off time with Lantinus, but with 4 faults to finish 8th and earn €4,000. The money kept amounting for Denis when he and Nabab's Son earned another €2,400 when the pair finished 4th in the 1m50 one-round class on Sunday morning. In the Rolex FEI World Cup qualifier, Lynch opted to ride Abberuail van het Dingeshof, the pair again posted a very quick time, but with 8 faults they could only secure 8th position and €7,000 of the €200,000 prize fund.

CSI4* Munich Indoors, Munich, Germany – the Final leg of the DKB Riders Tour: In the Grand Prix, Lynch and Abberuail van het Dingeshof finished 3rd (to earn €12,000) – enough to secure the highly coveted title: Rider of the Year – and a €50,000 VW Touareg.

On 12 January, it was reported that Lynch has withdrawn from competing as a member of the Irish Team. 'Irreconcilable differences' over team tactics, and with the Irish Chef d'Equipe – Robert Splaine – were the problems. Horse Sport Ireland released a statement on 14 January stating that they had gone as far as to offer to fly the Chairman of Horse Sport Ireland Joe Walsh, the Team Manager Robert Splaine, and the CEO of Horse Sport Ireland Damian McDonald to Europe to meet with Denis and his owner, but Lynch could not see 'any benefit' in doing so. Lynch responded saying that the decision 'was very difficult to take and was taken after considerable deliberation'. He also said that he wanted to 'draw a line under this matter now', but did not rule out riding for Ireland again in the future. At the beginning of March, both parties released statements indicating that the issues had been resolved.

CSI5* Basel, Switzerland: In the 'Championat of Stadt Basel' – a 1m50 jump-off class – Lynch directed Lantinus to 5th prize of €6,200. In the 1m50 jump-off class on Saturday, he and All Inclusive Nrw finished 6th to take over €1,500. On Sunday, in the 'Grand Hotel Les Trois Rois' 1m45 jump-off, the pair took 3rd prize of €6,200.

CSI5*-W Zurich, Switzerland: Denis and Abbervail van het Dingeshof finished second to take nearly €18,000 in the 'Liebherr-Prize' – a 1m50 two-phase class. On Saturday, he partnered Lacroix to the top-spot in the 1m40 speed class to earn €7,800.

CSI5*-W Bordeaux, France: Lynch and All Inclusive NRW took the top prize of €10,500 in the feature class on the opening night – a 1m50 jump-off class. The following day, he and Upsilon d'Ocquier took 3rd prize of €3,750 in 1m45 speed class. In Sunday morning's Accumulator, Lynch and Lacroix took 2nd prize of €5,000.

CSI5*-W Gothenburg, Sweden: In the Rolex FEI World Cup, he and Abbervail van het Dingeshof jumped a 0/4 to finish 6th – this brought Lynch within grasp of the World Cup Final, and he earned €4,500. He and All Inclusive NRW had a single time fault in the first round of the Grand Prix to settle for 9th prize of €1,245. On Friday night, Lynch and Abbervail van het Dingeshof took joint-second prize of €2,400 in the Six-Bar competition.

CSI5* Global Champions Tour / CSI3* Hamburg, Germany: Lantinus took the top prize of a €60,000 Mercedes SLK in the 'Mercedes-Benz Championat von Hamburg' on the opening day. Lynch also partnered All Inclusive NRW to 13th place (on 5 faults) in the GCT Grand Prix, taking €2,850 in prize money, and dropping to 3rd in the GCT Rankings. In the final competition – the DKB Riders Tour Derby – he and Upsilon d'Ocquier took 9th prize of €2,500.

CSIO5* World Equestrian Festival, Aachen, Germany: The Irish team finished 2nd in the FEI Nations Cup on Thursday night: Shane Breen (Carmena Z) 8/0; Shane Sweetnam (Amaretto d'Arco) 0/4; Denis Lynch (All Inclusive NRW) 4/0; Billy Twomey (Tinka's Serenade) (8)/(5). On Saturday night, Lynch directed Night Train to 2nd place (behind fellow Irishman – Shane Breen) in the 'Sparkasse Derby' to earn €5,200. The same night, he also finished 3rd on Lord Luis in the €55,000 'Best of Champions' competition to take €8,000 in prize money.

CSI5*-GCT Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: In the opening class – a 1m45 speed class – Lynch and Night Train took 6th prize of €1,500.

As of the end of March 2012, he is ranked 16th in the Rolex World Rankings – Ireland's no. 1.

CSI5*-W Stuttgart German Masters: Lynch qualified as one of 12 for the 'Mercedes' German Masters. He took an early lead with Abberuail van het Dingeshof but eventually finished 4th (€8,000). The competition was won by the triple World Cup Champion pair of Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and Shutterfly. In the six-bar on Saturday night, he and Tarpan finished 2nd to earn over €3,500.

Has been placed in many International Grand Prix, including winning the 5* Rolex FEI World Cup in s'Hertogenbosch 2011, and the 4* Grand Prix in Weisbaden in 2010. The pair also jumped a double clear in the Nations Cup of Lummen, Belgium, 2010 to help Ireland to victory.

CSI5* GCT Final Abu Dhabi, UAE: Lantinus jumped 0/8 to finish 18th in the Grand Prix for €3,000. This result meant Lynch finished 6th in the GCT Rankings of 2011, earning €33,750.

CSI5* GCT Doha, Qatar: In the Grand Prix, Lynch guided Lantinus to an 11th prize of €4,500 with a score of 4/0. The pair also finished 10th in a 1m50 class to earn €1,150.

CSI5*-W Rolex FEI World Cup Final, 's-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands: After five jumping rounds, Lynch and Abbervail van het Dingeshof finished 11th. In the process, they took joint-third prize of €9,350 in Final III.

At the final leg of the Global Champions Tour at the CSI5* Rio de Janeiro, Lynch and All Inclusive NRW finished 2nd in the Grand Prix and collected €70,000, being beaten by the 2010 World Cup Champion – Marcus Ehning (on Noltes Kuchengirl) by just 0.27 of a second. This result also brought him into the top 18 on the GCT standings where a €1,000,000 bonus was offered – Lynch earned €7,500 of the impressive bonus. During the show, he also partnered Lacroix 9 to 3rd in the Accumulator Class, and 5th in a 1m45 speed class, collecting €4,400 between them.

Lynch took over the position of highest ranked Irish rider in the October 2009 (ranking no. 106) World Rankings where he held 17th position. The following month, Jessica Kurten regained this title. He again took this title in January 2010 (No. 109) when he was again ranked 17th in the World, but this also only lasted a month. In the August 2010 (no. 116) World Rankings, Lynch reached 6th position and re-became the highest ranked Irish rider. He held this title for 4 months until it was taken over by Billy Twomey in December 2010 (No. 120). In April 2011, Lynch reached his highest ever World Ranking of 4th.

Placed in many international Grand Prix, including being placed 2nd in two 5* at Paris, France (2009) and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2010), and winning the 3* at Leipzig in 2011.

He represented Ireland at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Early on 21 August it emerged that he had withdrawn from the equestrian individual final which was due to have been held later that day. It was later confirmed that Lynch was banned from entering the show jumping final due to his horse, Lantinus, being found to have been in contact with illegal substances. Latinus was found to have capsaicin in his system due to the use of a cream similar to Deep-heat called Equiblock. Lynch had been using the banned substance for some time but maintained that he did not know it was illegal. He described himself as "shattered" due to missing out on his chance for an Olympic medal. Lantinus was one of four horses banned on doping offences; the others were from Brazil, Germany and Norway. Lantinus and Lynch had been described prior to the scandal as "Ireland's best chance of an Olympic medal in Beijing".

He and Lynch jumped many double clears in Nations Cups and Grand Prix but was slow against the clock. They were also a member of the winning Irish team at the 'Samsung Super League' of Falsterbo, Sweden, 2006.

Doubt has been cast on the future of equestrianism as part of the Olympics. The doping scandal follows previous incidents at past Olympics, most notably the Cian O'Connor incident at Athens in 2004. O'Connor won an individual showjumping gold medal with his horse Waterford Crystal but was later stripped of it because of drug offences. Also in Athens, a doping scandal cost team Germany a jumping gold after the horse ridden by Ludger Beerbaum was disqualified when it tested positive for drugs. World number one, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, was left off the German team for Athens after her horse tested positive, though she was later cleared.

Abbervail van het Dingeshof Gelding / Bay / 2000 / Nonstop x Jus de Pomme – owned by Thomas Straumann

All Inclusive NRW Gelding / Bay / 1999 / Arpeggio x Phantom – owned by Thomas Straumann

Lantinus Gelding / Bay / 1998 / Lankoenig x Argentinus – owned by Thomas Straumann

Nabab's Son Gelding / Bay / 1998 / Nabab de Reve x Kebah – owned by Thomas Straumann

Lancelot 200 Gelding / Dark Bay / 1997 / Lancer III x Argentinus

Denis Lynch (born 3 May 1976) is an Irish show jumper.

CSI5* Paris, France: In a 1m60 pairs competition, Lynch and Abbervail van het Dingeshof joined Athina Onassis de Miranda and AD Unaniem, where just one time-fault them left them short of the top prize to settle for second prize of €10,000. Abbervail van het Dingeshof also earned €4,000 for 9th position in the Grand Prix. In a 1m45 jump-off where less than a second separated the top 6, Lantinus finished 6th to earn €1,035.

CSI4* Braunschweiger, Germany: 'Volkswagen' 1m55 Grand Prix: 9th on Abbervail van het Dingeshof to collect €1,000.

CSI5*-W Gothenburg, Sweden: Abberuail van het Dingeshof finished second in the 1m55 Grand Prix to earn 130,000SEK (€14,695). The pair also took second prize of 45,000SEK (€5,086) in a 1m45 jump-off class. In the final Rolex FEI World Cup leg of the season, Lynch and Lantinus finished 7th to earn 36,000SEK (€4,069). The course was described by Kevin Staut as 'the most difficult leg of the season', but this result left Lynch in 3rd place in the overall standings.

Lynch then travelled to the CSI3* Norten-Hardenberg, Germany. He and Lacroix won the 1m50 'Championat von Nörten-Hardenberg', Lynch also finished 5th on Nabab's Son in the 1m50 'Gothaer Trophy'.

In between Meydan Nations Cup duty, Lynch travelled to the 7th leg of the Global Champions Tour at Chantilly, France. On Saturday, he and All Inclusive NRW finished 3rd in the 1m50 Table C class to take €2,250.

CSI5*-W Geneva, Switzerland: In the 'Rolex' Top Ten final on Friday night, Lynch and Lantinus finished 2nd to take CHF 50,000. He also partnered Tarpan to finish joint-3rd in the 'Mont Blanc' Six-Bar on Thursday night to earn CHF 1,670. The pair also took 4th prize of €1,400 in the Accumulator on Saturday.

CSI5*-W Leipzig, Germany: Abbervail van het Dingeshof just missed out on winning a car by finishing second in the 1m50 'Championat von Leipzig', but won €4,800. Upsilon d'Ocquier finished joint-first in the Six-Bar to earn €4,575. Twister S also won €2,000 for finishing 5th in a 1m45 class.

CSI3* Neumuenster, Germany: In the 1m50 one-round class on Friday night, Lantinus took 3rd prize of €3,450. The pair also took 2nd prize in a 1m50 jump-off class to earn €4,600.

CSI3* Bremen, Germany: Lynch partnered Abbervail van het Dingeshof to 4th place in the 1m50 'Championat von Bremen' to earn €1,610.

CES5* European Championships, Madrid, Spain: Shane Sweetnam (Amaretto d'Arco) 3.46/8/8; Nicola Fitzgibbon (Puissance) (9.74)/(21)/(20); Denis Lynch (Lantinus) 8.71/9/4; Billy Twomey (Tinka's Serenade) 0.95/0/12; After round 1, Ireland lay 9th on 13.12 faults behind France in the lead on 2.95. Ireland climbed to 7th position and within the Olympic qualification threshold, but their third round performances dropped them to 9th and out of Olympic qualification.

For the final weekend of June, Lynch travelled to the CSI5* Global Champions Tour of Monte Carlo. He got off to a good start with Lacroix by taking top-spot in Thursdays 1m45 speed class, and receiving €6,400 in prize money. Lacroix continued his great form by finishing 8th in the Grand Prix with just four faults over the two rounds.

CSI4* DKB Riders Tour Hagen, Germany: Lynch and Night Train won the 1m40 Middle Tour Final worth €5,750 to the winner. All Star 5 jumped double clear in a 1m50 jump-off class to finish 5th and earn €2,100. Lantinus was also in the money, but with the second fastest jump-off time he could only manage 11th prize of €1,875 with 8 faults.