Christmas comes early for Chris in Olympia puissance

Christopher Megahey (pictured) and Holly Smith (GBR)both went clear in the fifth round to take share the title in front of HRH The Duchess of Cornwall.

Templepatrick teenager Christopher Megahey, a first-timer at Olympia, shared the spoils in a thrilling finale to the Cayenne Puissance.

With The Duchess of Cornwall, who was paying her annual visit to the show, looking on, the pair both cleared 7ft 1in in the fifth and final round.

Smith, riding the huge bay Irish sport horse Quality Old Joker, saw the perfect stride and cleared the massive wall in superb style.

But then the young Irishman matched her for nerve and pinged over on another Irish-bred horse, his brother’s former eventer Seapatrick Cruise Cavalier, in a result that will thrill fans of horses from the Emerald Isle.

Norwegian rider Rebekka Lie Andersen finished third, having retired in the third round on Want To Do, and Britain’s Laura Renwick, who withdrew from the third round, was fourth on Top Dollar Vl.

Christopher was thrilled with the win. “I loved it – it didn’t faze me at all. It’s just brilliant being here, being around top riders like Marcus Ehning and Scott Brash,” he said.

Now travelling back home in Co Antrim at the family’s Glenpatrick Competition Yard, Chris is preparing for the Puissance at the Liverpool International Horse Show over the New Year and training young stock along with his family and brother Harold, the Irish European medal winning eventer.