IRELAND dominated the Leading Show Jumper of the Year competition at the Horse of the Year Show in Birmingham, England tonight (Sunday), with Cork's Billy Twomey taking first place and Meath's Cian O'Connor claiming second.

On a challenging course that saw the Irish riders posting two of only three zero scores in the Grand Prix's opening round, a largely British field failed to ignite, leaving O'Connor and Twomey to battle it out with France's Julien Epaillard and Quarat de la Loge for the top honours.

However, the French rider had one rail down in the jump-off, and O'Connor with The Serendipity Group's bay gelding Cooper then briefly held the lead with a second clear round.

Twomey, however, riding Sue Davies's mare Tinka's Serenade, produced a blazingly fast zero penalty round and collected the 16,000 euro first prize with almost six seconds in hand over his fellow-countryman, who took home 10,000 euro for his runner-up place.

The Irish riders were the only competitors from a starting field of 23 to record double clear rounds in the prestigious three-star British competition.