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Hickstead, Great Britain - July 29, 2006 - There was near enough to an Irish whitewash in the Sky Sports Speed Classic at Hickstead today when Cian O'Connor, third-last to go, scorched to victory with Zanoubia ahead of Frenchman Roger-Yves Bost while Irish duo Shane Breen and Cameron Hanley slotted into third and fourth places.

O'Connor is the 26 year old who won and lost that now-infamous gold medal in Athens and who has worked hard to maintain his profile in the aftermath. He is vying for a place in the Irish team for the World Equestrian Games with his Olympic ride, the 15 year old Waterford Crystal, and today's result is a confidence-booster for him and for all of the Irish squad who were disappointed when finishing fifth in yesterday's Super League Nations Cup.

The Speed Classic was run over a derby-style track using the white gates, a section of the big bank and the road-jump along with those notorious Hickstead hedge oxers, and America's Chritstine McCrea enjoyed a good run when clear with Rioletto. However it was Shane Breen and Mullaghdrin Gold Rain, the Irish partnership that won Thursday's Ford Ranger Grand Prix, who set the class alight when the fearless and talented grey, definitely a prospect for the future, clipped only the last to add four seconds to their time and set the target at 84.27 seconds.

Hanley steered Charming Fox home a little more cautiously, stopping the clock with a clear round in 84.38 seconds and these two led the field until O'Connor and Zanoubia arrived into the ring looking like they meant serious business. The Kildare-born rider had finished second in the qualifying class in the outside ring two days earlier and it was foot-to-the-floor from the very start this time out with Zanoubia jumping big and clean all the way. It was like watching a motor-racing driver negotiating a chicane as he weaved his way through the last three fences, never taking a pull and finding the distances coming up just right, and with the scoreboard showing a time of 79.50 seconds he had the advantage with just two left to go.

Two fences down kept Candice King and Constantin out of contention but, last into the ring, Frenchman Roger-Yves Bost and Kire Royal Star, who had pipped O'Connor on Thursday, looked like they might just do it again. "Bost is one of the fastest riders around" O'Connor said afterwards, "so I thought I might be in trouble", but he could not match the sheer fluidity of the Irishman's run and had to settle for second when crossing the line in 81.53 seconds.

"Zanoubia is great" O'Connor pointed out. "I got her last September and she won classes in Cavan, Paris and at Towerlands in England, and she did well in Arezzo in Italy in the spring. She's only 15.3hh but she's a blood mare and she's learned to lengthen her stride. Between fences two and three was a normal nine strides that the bigger horses could do in eight but she managed the eight and that got us started just right. Her rhythm was fantastic from start to finish and this has been a good school for Dublin - its always nice to win a class there. She's naturally brave and super-careful but you can't keep galloping

her all the time so I'll drop her down to some small classes now" the rider explained.

One of the big talking points at Hickstead this weekend is the huge success of the BBC's recently televised charity fund-raising programme "Only Fools on Horses" which featured 12 celebrities including American-born comedian Ruby Wax, former British Olympic athlete Sally Gunnell, and a variety of TV and radio personalities including British-based gardening expert Diarmuid Gavin who won massive support from the voting public with his particular Irish charm.

British show jumper Tim Stockdale acted as Head Trainer and the competitors, the majority of whom were aged in their 40's and had little or no riding experience, had only a few weeks of preparation before taking part in nine days of televised show jumping at the Unex Towerlands equestrian centre at Braintree in Essex - and it was a thrill a minute. International show jumpers Jessica Kuerten and Robert Smith and fashion model/polo player Jodie Kidd were the competition judges, and these almost totally inexperienced riders were jumping fences up to 1.25m by the end of the series which saw the public

"hoofing off" one rider each night.

Ruby Wax fell in love with her horse Mr Kenneth who, however, gave her a nasty black eye when they got into a bit of a muddle and there were thrills and spills aplenty. The winner was GMTV television producer Jenni Falconer and the knock-on effect of the series has been very positive indeed with the public reaction taking everyone by surprise. "The riders were really brave and the show was a huge undertaking because there was a crew of over 300 people working on it" Robert Smith commented at Hickstead today. "It was a great concept - imagine someone who is only riding for five weeks jumping 1.25m at the end of it - they were brilliant, and the programme is one of the best things that has happened to show jumping in a long time. People could see that it really can be a great spectator sport, the public got really involved, and they were able to understand how it all works as well as realising that anyone can take part in it if they put in the training".

One foolish radio show host commented live on the air during the series that show jumping was "a bit of a doddle and not much of a challenge" for the participants but he found out otherwise a few days later when his boss insisted he should join the celebrity group for a training session and ended up eating humble pie after taking a tumble during the lunging lesson. "I take it all back - its not easy at all" he admitted afterwards, "you guys are great!" and the show raised almost US$540,000 for charities around the world.

Tomorrow however there will be no "Fools on Horses" as riders battle it out for the prestigious King George V and Queen Elizabeth 11 Cups which bring the Royal International at Hickstead to a close.