Lauren and Royalty des Isles (Photo from Lauren Hough's Facebook page)

Lexington, Ky. - A strong contingent of Americans was in Paris, France over the weekend competing at one of December's marquee international show jumping events, the Gucci Paris Masters. None had more success than Lauren Hough.

On Saturday night Hough (Wellington, Fla.) was only tenths of a second off the wining pace in the Longines Guerre Des Sexes. With Royalty Des Isles she jumped one of only five clear rounds and her time, 41.50, was more than two seconds better than the third place finisher Katharina Offel from Ukraine. France's Pénélope Leprevost and Flora de Mariposa won the class with a clear round in 41.40s. Hough earned a €20,000 (~$24,522)  prize for the finish.

American Lucy Davis (Los Angeles, Calif.) also jumped a clear round in the Guerre Des Sexes. She finished in fifth place riding Cassis 54. Full results are online here.

On Sunday, Hough advanced to the jump-off round of the show's highlight class, the Gucci Grand Prix. She and the Ohlala Group's Ohlala were quick over the tiebreaker course, almost a second faster than winners Martin Fuchs (SUI) and PSG future, but they had a rail down and incurred four faults. Even with the rail down, Hough and Ohlala finished in ninth place to earn top ten finish against a field of world-class competitors, and €7,000 (~$8582) in prize money. Full results from the Gucci Grand Prix are available here.