Allen’s Buddy Pacino Amiro proves class is permanent
Breen, Twomey, Moloney, Blanchette and Kinsella also in winning form
Pacino Amiro (ISH) repaid the faith and patience of his connections by returning from injury with his long-time partner, Bertram Allen to win in Rotterdam on Saturday on his first appearance in five-star competition for a year.
The son of Pacino, bred in Donegal by Simon Scott and owned by Aiden McGrory, proved that class is permanent to emerge triumphant in the BIOS-Groep Prize at the Longines League Of Nations show.
With Allen providing expert guidance from the saddle, the 13-year-old showed a clean pair of heels to a high calibre field in the ten-strong jump-off. Allen’s Nations Cup teammate, Tom Wachman made it a great day for the Irish as his closes challenger, on Obora’s Laura.
An Olympic competitor in Tokyo in 2021, Pacino Amiro’s last top-flight appearance was in jumping a double clear to help the Underwriting Exchange Irish Show Jumping team win the Aachen Nations Cup for the first time in 14 years last July.
He and Allen were named first alternates on the Irish squad for the Olympics but injury to the gelding ruled them out of the trip to Paris.
‘Buddy’, as he is affectionately known by the Ballywalter Stables team, was given plenty of time to recuperate before Allen began to build him back up slowly.
He returned to FEI action in a one-star Medium Tour 1.20m class at Kronenberg on April 11, and was brought along expertly from there, the challenges in height and grade gradually increasing before the decision was made to choose this 1.50m event as his first five-star examination.
When the dust settled, the show jumping world knew that Pacino Amiro would be challenging for major honours once more in the future, a second clear in 37.88 proving too good for the opposition.
Wachman, who was Allen’s teammate as Ireland finished sixth in the previous day’s Nations Cup and when they won in La Baule three weeks ago, wasn’t far off spoiling the party, but his clear in 38.16 was a brilliant performance good enough for the silver medal.
The Eminem song, Without Me, might well have been blaring round Ballywalter in the aftermath.
“Guess who’s back?’ No wonder Allen was in such ebullient form.
“(He’s an) experienced horse, he’s 13, I’ve had him now six years but he’s a brilliant horse with a lot of experience. He made my job easy today,” said the smiling Wexford athlete.
“I got him as a seven-year-old – Kenneth Graham rode him before – and he’s done the Olympics, he’s done the World Games and everything. He got a small injury before the Olympics last year and we’ve been spending a lot of time getting him going again, getting him fit, and we’re very lucky to have such good grooms, vets and farriers. Everybody put a lot of effort into him.
“He just has a fantastic mind. This is the first time we tried to win something in a year and he responds and fights with you, so it makes it fun then.
“I had this feeling that it’s the right time. I had a small feeling that I would maybe jump the Grand Prix with him… but I rode him yesterday and thought maybe it was one show too early, better ride today instead.
“He’s obviously a great horse and has a lot of great results but he’s a special character and I’m very fond of him. Everybody that looks after him really likes him. He’s just a really friendly, nice horse.”
It is ten years since Allen added his name to a lustrous roll of honour in the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix in Paris and while he wasn’t in attendance this year, Denis Lynch made sure that Irish eyes were smiling in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower with a brilliant podium finish in Saturday’s individual feature.
The Tipperary pilot has been the personification of consistency on the LGCT and while he insisted that his focus was on the team even in the Global Champions League, his third place finish with Mr Boombastic behind Belgian Gilles Thomas (with Ermitage Kalone) moved him up to third in the individual classification.
With only three of the seven combinations in the jump-off managing double clears, Lynch’s safety-first policy paid dividends, Mr Boombastic (below) leaving every rail intact in a time of 52.70 to ensure another strong result in his 2025 campaign.
“I’m here for New York Empire, so I ride with my focus on them, and what comes after them is a bonus,” said Lynch, who also finished fourth in Sunday’s Eiffel Challenge with 16-year-old Cordial.
“(It was) a fantastic atmosphere, but always the French are (enthusiastic), they’re very knowledgeable and real horse country.”
Lynch’s Tipp compatriot, Shane Breen snatched the honours from under the nose of his brother Trevor, coming out last with talented nine-year-old “dream horse” BP Arctic Blue in what amounts to his back garden, to win a speed class at the four-star Al Shira’aa Hickstead Derby Show on Saturday.
This followed the victories on Thursday of Longines FEI European Championship nominated entries, Billy Twomey and Jumping Jack van de Kalevallei in a jump-off, and Friday’s triumph by Peter Moloney in a two-phase competition with Nielson. Commdt Geoff Curran was runner-up behind Twomey, while also making the podium behind his fellow Waterford native, Moloney.
But it was the Battle of the Breens in the Clipmyhorse.tv Master’s Trophy that had most people talking, with Trevor looking sure to add to his illustrious record in the famed English arena by setting a strong time of 41.12 as first of a dozen combinations in the jump-off.
That was still the standard as Shane and the grey gelding bought by his wife Chloe sauntered onto the grass from the pocket, the final challengers. A no-holds-barred attacking policy led to the 40-second barrier being broken and an ultimately comfortable victory secured, with a time of 39.71.
“(Trevor) said, ‘What did you do that for? I knew you were going to do that,’” revealed the winner, who would steer Fanfan De Beaufour to a fantastic fourth in Sunday’s Derby, after two time faults kept them out of the three-combo jump-off won by Robert Whitaker (GBR) with Gentlemen VH Veldhof.
“I saw him go and it was a very good round, neat and tight, but I thought I’d go full speed to the first. The late Con Power once told me that if you gallop through the start beams, you’ll always be half a second ahead of everyone, so I just thought, ‘Gallop!’ I didn’t know if I’d beaten Trevor, then looked at the clock and was dead chuffed.
“Arctic Blue is an absolutely incredible horse. I always thought he looked like a dream horse. I produced him quietly last year, and this year he’s been amazing. He’s jumped six grands prix, won one, second in four and third, and he’s an absolute pleasure. He’s super smart and a great character, and he gives me everything. You can feel his whole body, like an elastic band.
“And all he wants is a few Polos and cuddles. He wants to be a celebrity, and hopefully he will be. Nine years old and for me, he’s my future dream horse.”
Twomey and Jumping Jack Van De Kalevallei were fifth but they had already hit the target when leading another Irish 1-2 in the ClipMyHorse.TV Derby Tankard, from Curran and Tempo Man.
The Irish duo were among just five clear rounds in the 1.50m class but Twomey was an easy winner in a time for 42.96 seconds.
“I haven’t had him that long, just since December, and he’s done nothing but be seriously competitive at all the shows he’s been to, so I’m very lucky to have him,” said the Southwell-based Cork athlete.
“He has all the attributes. He’s very powerful and very careful. Although he’s a stallion, he’s very brave and always wanting to do his job correctly. He has an exuberant gallop, so suits these big rings, he can cover the ground. I just tried to stay in a good rhythm, and luckily, I was just slightly faster.”
Colligan native, Moloney and Fenor-born Curran made it a Déise Derby to bag two of the podium slots after the Hickstead Derby Two-Phase on Friday. Moloney won the Tom Hudston Trophy when navigating the speed phase in 33.43 with Nielson. Curran steered the Paul Douglas-bred Irish Sport Horse DHF Alliance to third.
There were a trio of triumphs at three-star shows in America last week also. Robert Blanchette claimed two of those at the World Equestrian Centre in Ocala, starting with Coupis in a speed class on Wednesday.
On that occasion, Blanchette also filled the middle berth of the podium with Carnlea Premier Balou (ISH) and then combined with the 11-year-old gelding bred in Armagh by Premier Sport Horses to score the following evening, ahead of another Irish rider, Paul O’Shea with Hellcat.
Mark Kinsella and Bogano registered a deserved victory at Traverse City on Thursday night, after the pair had had to settle for silver at the venue last week. They skated into the winner’s enclosure in the speed class, with almost a second and a half in hand of Richard Spooner (USA). The Dubliner’s wife Sophie was there but they are returning to California now as she is expecting their second child.
“Now we’ve been here for three weeks, he’s really gotten used to the place and I think horses thrive in this ring,” said Kinsella of his time spent at Traverse City Horse Shows. “He was second in a ranking class last week, so to get the win today is just icing on the cake.
“He has great technique and he’s naturally a very fast horse and that’s the ride that he likes. Regardless of the format—speed, jump-off—he can do it all. He’s a phenomenal horse and he thrives on being a competitor.”
BREEDING
PACINO AMIRO (ISH) – 2012 gelding by Pacino (BWP) out of Carnone Dancing Queen (ISH) by NC Amiro (AES). Breeder: Simon Scott, Co. Donegal. Owner: Ballywalter Stables Ltd. Rider: Bertram Allen (IRL).
CARNLEA PREMIER BALOU (AKA PREMIER SPRINT) (ISH) – 2014 gelding by Balou Du Rouet (OLD) out of Armagh (ISH) by Cavalier Royale (HOLST). Breeder: Premier Sport Horses, Keady, Co Armagh. Owner: RTSC, LLC. Rider: Robert Blanchette (IRL).
DHF ALLIANCE (ISH) – 2015 Mare by Ard Vdl Douglas (KWPN) out of Rosie Bee (ISH) by Lux Z (HANN). Breeder: Paul Douglas, Aughnacloy, Co Tyrone. Owner: Jess Stallard & Minister for Defence. Rider: Commandant Geoff Curran (IRL).
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