Home-bred grey comes of age to win HOYS grand prix with rider who came back from serious injury: ‘He ticks all the boxes’

Ireland’s Trevor Breen and home-bred Kannoon Blue delivered the sole double clear to win the HOYS leading showjumper of the year title (12 October).

The nine-year-old grey breezed over Alan Wade’s intense grand prix track, seizing victory with scope to spare.

“Kannoon Blue is a phenomenal horse. He’s a half-brother out of the same mother as Highland President, who would traditionally be my best horse,” said Trevor, in reference to his European team silver medal-winning ride.

“But this guy is really coming of age this year. He’s just got better and better. I’ve always believed in him, so it’s nice when that starts to come into fruition.

“He ticks all the boxes, he has huge amounts of scope, he’s unbelievably careful and he’s quite quick as well – and he’s getting quicker.

“He’s an unbelievable horse to ride. I really think there’s not much that he won’t be able to do in the future.”

Trevor returned to competition at the end of last year, after breaking his neck and back in a fall in Hamburg in May 2024. He won a grand prix in Dubai in January and has “kicked on” since.

“It’s been a phenomenal year – I couldn’t have dreamt of this kind of year when I was lying in the hospital bed in Hamburg,” he said.

“Huge thanks to my team, my wife Caroline, my family, owners and staff at home. Without them, I wouldn’t have been able to come back and to get going as well as I have with all the horses. It’s a huge team effort, thank you to everyone for putting me here – it’s all down to them.”

He added: “The atmosphere here is brilliant. All the riders love riding here. You go in there and you just grow – it’s just amazing and the crowd get behind you.

“Even though John Whitaker was last to go – and I nearly wanted him to win myself, because he’s a legend of the sport and British as well – there was still huge support for me in there, and I’m hugely grateful for that, it’s really appreciated.”

A total of eight competitors went through to the jump-off – six clears and the two fastest combinations with four faults.

Former winner Jodie Hall-McAteer and Key West were the first of the four-faulters to go against the clock, ramping up the pressure on the remaining seven by virtue of a neat clear. Eventual runners up Sandy McClean and Gino F, who also carried four faults from the first round, were next in – and shaved close to three seconds off Jodie’s time.

The next three riders each picked up a smattering of faults, before Trevor and Kannoon Blue raised the bar.

From here, it was Ireland versus the Whitaker family. Robert Whitaker and the great Vermento were drawn as the penultimate combination to start, and Robert’s father, showjumping legend John Whitaker (Equine America Unick Du Francport) would be the final rider to challenge for the title.

Robert caught Trevor on time, but a rail at the Evoke oxer dropped him to third in the final results. John, a touch steadier, also had a pole at the butterfly upright to finish fifth.

“I’m happy with the way the horse performed – he jumped very good. He’s had a little break, and he’s very fresh; probably a bit disappointed I didn’t win it, but that’s showjumping for you,” said Robert.

Sandy faced an anxious wait to see how far his tactical, speedy jump-off performance could lift him up the leaderboard. Their second place rosette all the more special for the journey this pair have been on together.

“It’s hard coming back in with four faults, being the right start of the jump-off, and not really knowing what you got to do,” said Sandy.

“He’s such a big, scopey, fast horse that we threw down the mark, and it nearly paid off. I didn’t think we’d end up as high as we did, but I’m absolutely delighted.

“Lexi, my groom, walked him off, so I was able to go and watch – and I nearly fell off the edge of that bannister! I thought, ‘We’re getting closer to it here’. It got to a point where we guaranteed top five, then top four, then top three, and before you knew it, we were second.

“I’ve been riding Gino F for seven years, he taught me to jump the big classes and he’s been unbelievable. Just over a year ago, he sustained a bad injury and had to be on box rest – we didn’t know if he’d jump again. So to be back at this level again with him a year later is just unbelievable.”

Vet Peter Schofield was key in getting to the bottom of Gino’s injury and it’s down to him, as well as the care and rehabilitation by Sandy and his team at home, including from his Mum, the kids in the riding school and daily trips to a Scottish beach, that the horse recovered and is thriving.

“It took a lot of time, and now he is back and feeling amazing,” said Sandy.

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