Breen on top of the World
Five major wins for Irish riders on memorable week
Shane Breen brought the curtain down on a stunning week for Irish show jumpers yesterday, recording the only double clear with BP Arctic Blue, from a starting field of 50, to win the Longines World Cup leg at the four-star show in Abu Dhabi.
Bertram Allen (twice), Philip McGuane, Jack Ryan and Niall Talbot were other Green Jackets to be triumphant around the world, ensuring Amhrán na bhFiann rang out on three continents.
And it might have been more, as Shane Sweetnam and Conor Swail were second and third respectively in four- and five-star Grands Prix in America.
It was a fantastic effort by Breen today to round off a memorable week and the Cashel man showed all his experience to land the €80,000 first prize.
The top 13 progressed to the second round at the Al Forsan International Sports Resort but Breen and his 10-year-old gelding took it out of the hands of the opposition by repeating their first round accuracy to claim the €80,000 first prize (below).
It proved an excellent class for the Irish as Castledermot man, Mikey Pender bagged fourth with the Hughes-bred-and-owned HHS Los Angeles (ISH).
David Simpson and Billy Fern also made the cut but finished with a dozen faults to finish 12th.
“I knew a lot of the fast combinations were to follow,” said Breen of his early start in the second round. “So my idea was just to stick to the plan. I had some doubts about the plank but it worked out. It was great.”
Pender had been agonisingly close to topping the victory rostrum himself on Thursday, as he registered a runner-up return in the Diamond Tour Longines ranking class behind Syrian rider Shady Ghrayeb in a nailbiter.
Pender led the way with what looked an unbeatable time of 35.50 at the end of a double clear in the two-phase competition on another Hughes product, HHS Orchidee (ISH), but Ghrayeb somehow eked out another four-hundredths of a second with Cabernet du Mars.
Simpson finished third in the Pearl Tour’s speed and handiness class over 1.45m earlier yesterday with Pjotr van de Kruishoeve later.
Two combinations were quicker but with four seconds added for each fence knocked, the clear round in 83.46 bagged a strong result, with Henrik von Eckermann (SWE) and Glamour Girl triumphant.
Bertram Allen combined with two horses associated with Darragh Kenny for a pair of wins at the four-star show at Wellington International in Florida.
The Wexford athlete kicked off by partnering Eddy Blue to score in thrilling style in the Irish-dominated $116,000 Challenge Cup Round III in the early hours of Friday morning.
Allen and the high-class 14-year-old were too hot in the 11-combo jump-off, galloping to a clear in 48.68 seconds. Sweetnam and Gilona AO just edged out Cian O’Connor and Canbella Blue for the final podium berth, stopping the clock in 50.88.
Allen made it a very fruitful class when completing the top five with Kadans, a second rosette for that horse so far this week.
On Saturday morning, Allen was in the stirrups as Zero K claimed the honours in the 1.50m speed class, clocking a time of 66.42 to grab the lion’s share of the prize money (above).
And just as he had done earlier in the week, he completed the top five with Kadans.
In the early hours of yesterday morning, Sweetnam was denied by American Lillie Keenan and her appropriately named Fasther in the $215,000 Grand Prix.
Two Olympic champions and five of the top 10-ranked riders in the world tacked up so Sweetnam’s endeavours with his nine-year-old Rural Juror SCF were impressive.
The Castlemagner native and his talented partner made little of the opening test and then registered a second clear in the 11-strong tiebreaker with a time of 40.87 seconds.
Keenan and Fasther were just that, however, by three-tenths of a second to prevent another Green Jacketed success.
One of the week’s five-star shows took place in in Thermal, California, and Swail guided Casturano to third the hugely competitive $340,000 five-star Grand Prix at Desert Horse Park just around the same time.
Swail and his 12-year-old completed a double clear performance over the mammoth 1.60m course – something only four combinations managed – and they stopped the timers in 39.04 to finish in the bronze medal position behind Mathijs Van Asten (NED) and Hotspot (36.64), and USA’s Callie Schott with Uricas V/D Kattevennen (38.71).
Also in America, Philip McGuane maintained his recent run of strong results as with a win and a runner-up finish at Ocala’s three-star show.
The Corofin rider claimed victory with My Lady Van De Krekel in Friday’s 1.45m Winning Round, the duo seeing off Charlotte Jacobs (USA) and her Irish Sport Horse Thomascourt Ballypatrick, bred in Kerry by Séamus Casey.
Both jumped excellent double clears but it was the Irish combination that took the honours, proving too quick along the turf to stop the clock at 40.88.
McGuane and Coronado bagged a silver medal in the Grand Prix Qualifier in Week IV of the Winter Spectacular Show Series the day before.
Only half of the 10 that progressed to the decisive round repeated their initial feats and McGuane hit the front with his evergreen 17-year-old gelding showing a clean pair of heels and blemish-free, recording a time of 41.74 seconds.
That lasted right until very late on, when Canada’s Sean Jobin put all he had picked up on while watching from the pocket, to win in a time of 41.29 with Grande Dame DK.
A few hours earlier, Paul O’Shea, from across the Shannon in Kildimo, steered two horses to the top-five in a speed class won by Jacobs and Thomascourt Ballypatrick.
O’Shea made the third spot on the podium with Manglar Ls La Silla and was also fifth with Imerald Van’t Voorhof, just edging out McGuane and My Lady Van De Krekel, who did not have to wait long for their moment of glory.
Jack Ryan was on the victory trail on Friday in Vejer de la Frontera, repeating his pre-Christmas two-star triumph with Keatingstown Mister Cool at Lier by delivering at three-star level in Andalucia with Susan Fitzpatrick’s now 10-year-old (above).
Ryan stewarded the progressive gelding to a double clear in the 1.45m two-phase class, with a lightning time of 25.27 seconds in the speed section of the course cementing the victory. And the Kilkenny pilot rounded off the top five also with the Irish Sport Horse DSH Lucky Junior, owned and bred by his uncle, Seamus Drea.
Also in Spain, Niall Talbot added to the remarkable catalogue of victories when leading home an Irish 1-2 in the 1.45m jump-off competition at Olica’s three-star show.
Talbot partnered Charming Dream Z to victory while Eoin McMahon was close behind in second with Disney Z.
After the first round, it seemed that France might be favoured for the gold medal, having qualified three of the nine combinations that took part in the decider.
But it turned into a duel in the sun among the Irish pairings. Talbot and his 10-year-old stallion laid down the gauntlet with a lightning clear in 36.53 (above).
Only McMahon looked like threatening the Kildare athlete’s victory, and the Cratloe pilot went into the arena with all guns blazing, before failing short by 18-hundredths of a second.
BREEDING
HHS LOS ANGELES (ISH) – 2014 mare by Le Roi (ZDP) out of China Cavalier (ISH) by Cavalier Royale (HOLST). Breeder: Marion Hughes. Owner: Bravo Hughes Ltd. Rider: Michael Pender (IRL).
HHS ORCHIDEE (ISH) – 2016 br mare by Le Roi (ZfdP) out of HHS Tiffany (ISH) by Luidam (KWPN). Breeder: Miguel Bravo. Owner: Bravo Hughes Ltd, Molly Hughes Bravo. Rider: Michael Pender (IRL)
DSH LUCKY JUNIOR (ISH) – 2016 grey gelding by Bbs McGregor (ISH) out of Dahlyi (ISH) by Luidam (KWPN). Breeder and Owner: Seamus Drea, Co Kilkenny. Rider: Jack Ryan (IRL)
THOMASCOURT BALLYPATRICK (ISH) – 2015 brown gelding by Balou du Rouet (OLD) out of Doctros Delight (ISH) by Indoctro (HOLST). Breeder: Séamus Casey, Co Kerry. Owner: North Star Sport Horses. Rider: Charlotte Jacobs (USA)
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