AT first glance, three Irish Sport Horses in this year’s Defender Burghley CCI5*-L top-five is a pretty formidable result. One of just seven five-star events around the world, Burghley’s cross-country track is considered to be the toughest of this elite group and Irish-breds, including the thoroughbred Moonfleet, have won there 10 times in this millennium.
Last year’s Burghley was a stellar one for Irish Sport Horses with five, including the winner Ballaghmor Class (Courage II – Kilderry Place), in the top-10.
In addition to the Noel Hickey-bred recording his second Burghley win, Cavalier Crystal placed third last year, ahead of a trio of traditional-breds in Oughterard Cooley (Fifth. Puissance – Oughterard Sky Cruise, by Cruising. Breeder: Gerry Lynch); Maja’s Hope (Sixth. Porter Rhodes – Brown Sue, by Flagmount King. Breeder: Jack Murphy) and Arklow Puissance (Eighth. Puissance – Cruising Jewel, by Cruising. Breeder: Michael Byrne.)
Cavalier Crystal, bred in Co Waterford by Thomas Horgan, matched last year’s third place again this year to finish best of the Irish-breds. By the Swedish-bred Jack Of Diamonds – not to be confused with his Irish Draught namesake – the 14-year-old mare is out of the Cavalier Royale mare, Cavalier Iris.
Her Lissava Stud sire (see Breeders’ 10 page 82) has also produced another five-star mare in Margaret Kinsella’s Rioghan Rua, and Cavalier Crystal is a previous winner of the Burghley five-year-old young event horse final in 2015 with Tiana Coudray (USA).
Now campaigned by Harry Meade, a rider who had two Irish-breds in the top-10, including fourth-placed Annaghmore Valoner.
Bred in Co Offaly by Sinead Healion, Annaghmore Valoner is the sole top-10 finisher by a thoroughbred stallion – Coroner – while her dam Annaghmore Lady Valier is by the Cavalier Royale stallion Black Walter who stands at Aileen Dempsey's Moneyquid Stud in Killeigh, Co Offaly.
Consistent
Rounding up the top-10 Irish Sport Horses is the consistent Capels Hollow Drift, bred in Co Clare by Jenny Glynn.
He and Tom Jackson finished fifth to match both their Badminton result in the springtime and last year’s Burghley place. The grey was also runner-up here to Vanir Kamira in 2022.
By Shannondale Sarco, the 13-year-old is out of the Lucky Gift x Sea Crest mare, Lucky Crest and her maternal grandsire Sea Crest is the sire of Caroline Powell’s 2010 winner, Lenamore.
The New Zealand rider was one of the favourites to win Burghley this year with her Greenacres Special Cavalier. Bred by Michael Callery, the mare gave Cavalier Royale his first Badminton winner back in May, 46 years after the Holsteiner stallion was foaled back in 1978.
Greenacres Special Cavalier’s bid to become only the fourth horse to com-plete a double win of both British five-stars in the one year came unstuck with a run-out after losing a shoe on cross-country day.
Meanwhile, the other great Irish-bred hope Cooley Rosalent was eliminated at the second part of the Rolex Corners, where Oliver Townend was unshipped.
There are other Irish connections in the top-10: sixth-placed Zaragoza is out of an ISH mare, Saracen’s Pride, bred by Jessie Hetherington in Co Donegal and sold to England, where the Saracen Hill mare later bred Gaspard Maksud’s five-star horse.
Another north-west link is Quindiva, bred in Co Sligo by Cliodhna Carroll. Registered with the Oldenburg studbook, the Quintender 2 mare is another with a Cavalier Royale link through the sport horse sire High Roller.
Leading sires
Looking at the top-10 bloodlines, the Trakehner stallion Birkhof’s Grafenstolz is the big winner, with two offspring in the top-10: Lordships Graffalo (who has now added a Burghley win to his CV, after last year’s Badminton victory) and seventh-placed Absolute Gold HDC.
The other significant presence is Rock King, the damsire of Lordships Graffalo, ninth-placed Chilli Knight and the Kate Jarvey-bred Colorado Blue (14th).
Rock King is bred mainly on thoroughbred lines – his grandsire Happy Monarch produced the Olympic horse and the first Burghley winner back in 1961: Merely-a-Monarch.
Four of this year’s top-10 horses have thoroughbred damsires: Vitali (second), Capels Hollow Drift, Zaragoza and Absolute Gold HDC, which underlines the importance of thoroughbred stamina at five-star level.
Hedging their bets to breed a horse that will produce a competitive dressage test and a clear round over the final day’s 1.30m track has seen most eventing breeders switch to continental bloodlines.
Young horses
The Burghley young event horse finals are another pointer towards breeding patterns. Strong show jumping lines are predominant amongst the finalists’ pedigrees and there were several Irish Sport Horses in the top-five. These included Oldrock Amy (Sligo Candy Boy – Oldrock Impress, by Master Imp. Breeder: Don Coen), best-placed of the Irish-breds after placing third in the five-year-old final with Austin O’Connor.
One place behind for Piggy March was Brookfield Royale Love (Fruits Of Love – Kealanine Dreamer, by West Coast Cavalier. Breeder: Richard O’Regan) and rounding off the top-five was Greannanstown Donnacha Dusty (Imnotafraid Fortuna – Greannanstown Quality Cruise, by O.B.O.S Quality. Breeder: John Flynn) with Holly Woodhead.
Three Irish-breds also recorded top-10 places in the four-year final. In sev-enth was Harry Horgan’s HHE Comilfo Supreme (Comilfo Plus Z – Cha-coa Diamond, by Chacoa. Breeder: Donna Gillen), one place above MCG Cornet (Glynnwood Cornet – Carrow Kannan, by Kannan. Breeder: Declan McGarry) with Max Warburton.
In 10th place for Charlotte Parry-Ashcroft was Carrickview Colmonell (Cormint – Scattery Diamond, by Master Imp. Breeder: John Haughey).
The attrition rate in reaching five-star level is high and so it’s always interesting to see which former Burghley young horse graduates reach those heights.
Rankings race
What impact will this year’s Burghley results have on the rankings? We can see the results instantly on Hippomundo where, for example, Birkhof’s Grafenstolz has now shot up to the leading eventing sire place, overtaking Diarado, Cavalier Royale and Valent.
Two more Irish-based sires – Shannondale Sarco (eighth) and Jack of Di-amonds (ninth) – are now in the top-10, after Capels Hollow Drift and Cavalier Crystal’s results. Coroner (12th place) is the sole thoroughbred sire in the Hippomundo top-20 eventing sires.
Leading event horses? No change, thanks to Badminton’s rich prize money, with Greenacres Special Cavalier fending off Lordship Graffalo’s challenge to hold on to her top-earning event horse position.
Any more Irish Sport Horses in the top-10? Kentucky CCI5*-L winner Cooley Rosalent (Valent – Bellaney Jewel, by Roselier. Breeder: Woods Rosbotham) retains third place and Capels Hollow Drift (ninth) and Cavalier Crystal (10th) also feature, as does Quindiva in sixth place.
Excellent results too for Irish breeders, with five in the top-10 event horse breeders, led by Michael Callery (first), Woods Rosbotham (third), Cliodhna Carroll (sixth), Jenny Glynn (ninth) and Thomas Horgan (10th).
The Irish Sport Horse studbook’s unassailable lead in Hippomundo’s eventing studbook rankings continues, a title it has held since these rankings began in 2015.
How about the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses (WBFSH) rankings? This will be a down-to-the-wire studbook title race between the Holsteiner Verband and ISH rivals.
Now updated to include the August results, the penultimate WBFSH rank-ings show the German studbook stands on 1,406 points compared to the ISH total of 1,284. Will Vitali’s second place be enough to fend off the combined ISH challenge and FEI points of Cavalier Crystal, Annaghmore Valoner and Capels Hollow Drift Burghley placings?
Cooley Rosalent (third) and Colorado Blue (fourth) are the two Irish-born horses in the WBFSH top-10 event horses, where JL Dublin is on course to finish as the WBFSH top horse this year.
The final WBFSH rankings will be known in October, at the end of the federation’s calendar year.
Burghley top 10
First – Lordships Graffalo (SHBGB). Grafenstolz (TRAK) – Cornish Queen, by Rock King (AES). Breeder: Lordships Stud, Writtle College. Rider: Ros Canter (GBR).
Second – Vitali (HOLST). Contender (HOLST) – Noble Lady I, by Heraldik (TB). Breeder: Günther Fielmann. Rider: Tim Price (NZL).
Third – Cavalier Crystal (ISH). Jack of Diamonds (SWB) – Cavalier Iris, by Cavalier Royale (HOLST). Breeder: Thomas Horgan. Rider: Harry Meade (GBR).
Fourth – Annaghmore Valoner (ISH). Coroner (TB) – Annaghmore Lady Valier (ISH), by Black Walter. Breeder: Sinead Healion. Rider: Harry Meade (GBR).
Fifth – Capels Hollow Drift (ISH). Shannondale Sarco St. Ghyvan (BWP) – Lucky Crest, by Lucky Gift (TB). Breeder: Jenny Glynn. Rider: Tom Jackson (GBR).
Sixth – Zaragoza (AES). Cevin Z (ZANG) – Saracen’s Pride, by Saracen Hill (TB). Breeder: Jane Young. Rider: Gaspard Maksud (FRA).
Seventh – Absolute Gold HDC (SF). Grafenstolz (TRAK) – Belle Merelaise, by Verglas (TB). Breeder: Philippe Patenotte. Rider: Nicolas Tou-zaint (FRA).
Eighth – Quindiva (OLD). Quintender 2 (HOLST) – Ruby Roller, by High Roller (ISH). Breeder: Cliodhna Carroll. Rider: Alexander Bragg (GBR).
Ninth – Chilli Knight (AES). Chilli Morning (BRAND) – Kings Gem, by Rock King (AES). Breeder: Rider: Gemma Stevens (GBR).
10th – Topspin (AES). Zento (KWPN) – Capriati. Breeder: WD Casburn. Rider: Alice Casburn (GBR).
By the numbers
129,412 – euros for Lordships Graffalo’s win.
10 – Irish-bred winners at Burghley in this millennium.
8 – Irish-breds in Burghley’s top-10 in 2018 when Ringwood Sky Boy (Courage II – Sky Lassie, by Sky Boy. Breeder: Myles Mahon) won for Tim Price. Best strike rate of any studbook in Burghley results this millennium.
6 – Burghley titles won by the now-retired William Fox-Pitt.
4 – mares in the 2024 Burghley top-10: Cavalier Crystal, Annaghmore Valoner, Zaragoza and Quindiva.
3 – Irish Sport Horses in this year’s top-10: Cavalier Crystal, Annaghmore Valoner and Capels Hollow Drift.
2 – top-10 Burghley offspring for Birkhof’s Grafenstolz.
1 – only one horse has won Burghley three times: Avebury.
Did you know?
- Only three horses have won Burghley more than once: Priceless (1983,1985), Avebury’s unmatched treble (2012-2014) and Ballaghmor Class (2017, 2023).
- 2019 was the first year that Burghley ran as a five-star event (after the FEI changed the classification system), officially making it more difficult than the Olympics or the world championships.
- The most famous graduate of the Burghley young event horse finals is undoubtedly Tina Cook’s dual Olympian and prolific medal-winning horse Miner’s Frolic.
- Both Cavalier Crystal and Annaghmore Valoner’s placings now see Harry Meade rise to fifth place on €171,039 in Burghley’s all-time top-five earning riders. This list is headed by Tim Price (€402,842), followed by Oliver Townend (€350,361), Piggy March (€195,195) and Andrew Nicholson (€185,435).
- Several Irish Sport Horses – such as Ringwood Sky Boy, Ballaghmor Class and Vanir Kamira – contributed to Price, Townend and March’s top-five places.
- Just three horses – all British-breds – have won Badminton and Burghley in the same year: George (1977) for Lucinda Green and two of Ginny Elliot’s string: Priceless (1985) and Master Craftsman (1989).
- The most recent Burghley win by a traditional Irish-bred? That would be the small but mighty Lenamore in 2010.
- Fifth as a seven-year-old in the WBFSH young horse championships at Le Lion d’Angers, Rock King competed mostly at Advanced level with Sarah Bullen. His own five-star progeny include Kings Fancy, Kings Gem and Rock Model.
- The most successful winning rider? William Fox-Pitt, who recorded six wins. His first was back in 1994 when his winning horse was the Irish-bred Chaka (Spectrach. Breeder not recorded) and later on, the Arabian x TB cross Tamarillo (2008) and his final win with the New Zealand thor-oughbred Parklane Hawk (2011).
- Between Chaka and Parklane Hawk were three more Irish Sport Horse winners: Highland Lad (Taldi x Diamond Lad. Breeder: Donald Murphy) in 2002; Ballincoola (Highland King x Kildalton Gold. Breeder: Pat Keogh) in 2005 and then Parkmore Ed (Parkmore Night. Breeder: Sean Aylward) in 2007.
- Fox-Pitt’s 2007 winner Parkmore Ed is by the Carnival Night son Park-more Night. Bred by Patrick Wafer, Parkmore Night’s dam is Parkmore Jewel, the Atlantic Boy mare that won the 1990 Breeders’ Championship with her pure-bred Irish Draught foal Parkmore Chance (Kildalton Gold) for her Wicklow owner-breeder.
- Donald Murphy’s Diamond Lad mare Hope 2 was a prolific breeder of five-star horses. In addition to Fox-Pitt’s 2002 Burghley winner Highland Lad, (formerly Kiltealy Lad), she also bred Piggy March’s 2009 European individual silver medallist horse Some Day Soon (Kiltealy Spring).
Irish-bred Burghley winners since 2000
2002 – Highland Lad (Taldi – Hope 2, by Diamond Lad). Breeder: Donald Murphy. Rider: William Fox-Pitt (GBR).
2004 – Moon Fleet (Strong Gale – Blue Suede Shoes, by Bargello). Breeder: Basil Brindley. Rider: Andrew Hoy (AUST).
2005 – Ballincoola (Highland King – Dawn Girl, by Kildalton Gold). Breeder: Pat Keogh. Rider: William Fox-Pitt (GBR).
2007 – Parkmore Ed (Parkmore Night – Bodalmore Lass). Breeder: Sean Aylward. Rider: William Fox-Pitt (GBR).
2010 – Lenamore (Sea Crest – Karinella (TB), by Valiyar). Breeder: Ted and Helen Walsh. Rider: Caroline Powell (NZL).
2017 – Ballaghmor Class (Courage II – Kilderry Place). Breeder: Noel Hickey. Rider: Oliver Townend (GBR).
2018 – Ringwood Sky Boy (Courage II – Sky Lassie, by Sky Boy). Breeder: Myles Mahon. Rider: Tim Price (NZL).
2019 – MGH Grafton Street (O.B.O.S Quality 004). Breeder: Martin J. Collins. Rider: Pippa Funnell (GBR).
2022 – Vanir Kamira (Camiro de Haar Z – Fair Caledonian, by Dixi). Breeder: Kate Jackson. Rider: Piggy March (GBR).
2023 – Ballaghmor Class (Courage II – Kilderry Place). Breeder: Noel Hickey. Rider: Oliver Townend (GBR).