THE Defender Kentucky Three-Day-Event was many things: an emotional win for Oliver Townend, now with a Rolex Grand Slam in sight; food for thought for Olympic team selectors, particularly the spoilt-for-choice British, and a great start in the northern hemisphere five-star events for Irish Sport Horses.
And from a breeding perspective - the cog that starts the success story turning - a triumph for the Rosbotham family.
Cooley Rosalent’s outstanding win, which has also catapulted her this week to the top of Hippomundo’s 2024 eventing horse rankings, is a real family story. 14 years ago, JW (Woods) and Lisa Rosbotham went to Kentucky, not to the horse trials, billed as ‘the best weekend of the year’.
Instead, the Armagh father-and-daughter team were at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, hosted at the same Kentucky Horse Park venue.
Dermott Lennon’s 2002 world champion Liscalgot, Garronturton Lady, Ginger Watt and Hallmark Elite are a sample of the international show jumpers associated with the family and, aside from WEG’s show jumping action, the pair made a Horse Park detour.
“We walked the WEG cross-country and didn’t even dream we would have two home-breds competing there 14 years later,” Lisa told The Irish Field this week.
Their home-breds are the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses (WBFSH) young event horse graduates: Jewelent and Cooley Rosalent. This pair has surely set a Kentucky double after Rosalent’s five-star win in the same weekend as her full-brother competed in the four-star.
“We were delighted to have two siblings competing at Kentucky and it was extra special, as we also bred the dam, Bellaney Jewel, who had a super racing career in Great Britain and I rode the sire Valent to 1.50m Grand Prix level,” Lisa said.
Valent is the other international show jumper the Rosbothams are linked with. It was Dermott, who had spotted the then-four-year-old at a training show in the Netherlands, and called Woods and suggested that he buy him.
In their Breeders’ 10 feature, back in 2020, Lisa described picking up their unseen buy: “It wasn’t until we went to collect him from Birmingham that I realised we had bought a stallion! I’d never even sat on a stallion before, never mind owning one, but he was so quiet to work with, gelding him never entered our heads.
“I’m very grateful we never had to make that call, as he’s bred us horses we could only dream of buying.”
And now a winner of one of only seven five-star events in the world.
Britain’s Oliver Townend and the 10-year-old Irish-bred mare Cooley Rosalent, pictured during the dressage phase, won the five-star Kentucky Three-Day Event in the USA \ Michelle Dunn Photo
Five-stars
By the Jalisco B grandson Hors La Loi, the Dutch-bred Valent has the Hanoverian sire Lux Z as his damsire. His pedigree also features Hugo Simon’s stallion Jasper (going back to Fair Trial xx) and Voltaire.
Valent competed up to Grand Prix level by both Lisa, including a Nations Cup appearance at Drammen, and Dermott, then wrapped up his jumping career after winning the young rider class at the 2017 Dublin Horse Show with Olivia Roulston.
Since 2011, Valent was based at Hartwell Stud during his stud career and is now enjoying an idyllic retirement in the Rosbotham’s orchard.
Still available via frozen semen, he is highly rated by Mary McCann: “He’s one of the nicest stallions we ever had in this yard. I loved him, I love the stock even more and we have some lovely five-year-olds by him, produced by Feaha Moore. She loves the Valents too.”
Last December, Valent was upgraded by Horse Sport Ireland to a five-star eventing sire on account of his progeny’s performance.
“He mixes well with a variety of mares and his fertility is excellent,” added Mary, who bred Clovalent, Keonan Stables’ current national Grand Prix horse. “I bred his dam Cruising May Clover (Cruising) and the grand-dam Shauna’s Clover (Clover Hill).”
From Valent’s first crop of foals in 2012, performers included Jewelent, Miss Valent, Avalent and Novellent.
Jewelent was the eventing pick of the first batch, finishing eighth with Clare Abbott at the WBFSH six-year-old championship in Le Lion d’Angers (2019) and 12th the following year.
The combination were selected for the 2021 European championships in Avenches, where they finished best of the Irish in 14th place individually. Their last competition was at the Boekelo Nations Cup last October, before the gelding was bought by the Jewelent Group for Philip Dutton.
Jewelent’s dam Bellaney Jewel is another home-bred success story. Bred by Woods, she won seven races, including the Scottish Borders National at Carlisle and at Aintree and Hexham.
Bellaney Jewel is by Knockhouse Stud’s Roselier, a leading National Hunt sire of his era due to the success of Carvill’s Hill, Ebony Jane and The Grey Monk amongst many, many others. The French-bred stallion also appears in the back pedigree of another of Philip Dutton’s Irish-breds: Azure (Omar x Cavalier Royale. Breeder: Elizabeth Power).
Another National Hunt sire household name is Bellaney Jewel’s damsire The Parson, sire of Danoli, Trapper John and Large Action.
J W (Woods) Rosbotham and daughter Lisa in the Kentucky Horse Park 14 years ago. Last weekend, their Cooley Rosalent went to Kentucky and won the five-star feature event for Oliver Townend \ courtesy of Lisa Rosbotham
The Rosbothams decided to cross Bellaney Jewel with Valent in 2011, in the hope of breeding an event horse. “So in 2012, we welcomed Jewelent.
“The racing people thought we were mad using a half-bred on a successful racing mare, but Jewelent was such a lovely stamp of a foal we used Valent for the second time and in 2014, Rosalent was born.”
“She won the young event horse class in Balmoral as a four-year-old with Colin Halliday, the same year as she won the RDS young event horse qualifier at Tullylish and went on to become reserve champion in Dublin.”
“We always knew she was destined to go places, so we’re delighted she’s now part of Oliver Townend’s team and look forward to seeing her career flourish,” Lisa had also said back in 2020, after the pair won a silver medal at Le Lion d’Angers that autumn.
More of Bellaney Jewel’s offspring include the nine-year-old Govalent.
“He was produced in Ireland by Rachael Thompson and then sold in 2022 to Swedish rider Sofia Sjoborg and is currently competing at three and four-star level in Sopot, Poland.
“There’s also her four-year-old filly Bellavalent, who is super-exciting and the three-year-old gelding Crystalent,” added Lisa.
A fourth Kentucky win for Townend, after Ballaghmor Class (2021) and Cooley Masterclass’s double (2018, 2019). And now Cooley Rosalent.
A great success too for the Rosbotham family.
TEN years ago, two Irish Sport Horses - Bay My Hero and Paulank Brockagh - recorded an historic Kentucky-Badminton double. Will that be repeated next week after Badminton?
And could Oliver Townend, a superb ambassador for Irish-breds, whose hopes now depend on his single Badminton runner - Ballaghmor Class - complete that double?
Certainly, Irish Sport Horses have gotten off to a flying start in 2024 after Cooley Rosalent’s win.
Irish-breds have fared well at Kentucky, with winners over the past decade including the Bryan Maguire-bred Bay My Hero (Cult Hero x Tomgar Power Crest), the John Hagen-bred two-time winner Cooley Master Class (Ramiro B x Master Imp) and the brilliant Ballaghmor Class (Courage II), bred by Noel Hickey.
Bay My Hero was bred on traditional lines, while the latter three are all by continental sires with a strong thoroughbred influence on the dam side, such as Roselier and Master Imp, the leading eventing sire of 2014.
As for Ballaghmor Class? While we’ll most likely never confirm his full pedigree, the thoroughbred blood in his damline will be surmised about in his upcoming Horse of a Lifetime feature.
Compared to the number of horses competing in the sport of eventing, the number of horses that make it to five-star level is minuscule: 11 starters at the first of the CCI5*-L fixtures this year at Adelaide and 35 in Kentucky.
Of course, plans vary in an Olympic year and it was noticeable how some US team contenders, such as Will Coleman’s third-placed Off The Record (VDL Arkansas x Ard Ohio. Breeder: Peter Brady) and fifth-placed Caroline Pamukcu’s HSH Blake (Tolan R x Kannan. Breeder: Justin Burke) opted for Kentucky’s CCI4* option, at a similar level to the Olympic Games.
The nonsensical three-member team format at the Olympics is a challenge too for breeders, hoping to breed the elusive, sound unicorn that can produce a dressage test in the low 20s and double clears on both cross-country and show jumping days.
This has led to the belief that a jumping-bred stallion crossed with a mare with a high percentage of thoroughbred blood is the most likely candidate. A view subscribed to by Townend, even before his most recent win.
Cooley Rosalent was the third-fastest horse on cross-country day, with just 0.4 time penalties. Just two horses recorded double clears: not surprisingly, the thoroughbred Phelps and the Hanoverian D’Accord FRH, another by Diarado.
Show jumping double clears were equally scarce, again some denied by fractions of time faults showing up on the clock. Again, only two clear scoresheets were recorded by Cooley Rosalent and the Holsteiner, Carlitos Quidditch K.
Mia Farley’s Phelps tumbled down the pecking order with four fences down, although another thoroughbred Sorocaima jumped clear, with 2.8 time penalties, enabling Buck Davidson to move up five places to sixth place.
Clever Trick and Susannah Berry’s 0.4 seconds over the time allowed just denied their double clear. The Irish combination also contributed to the Irish Sport Horse having the best show jumping strike rate amongst the various studbooks in the five-star class, with the third horse being the Donegal-bred Cooley Nutcracker, who had a single fence down.
His sire Tolan R’s strike rate at producing top-class eventers deserves highlighting, as his book of mares, like Valent, would be a fraction of, say, Diarado.
Having a winner always makes a marketing mission extra worthwhile and, according to the Irish Horse Board’s Alison Corbally, there was much support for Irish-breds in Kentucky: “We were overwhelmed this year by the level of support for Irish horses. The contacts made in 2023 returned, bringing a new cohort of friends and family with them and I think staying in touch since last year has really built strong relationships in the US for the Irish Horse Board.
“The tremendous success of the Irish horses in both show jumping and eventing really created an additional bounce for the positivity for all things Irish. As a result, we are confident that there will be an increased presence from the USA at this year’s Dublin Horse Show and increased customers for Irish-bred horses.”
Clare Abbott riding Jewelent [IRL] in the FEI Eventing Nations Cup™ at Military Boekelo. The Rosbotham-bred was bought for Philip Dutton after the competition and the pair lined out in Kentucky's CCI4*-S \ EquusPix Photography
2024 Kentucky Cci5*-L Top 10 Bloodlines
1. Cooley Rosalent (ISH). 2012 mare by Valent (KWPN) - Bellaney Jewel (TB), by Roselier. Breeder: JW Rosbotham. Rider: Oliver Townend (GBR).
2. JL Dublin (HOLST). 2011 gelding by Diarado (HOLST) - Zarinna (HOLST), by Canto (HOLST). Breeder:Volker Göttsche-Götze. Rider: Tom McEwen (GBR).
3. Banzai du Loir (SF). 2011 gelding by Nouma de Auzay (SF) - Gerboise du Cochet (SF), by Livarot (SF). Breeder: Pierre Gouay. Rider: Yasmin Ingham (GBR).
4. Carlitos Quidditch K (HOLST). 2012 gelding by Quiwi Dream (HOLST) - Amsterdam (HOLST), by Cassini I. Breeder: Miriam Kühl. Rider: Malin Hansen-Hotopp (GER).
5. Vermiculus (AA). 2007 gelding by Sazeram - Wake Me Gently (TB), by Unpredictable. Breeder: Lawson Williams. Rider: Lauren Nicholson (USA).
6. Sorocaima (TB). 2011 gelding by Rock Hard Ten - Sankobasi, by Pulpit. Breeder: Machmer Hall & Poindexter Thorougbreds (USA). Rider: Buck Davidson (USA).
7. Artist (TB). 2011 gelding by Guillotine - Maxamore, by Volksraad. Breeder: Windsor Park Stud Ltd. Rider: Monica Spencer (NZL).
8. Cooley Nutcracker (ISH). 10yo gelding by Tolan R (KWPN) - Ballyshan Cleopatra (ISH), by Cobra (HOLST). Breeder: Gary Doherty. Rider: Elizabeth Halliday-Sharp (USA).
9. D’Accord FRH (HANN). 12yo gelding by Diarado (HOLST) - Anette (HANN), by Aarking (TB). Breeder: Christa von Paepcke. Rider: Christoph Wahler (GER).
10. FE Lifestyle (DSP). 14yo gelding by Leo von Faelz (HOLST) - Berina A (HOLST). Breeder: Danny Arnold. Rider: Jennie Brannigan (USA).
10 Kentucky winners
2024 - Cooley Rosalent (ISH)
2023 - Mai Baum (DSP)
2022 - fischerChipmunk FRH (HANN)
2021 - Ballaghmor Class (ISH)
2019 - Cooley Master Class (ISH)
2018 - Cooley Master Class (ISH)
2017 - fischerRocana FST (DSP)
2016 - fischerRocana FST (DSP)
2015 - fischerRocana FST (DSP)
2014 - Bay My Hero (ISH)
By the numbers
$350,000 - Rolex Grand Slam bonus if Oliver Townend wins Badminton next week.
US$600 - CCI5*-L entry fee.
70.79% - Cooley Rosalent’s TB blood percentage.
35 - CCI5*-L starters at Kentucky.
23 - in the final show jumping phase.
Five - Irish Sport Horse wins at Kentucky over the past decade.
Four - Kentucky wins for Oliver Townend, all with Irish Sport Horses.
Three - could Oliver Townend become the third rider, after Pippa Funnell (2003) and Michael Jung, to win the Rolex Grand Slam bonus?
Two - Irish Sport Horses in the CCI5* top-10: Cooley Rosalent and Goresbridge Go For Gold graduate Cooley Nutcracker (eighth), bought then at the 2019 sale by Astier Nicholas (FR).
One - Pan-Am individual gold medallist in action at Kentucky: HSH Blake.
What They Said
“Special mention to the breeders of Cooley Rosalent, Woods Rosbotham and family and to Angela and all family members of the late Harold McGahern for the superb performance of Rincoola Milsean in the show jumping Grand Prix.
“Both are very talented horses with a bright future and it was very special to witness these two horses, that we had supported through young horse classes in Ireland, represent their Irish and American connections so well stateside.”
Alison Corbally, Director General, Irish Horse Board
“From my point of view, Valent is the most underused, dual-purpose stallion in Ireland and we didn’t use him enough.”
Mary McCann, Hartwell Stud
“Yes, Valent was certainly a great buy as a four-year-old, both for myself competing him and also as a show jumping and eventing sire.”
Lisa Rosbotham
“Wrap her in cotton wool and hope we get a phone call! (From the British selectors for Paris).”
Oliver Townend on plans for Cooley Rosalent
Did you know?
?It was very nearly a unique double for the Diamant de Semilly son Diarado, whose Diabolo set up the first part by winning the earlier CCI4*-S with Will Coleman. JL Dublin’s expensive fence down in the main event just foiled that double.
?JL Dublin was the gold medal individual champion at the 2019 European championship in Avenches, where Jewelent also competed.
?Jewelent and Philip Dutton’s spectacular save on cross-country day became a viral hit.
?Cooley Rosalent now joins Triple Crown queen fischerRocana FST (2015-2017), Kings Temptress (2011) and Headley Britannia (2007) in the most recent group of mares to win Kentucky.
?The Rosbotham family’s Keonan Stables were also in the winner’s enclosure at the Meadows EC spring championship last Saturday, when their Clovalent won the Glenpatrick Horseboxes 1.30m Grand Prix with Joshua Lynch.