KILDARE’S Michael Pender and the 14-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare HHS Fortune (Catoki (HOLST) x HHS Daisy (ISH) by Ard Vdl Douglas (KWPN)), bred by Marion Hughes, once again showed the strength of their partnership, when they won the four-star 1.45m Longines Challenge at the four-star Nations Cup show at Abu Dhabi, UAE on Friday. There were 45 combinations on the start list, with 15 managing to jump a clear round within the time allowed. Pender’s time of 57.90 seconds was well ahead of his nearest rival Abdelkebir Ouaddar (MAR) on Baccarat Meniljean (59.53), who had to settle for the runner-up spot, while Germany’s David Will on Dream Star One were more than four seconds behind that (63.70) to finish third.
Nations Cup
The concluding four-star 1.55m Nations Cup class on Sunday saw Ireland finish fifth of the seven teams with a total of 20 faults across the two rounds.
Shane Breen was first to go for Team Ireland and finished the first round on four faults with the 11-year-old mare Z7 Oilina. Shane’s younger brother Trevor was next in for the Irish and also incurred four faults with Highland President, as did Derry’s David Simpson riding Mambo Nr 5 B. Pender was the anchor man and also finished on four faults on board HHS Cyprus (ISH), leaving Ireland on a score of 12 after the first round. At that stage, Great Britain were joint leaders, along with the home team from the UAE with four faults each, while Ireland and Belgium shared joint third on 12 faults apiece.
In round two, Shane Breen and Pender each picked up four faults, while Trevor Breen jumped a fantastic clear round. David Simpson on Mambo Nr 5 B was the discard score in each round.
The class was won by a very strong team from Great Britain, who finished on a total of just five penalties. The home team from United Arab Emirates were runners-up with eight faults and included the Irish Sport Horse BBS McGregor, while the third podium step was filled by the Belgian team on a score of 16.
In the ribbons
The four-star show at the Sharjah Equestrian and Racing Club ran from Thursday, January 30th, until Sunday, February 2nd.
Shane Breen made a good start on Thursday, when finishing in the top 10 with the six-year-old stallion Opportunity in the one-star young horse 1.15m/ 1.25m six and seven-year-old class.
Friday’s four-star 1.40m two-phase special class saw Trevor Breen place seventh with Kannoon Blue, followed by David Simpson in eighth with Billy Fern.
The day’s young horse class saw Shane Breen and Opportunity secure a podium finish when third from a start list of 58. They jumped double clear in a jump-off time of 42.87.
On Saturday, Simpson rode Billy Fern into ninth place in the four-star 1.45m class from 29 starters.
Shane Breen and the home-bred 12-year-old gelding Scarteen had to settle for the runner-up position in the four-star 1.50m class. From the start list of 27, only six jumped clear within the time in the first round to make it through to the jump-off. Breen went for it against the clock and finished in the fastest time (39.71), but an unfortunate pole on the ground for him meant that Abdullah Mohd Al Marri (UAE) on James VD Oude Heihoef took the top spot with the only double clear of the class (42.13).
Sunday’s four-star 1.45m class saw more top 10 finishes for Irish riders. Out of the 38 starters, there were only four clear first rounds, so it was a competitive jump-off for the podium places. Pender on HHS Fortune was among the four and rode a very fast jump-off round (37.64), but an uncharacteristic eight faults put them in fourth place at the finish. The class was won by Sweden’s Antonia Pettersson Haggstrom on Qartoon van de Plataan (39.21).