IRISH connections certainly made an impression as the first week of the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) kicked off in Wellington, Florida. One of the highlights of the weekend was when Offaly’s Darragh Kenny won the $32,000 three-star 1.50m Classic riding Chaccossini, in a class which saw five Irish in the top 10.
Kenny was best of the 40 starters, jumping double clear in a jump-off time of 32.16 seconds. There were just six double clears in the class, with Tom Wachman on Do It Easy among them - they placed fifth (34.75). Simon McCarthy on Gotcha came seventh with four faults in 33.8; Kenny on his other mount Zero K placed eighth with four faults in 34.44 and O’Connor on Belvedere was 10th with four faults in 36.02.
Following his win with Chaccossini, who was previously ridden by Martin Fuchs (SUI), Kenny said: “Straight away we clicked. Our first show we won a ranking class already, second show I took him to London – he was clear in a 1.55m and won a big 1.50m class – and this is my third show with him. He’s a cool horse. He’s unbelievably fun and competitive. He also has this huge stride, which makes him fast against the clock.”
There was another Irish connection in the same class, as Charlotte Jacobs (USA) rode the 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Thomascourt Ballypatrick (Balou Du Rouet (OLD) x Doctros Delight (ISH) by Indoctro (HOLST)), bred by Seamus Casey, to place third when double clear in 34.32.
Nayel Nassar and ESI Ali (ISH) won the $140,000 three-star Grand Prix at at week one of the Winter Equestrian Festival at Wellington \ Sportfot
Grand Prix
Irish riders may not have featured in the $140,000 three-star Grand Prix on Saturday, but an Irish-bred horse claimed the top spot. Egypt’s Nayel Nassar rode the Ennisnag Stud-bred ESI Ali (ISH), previously ridden by Seamus Hughes Kennedy, into first place from a start list of 45. The 10-year-old gelding is by Stakkato Gold (HANN) out of Adelheid (KWPN) by Tygo (UNK).
“This one feels great,” said Nassar after his win. “It’s always special to win here, and I’ve come close a few times, but never won under the lights. This was my horse’s first time jumping at night, so I didn’t know what to expect, but he impressed us all.”
Ribbons
WEF 1 kicked off on Wednesday, January 8th and Irish riders were out to start the series as they mean to go on.
In Wednesday’s $6,000 1.40m Open Jumper class, Darragh Kerins rode Proud Mary into fourth place, followed by Senan Hayes on Kaytaro in sixth, meanwhile in the $2,000 1.30m Open Jumper class, Kevin Mealiff was on form, claiming fourth, sixth and seventh places with Juanito van de Zeilhoek, Hollywood de Rase Z and Seattle respectively.
The day’s young horse classes featured some Irish names too, with Simon McCarthy winning the Seven-year-old class with Movie Star; James Brennan on CSJ Sunny Side was fourth in the Six-year-olds and Hayes was joint first and fourth in the Five-year-olds with Paisley and Uintah respectively.
Thursday’s $6,000 three-star 1.40m class saw a fourth place for Nicky Galligan on Serenade B.
The $32,000 three-star WEF Challenge Cup Round 1 saw two Irish men on the podium, with Shane Sweetnam on his new mount, nine-year-old gelding Coriaan van Klapscheut Z in second (43.39) and Nicky Galligan on the 12-year-old mare VDL Nikita van de Leeuwerk a very close third (43.54). They were only beaten by Roberto Teran Tafur (COL) on Iron Maiden (41.63).
Cian O’Connor took the runner-up spot with Lambada Shake AG in the $8,000 1.45m Open Jumper class, while Tom Wachman secured sixth place on board Galway and 10th place on Hawaii, with brother Max placing eighth and ninth on Fancy De Kergane and Lexington respectively.
The day’s $2,500 1.35m Open Jumper class saw Stephen Moore claim second place on Cacan, with Francis Derwin sixth on board Fernhill Leonardo.
Brennan and CSJ Sunny Side took second place in the day’s Six-year-old class, while Kevin Gallagher went one better to win the Seven-year-old class on Ninja BF.
Galligan was back in the top 10 in Friday’s $32,000 three-star 1.45m class when placing eighth with Serenade B, with Jenny Rankin getting on the scoreboard in the $6,000 1.40m Open Jumper class, finishing eighth with Big Beauty Z.
Hayes was a joint winner in the day’s Five-year-old class with both Paisley and Uintah, while Gallagher and Ninja BF were fourth in the Seven-year-old class. Mealiff and Hollywood de Rase Z were sixth in the $6,000 1.40m Open Jumper class.
While Irish riders didn’t feature in Saturday’s international Grand Prix, the $30,000 (National) Grand Prix saw Cormac Hanley take the runner-up spot with For Dad, with Paul O’Shea placing fifth on board Spy.
The Winter Equestrian Festival continues until March 30th.