IRISH riders had a super show at Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, where Kildare’s Mikey Pender concluded a very successful weekend by winning Sunday’s five-star 1.55m Longines World Cup Grand Prix with the 13-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding, HHS Calais, bred by Ita Brennan in Kilkenny. The horse is by Cavalier Royale (HOLST) out of MHS OBOS Cruise (ISH) by OBOS Quality (OLD) and is owned by Bravo Hughes Ltd.
Out of the 40 starters in the class, 14 combinations managed to keep all the poles standing in the first round, to make it into the jump-off. Tipperary’s Shane Breen rode 11-year-old grey gelding Scarteen (Cardento x Chellano Z) to take the lead with a lovely clear round in 51.64 seconds, but when Pender came into the arena, he rode a brilliant clear, shaving more than a second off Breen’s time to finish in 50.39 seconds, which put him into the lead.
There was a nail-biting end to the class, as last to go, Belgium’s Celine Schoonbroodt-De Azevedo and Deesse des Embruns went for it, stopping the clock in 50.70 seconds – not quite fast enough to knock Pender off the top spot, but enough to nudge Shane Breen into third.
From the €164,700 World Cup class prize fund, Mikey Pender took home just over €54,000 for his win, while Shane Breen picked up just shy of €25,000 for third place.
“It was a brilliant end to the tour. We had a great result the previous week with the team, so to follow on with a five-star Grand Prix win was just amazing! We had a great time in the UAE for the last six weeks and it was a brilliant start to our season,” Pender told The Irish Field following his success.
Congratulations
Irish Horse Board Director General Alison Corbally said: “This was a fantastic result to see an Irish horse and Irish rider take a five-star World Cup win in the United Arab Emirates.
“Many congratulations to Mikey Pender on his brilliant performance, to the Brennan family, who bred HHS Calais (ISH) and to Shane Breen, who made it two Irish riders on the podium.”
Competition commenced at Sharjah last Thursday and Billy Twomey got the ball rolling for Ireland on Friday, when he claimed a fourth place with 10-year-old bay, Julius in the two-star 1.40m class, while in the five-star 1.45m Welcome class, David Simpson came third with 10-year-old bay mare, Billy Piccadilly, and Michael Pender placed fourth with 13-year-old bay mare, HHS Fortune (ISH). Twomey followed them in 10th place with eight-year-old grey, Ace of Hearts Z.
Pender was on top form in the five-star Longines Grand Prix qualifier later in the day, where he placed first and second, riding HHS Calais and 10-year-old Chacco Bay respectively. Trevor Breen rode 10-year-old chesnut mare Luidam’s Warrior into ninth place in the same class.
Mikey Pender pictured on the podium following his World Cup Grand Prix win in Sharjah \ Helen Cruden
Clear rounds
From a start list of 60, there were 13 clear rounds, with Pender and HHS Calais (ISH) crossing the finish line clear in 68.25 seconds to secure the win. He was just over a second slower with Chacco Bay for the runner-up spot in 69.79 seconds – they were still a second ahead of third-placed Alisa Danilova (UKR) on Cossinelle in 70.79 seconds.
Saturday saw a win for Shane Breen riding 16-year-old chesnut Z7 Ipswich in the five-star 1.45m class, followed by Simpson and Billy Piccadilly in seventh.
There was success for Irish horses in the five-star 1.50m class, where Pender placed fourth on HHS Fortune, just behind another Irish Sport Horse, HHS Washington, ridden by Duarte Seabra in third. HHS Washington is a 14-year-old gelding by Tinaranas Inspector (WESTF) out of Cadiz (ISH) by Cavalier Royale (HOLST) and was bred by Miguel Bravo in Co Kilkenny, while HHS Fortune (ISH) is by Catoki (HOLST) out of HHS Daisy (ISH) by ARD VDL Douglas (KWPN), bred and owned by Co Kilkenny’s Marion Hughes.
On Sunday, Pender rode HHS Los Angeles into ninth place in the two-star 1.45m Grand Prix. It was Pender’s day, as he then won the five-star 1.55m winning round class with Chacco Bay; David Simpson was runner-up with Billy Piccadilly and Shane Breen on Z7 Ipswich placed ninth.