Brian Hennessy

WATERFORD’s Francis Connors has swapped the harsh Irish winter weather for the much more comfortable climate at Wellington in Florida. The 11-time national Grand Prix league champion is spending a month competing at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Palm Beach, where he has briefly taken up the ride on some of fellow Irishman, Darragh Kerins’s string of horses.

Kerins, who is married to Francis’s sister Sarah Connors, is sidelined following an injury he suffered in a fall last September but the Sligo native is expected to be back in the saddle in the coming weeks.

“I broke my collarbone and at the time the doctors only expected I would be out of action for seven to 10 weeks but it turned out to be much more complicated, Kerins told The Irish Field. “I had three steel plates inserted. I had one plate taken out three weeks ago and it is much better now. I am getting a lot of physio and hope to be back riding in a few weeks. It was great that Francis could come and help us out. We have about 26 horses in total at the moment and a lot of very promising young horses.

Speaking from Wellington, Connors said: “I have been out here before but this is my first time jumping at the show. It is great to get the opportunity to ride here in Florida. I am just keeping the horses ticking over for Darragh. It is very competitive in all the classes out here and it is amazing the amount of Irish riders that are over here. Every day you meet someone new from Ireland here, it is incredible.”

The first week of the Winter Equestrian Festival kicked off last Thursday at Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) with Brazil’s Doda De Miranda the first big winner on AD Nouvelle Europe Z, taking the $35,000 Ruby et Violette WEF Challenge Cup.

Highlights this weekend at WEF include the $75,000 Battle of the Sexes tonight (Saturday) and the $75,000 Rosenbaum Mollengarden Grand Prix on Sunday.

The Winter Equestrian Festival continues until April, with $9 million in prize money on offer.

Connors said the weather in Florida is not great, with scatted thunderstorms. He is planning more trips abroad when he returns home at the end of January, “We are probably going to travel to the sunshine tour at Oliva in Spain in February,” he said.