THE 1970s Irish show jumping dream team of Eddie Macken, Capt. Con Power, James Kernan and the late Paul Darragh were honoured by the Association of Sports Journalists in Ireland (ASJI) at the RDS yesterday, 40 years after they initiated the famous three in-a-row Aga Khan victories at the venue.

Still widely regarded as the most talented Irish show jumping team of all time, the surviving team members, joined by Paul Darragh’s wife Jane and brother Dave, gathered in the Main Arena and held the famous cup aloft once again.

“It’s absolutely magnificent, the only thing is it’s hard to believe its 40 years,” Power said, reminiscing of the glory days.

“The RDS is magnificent, it’s our Croke Park. If you are a GAA player you want to play in the Croke Park. Likewise, every man who ever sat on a show jumper wants to ride in the RDS and I was lucky enough to be here on a couple of occasions and I have some great memories.”

Power continued: “The beauty of that team is we were all social friends – we used to chase the same birds and go to the same parties, so the fact that we were all such good friends was special I suppose.

“I remember the first year when Paul (Darragh) jumped a clear round and I gave Coolronan a pat out in the practice arena and I said ‘now we can’t let the team down’ because we were all such good friends, that was the attitude. It was a wonderful, wonderful unique team spirit.

“It’s fabulous to get back together again, it’s just memorable and always will it, a very unique occasion.”

James Kernan, who was the youngest team member at only 19 in 1977, credits the late Col Sean Daly for the wonderful success. “We had four good horses at the time and we were winning everywhere and that’s what made the team special, and to be fair I think Sean Daly brought this team together.

TOOK A CHANCE

“He took a chance with me and put me on only a couple of days before the show in 1977. He made a big decision by pulling off an army man and putting Condy on.

“At the time I didn’t know if he was right or wrong but as it turned out he made history and that was the start of this team. So I think that three in-a-row is most definitely down to the late Col Sean Daly.”

Eddie Macken, who has been on an incredible number of Aga Khan teams and went on to become a household name with the world famous Boomerang, added that winning the Aga Khan three times with this team was the highlight of his glittering career.

“They were outstanding days and without a doubt the highlight of my career was being part of that team.

“I’ve been lucky enough to be part of 27 or 28 Aga Khan teams and it never gets old, but that team was something special.

“Later on I rode with Trevor Coyle and John Ledingham and Peter Charles and we had a fantastic team then, but it didn’t match the comradery we had like Con and James and Paul and myself.”

Relieving some of that comradery, Macken went on to say: “I’ll tell the story about what Con said Castlepark would do with Boomerang if they ever met against the clock. He was naïve at that time because he didn’t really know how good Boomerang was.

“The following week we met in the jump-off in Aachen. I went in and laid down a scorcher and he went in and his horses legs were going faster than his brain and he knocked the first fence.

“He came out and I said ‘now what are you going to do?’ He replied ‘if I was f-ing clear I would have beat you’. So there was great rivalry and friendship within the team,” he said with a laugh.

On his wonderful partner Boomerang, who is buried at his home farm, he added: “Boomerang was without doubt the best horse in the world during his time and I was just very lucky to be his partner.

“He was one of those freak horses, he is still a legend in the sport after 40 years, people are still talking about Boomerang and I am just so lucky to be associated with him.”

Paying tribute to Paul Darragh, who sadly passed away in 2005, Macken said: “He was just a great friend, outside and inside the sport he was a great friend and always someone you could have a lot of fun with, he is sadly missed.”

Peter Byrne, president of the ASJI, explained the reason the association decided to honour the men. “The foursome of Darragh, Kernan, Macken and Power brought great pleasure to those of us who remember with fondness their equestrian careers, especially those heady days of the late 70s when the nation came to a standstill to watch them complete the remarkable feat of winning the Aga Khan three years in a row.”

The team moved on for an honorary lunch at the Croke Park Hotel, kindly sponsored by Devenish.