NONE of the dark clouds that dappled the skies of Kilkenny city could dampen the atmosphere of a ‘Night with the Stars’ on Monday, and trust me, they were shining.

Connolly’s Red Mills, the Irish Breeders’ Classic and Hughes Horse Stud played host to a night with the stars of the equestrian world, in aid of Child Vision’s new Jack de Bromhead National Equine Centre, at the Newpark Hotel.

Child Vision looks after children with impaired vision, who can’t watch the racing or won’t be able to see our show jumping team compete at the Olympic Games. The Equine Centre is based in the heart of Drumcondra, so that children in the city can have access to horses and to many other forms of therapy and support that Child Vision provides.

As the night began in the Newpark Hotel ballroom, we had to take a moment to show appreciation to Liz Brennan and Sharon Fitzpatrick who, along with Marion Hughes, organised the event on extremely short notice and still hosted a wonderful night.

MC Gavin Duffy introduced the guests, who included trainers Henry de Bromhead and Willie Mullins, the Irish Olympic show jumping team of Daniel Coyle, Cian O’Connor, Shane Sweetnam and Bertram Allen, chef d’equipe Michael Blake, course designer Alan Wade, Diarmuid Byrne of EquiRatings and leading National Hunt jockey Rachael Blackmore.

Statistics don’t lie

Duffy began with Diarmuid Byrne who, as one of the founders of EquiRatings, analyses top horses around the world, tracking their ratings and statistics. He gave a run-down, based on the statistics, of how good the Irish Olympic team is.

“They’ve (the Irish team) got unbelievable 1.60m records. We have got four unbelievable horses in unbelievable form going, but what is so important to me, from a sport point of view, is that these lads have a chance to make incredible history.”

Byrne added: “Ireland is the number one ranked team in the world in the Longines League of Nations. Of the top 100 riders in the world, 14 of them are Irish. Germany is next with nine, they are probably the only other nation that have our strength and depth at the moment.”

Before introducing the next guest, Duffy put the height and difficulty of the fences that the show jumpers will be jumping into perspective, with a great analogy comparing them to the famous Grand National fences, but in actual fact, the Olympic fences are bigger.

Alan Wade, course designer at the 2012 London Olympic Games, was invited on stage to discuss the course designing in Paris and why it’s a bit different to previous years.

“This year, you have the course builder from the previous Olympics (Santiago Varela) and then you have a younger course designer (Gregory Bodo). I don’t agree with it myself. I think it should be just one person, but it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out between the two,” Wade said.

Speaking on the different angles that you can take with course building, Alan said that he prefers to challenge riders with width rather than height. “1.60m is 1.60m and, for me, as a course designer at the top level, the main ingredient is width, because you need the horse to be listening to you. Brave enough to jump the back pole, but still careful enough to respect the front pole.”

Liz Brennan was one of the organisers of 'A Night with the Stars' in Kilkenny on Monday night, in aid of the Jack de Bromhead Equine Centre \ Epic Management

Honoured

Michael Blake soon joined MC Gavin Duffy on stage and was as upbeat as ever. He spoke about his journey to getting the job, starting at the very bottom in Co Clare and eventually becoming number two to Rodrigo Pessoa, whom he described as “one of the most phenomenal riders to ever grace the planet”.

Acknowledging the talent of Irish riders across the world, Blake said: “Team Ireland is the team. There are four lads here going to the Olympics, but there’s a whole load of other riders, a whole lot of younger riders. These are the riders at the moment, but moments change.”

One by one, like the Late Late Show, Duffy introduced the Olympic riders up on stage. Cork’s Shane Sweetnam was first up and he spoke about his mount, James Kann Cruz, whose breeder, Patrick Connolly, was in the audience.

“He’s an incredible athlete. He’s got all the talent, but the best thing is that he’s got the biggest heart, so I’m privileged and lucky to have him.

“He’s very clever and what makes him better than most is his brain. He understands what he’s meant to do.”

Next onto the stage was Cian O’Connor, who takes Maurice to Paris. Duffy asked: “When you were riding in Ocala in that final round, you were described on the TV as the best anchor rider in the world. How do you live with that pressure?”

O’Connor reckons that it’s unfair labelling. “Michael likes to put me last to go. I asked him recently about that. He didn’t think I heard him under his breath when he said, ‘you’re crap everywhere else!’”

He is Ireland’s most capped rider and the team is what drives him. “It’s great to be able to compete together as a team, to work together, to get to know each other’s intricacies. We just support one another on the road and eventually in France.”

A fine Legacy

Daniel Coyle got the crowd emotional, when he told the story of his Olympic horse, the 14-year-old mare Legacy. “Ariel Grange owns the horse. Her mother, who I was originally riding for, passed away very suddenly and I thought ‘it’s all over’, but her daughter Ariel stepped up and continued on with everything,” he said.

“The first horse she bought was a horse called ‘Chavantele Z’ as an eight-year-old and the first thing she did was change her name to Legacy.”

Bertram Allen had his fair share of adversity this year, firstly getting injured, which meant Pacino Amiro was also sidelined, before the Nations Cup in St Gallen was rained off. It can’t have impacted him too much, as he turned up in Aachen making it look easy.

“When the pressure is on, he only gets better. I wouldn’t pick another horse that I’d sooner ride there on a Thursday night under the lights in Aachen. He gives you great confidence and it feels easier than most horses.”

Horse Sport Ireland’s acting Head of Sport, Bernard Jackman, a former international rugby player, closed the night with a few words: “It’s been an absolute pleasure and privilege to work with these guys and there are so many similarities between high performers in all sports. Like rugby players, they all have a mindset, a work ethic and a resilience, because you lose more than you win, but the really driven ones win consistently.”

One of the most exciting events of the night was Duffy auctioning off an Olympic poster that was signed by the team and he managed to bring the price of the poster up to €1,500.

To conclude a wonderful evening, there were plenty of prizes raffled off for the fantastic cause. Credit to the organisers for a fun and engaging evening.

See news page 86 to read Henry de Bromhead’s words about the Jack de Bromhead National Equine Centre.