THIS week we rewind back to the FEI World Championship for dressage and jumping, hosted in Herning, to see the leading bloodlines and studbooks.

It was an interesting mix of results with both royalty and not-so-fashionable underdogs of the sport horse world seen in the medallists’ breeding; King Edward, the gold medal show jumping champion by the Hanoverian stallion Edward, a sire better known for producing dressage horses, and a whole new range of sires coming through from the Jazz and Sandro Hit era in the dressage ranks, led by Lord Leatherdale.

King Edward’s win also results in Belgium’s BWP studbook now becoming the only studbook with two individual gold medal winners at the world show jumping championships in this millennium. Vigo d’Arsouilles win at Lexington 12 years ago was the first and that Kentucky champion was by Nabab de Rêve, a name that featured again in August, including as the sire of Denis Lynch’s Irish team horse Brooklyn Heights (20th).

As predicted in the preview, Olympic and championship trails invariably lead back to French bloodlines and the standout influence at Herning has to be Quidam de Revel.

Although he did not compete at the world championships (Quidam de Revel was individual fourth at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics with Herve Godignon), he has proved to be an uber-successful stallion.

Barcelona is where James Kernan’s Galoubet A stallion Touchdown (like Quidam de Revel, a grandson too of the famous Almé) competed and then produced Liscalgot, Dermott Lennon’s gold-medal winner at Jerez de la Frontera 20 years ago.

Quidam de Revel, the sire of Jérôme Guery’s silver medallist Quel Homme de Hus, died in February 2014. A sire of sires, his stallion sons include Nabab de Rêve, Quaprice de Bois Margot (both featured as sires and dam sires at Herning) and Guidam.

Quidam de Revel grandsons include more WEG sires in Vigo D’Arsouilles, Kashmir van’t Schuttershof and Luidam.

The Luidam daughter Luibanta BH (Luidam -Mibanta, by Abantos. Breeder: Justin Burke) was one of four Irish-breds that competed at the previous 2018 World Equestrian Games in Tryon, joined by Lincourt Gino (Gino III - Lady Graf, by Graf Magna. Anthony Doherty), Newmarket Venture Clover (Newmarket Venture - Newmarket Rare Cavalier, by Cavalier Royale. Billy Daly), and Suma’s Zorro (Ard Douglas - Vixen’s Frolic, by Horos. Susie Lanigan-O’Keeffe).

That number dropped to just one Irish-bred - Pacino Amiro - amongst the 103 show jumping horses at Herning this year.

Irish link

There was an Irish link in the back pedigree of Scott Brash’s horse Hello Jefferson (Cooper van de Heffinck - Hovis, by Irco Mena) as the Swedish-bred Irco Mena was out of the Irish Sport Horse mare export Ballymena Park (Menelek - Ballywalter, by Battleburn).

Another interesting nugget in the back breeding of the show jumping finalists is the now-unusual sight of a thoroughbred dam. That’s the pedigree of Australia’s Katie Laurie’s horse Django II. By the Lord son Lordano, Django II’s dam Flower Power is by the famous Down Under eventing influence Brilliant Invader and at 77% TB blood, Django II’s pedigree read like an entry at Pratoni, where the world eventing championships were held.

“Horses don’t read paper” is an adage often used and describes the King Edwards and Django IIs, horses that defy statistics. What does require reading though are the bloodlines that comprise a studbook suffix.

For example, France was the only country at these Games to have all four riders compete on horses from its native studbook, although several of these Selle Français bloodlines were borrowed from neighbouring countries and studbooks. Another sign of the blending of once-closed studbooks.

Apart from the influence of Quidam de Revel and Almé lines, any other standout sires? Not surprisingly, Chacco-Blue had the most starters (five), Toulon had a good championship with two of his three offspring - Lorenzo de Luca’s F One USA (13th) and Pius Schwizer’s Vancouver de Lanlore (14th) - finishing in the top 15.

Strike rate

Baltic VDL, the Quaprice Bois Margot son, had an even better strike rate of two in the top 12: Ben Maher’s Faltic HB (fourth) and Martin Fuchs’ Leone Jei (11th).

In dressage breeding, the KWPN studbook enjoyed a typically good result here, including the dual Grand Prix Special and Freestyle gold medal horse Glamourdale, another with strong German bloodlines contained within the KWPN label.

Overall, like Pratoni, it was another strong showing at Herning by French bloodlines with neighbouring Benelux and Holsteiner studbooks on their heels.

‘We still have some of Pacino Amiro’s family’ – Simon Scott

IT was business as usual with a day at Cavan Sales this week for Pacino Amiro’s breeder Simon Scott. The Donegal rider-producer is fortunate to still have Carnone Dancing Queen (NC Amiro x Clover Hill), now a 20-year-old. Her Clover Hill grandam NC Miss Clover is a half-sister to the thoroughbred stallion Young Convinced, sire of five-star venters Ivar Gooden and Major Milestone.

“She’s in some form. The mare has a colt foal this year to the four-year-old that won the final in the RDS, HHS Flonix (Aganix du Seigneur), ridden by Mikey Pender and she’s back in foal to Flonix again.”

Simon has closely followed Pacino Amiro and Bertram Allen’s international career together which took off after a number of wins at Wellington last year in the run-up to the Tokyo Olympics, where the nine-year-old finished 15th.

“I seen him on the screen at the world championships. He jumped really, really well, he jumped fabulous. I was in Dublin to see him and Bertram jump, they’d just come straight from the world championships to Dublin. It was definitely good to see him back on home ground,” said Simon about the Pacino son, who placed 10th in the international seven/eight-year-old final at Dublin, then ridden by Kenneth Graham.

Family

“We still have some of Pacino Amiro’s family; I’ve a three-year-old half-brother by Beach Ball and I’ve a half-sister by Kinmar Hero Z – he’s by For Pleasure out of an Aganix mare and that Aganix mare is doing really well,” added the lucky breeder of the sole Irish-bred at the 2022 world show jumping championships.

2022 Herning medallists

Show Jumping

Gold - King Edward (BWP). Edward (HANN) - Koningin de Lauzelle (BWP), by Feo de Lauzelle (HANN). Rider: Henrik von Eckermann (SWE).

Silver - Quel Homme de Hus (HOLST). Quidam de Revel (SF) - P-Hawaii (HOLST), by Candillo (HOLST). Breeder: Dr. Andreas Kosicki. Rider: Jérôme Guery (BEL).

Bronze - Beauville Z N.O.P (ZANG). Bustique (KWPN) - Wrinton (KWPN), by Jumpy des Fontaines (SF). Breeder: Pascal Habets. Rider: Maikel van der Vleuten (NED).

Dressage

Gold - Glamourdale (KWPN) by Lord Leatherdale (RHEIN) - Thuja (KWPN), by Negro (KWPN). Breeder: J.W Rodenburg. Rider: Charlotte Fry (GBR).

Silver - Vamos Amigos (WESTF) by Vitalis (KWPN) - Hot Shot (WESTF), by Blue Hors Hotline (HANN). Breeder: Reesink Pferde GMBH. Rider: Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour (DEN).

Bronze - Hermès (KWPN) by Easy Game (TRAK) - Bukkie (KWPN), by Flemmingh (HOLST). Breeder: G. Gijsbers. Rider: Dinja van Liere (NED).

Did You Know

  • All four members of the sixth-placed French team rode Selle Français-registered horses at Herning: Caracole de la Roque (Zandor Z x Kannan), Bibici (Norman Pre Noir x Nelfo du Mesnil), Cayman Jolly Jumper (Hickstead x Quaprice Bois Margot) and Scuderia 1918 Viking D’la Rous (Quaprice Bois Margot x Apache D’Adriers).
  • The most recent Irish-breds to appear on a British WEG team are Abbervail Dream (Chair Lift - Killea Beauty, by Smooth Stepper. Breeder: Marjorie Quarton) and Hopes Are High (Flagmount Diamond - Helena’s Lass, by Cornelscourt. Breeder: Michael Hughes), 50% of its bronze medal team at Rome in 1998.
  • Like Abbervail Dream, Richmont Park (Coevers Diamond Boy - Bowriver Lady, by Smooth Stepper) was another bred in Co Tipperary, by John Lucas. Originally produced by Sheila White and then campaigned by Royne Zetterman, he still ranks as the most recent Irish Sport Horse on a WEG medal-winning team. That happened 20 years ago when Sweden won its first team medal at the World Equestrian Games: silver at Jerez de la Frontera.
  • What does the N.O.P suffix after Beauville’s name mean? Not a studfarm or bloodline, instead it stands for the Dutch Olympic Committee. The committee, in partnership with the Dutch Equestrian Federation, can financially support owners to make sure an Olympic-calibre horse is not sold out of the country. Beauville now adds another bronze medal from the World Equestrian Games to match the one he and Maikel van Der Vleuten won at the Tokyo Olympics last year.
  • Imhotep, Charlotte Dujardin’s Herning horse, is by Everdale, the horse Lottie Fry rode at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Both Everdale and Lottie Fry’s 11-year-old gold medal stallion winner Glamourdale are by the Rheinlander sire Lord Leatherdale.
  • Easy Game, the Trakehner sire of dual bronze medallist Hermès, is also the sire of last year’s Olympic and European gold medallist TSF Dalera BB.

    • By the numbers

    463,000

    euros prize money at stake in the individual show jumping final.

    86,016

    euros won by individual gold medal champion King Edward.

    40,500

    euros won by Grand Prix Freestyle gold medal winner Glamourdale.

    103

    horses on the Herning show jumping start list.

    5 Chacco-Blue offspring.

    4 Nabab de Reve show jumping progeny.

    3 Toulon progeny among the 21 horses in the individual show jumping final.

    2 Baltic VDL progeny in the top 12.

    1 Irish Sport Horse at the 2022 World Equestrian Games in Herning: Pacino Amiro.

    Individual gold medal winners since 2000

    2002 - JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA

    Liscalgot (ISH). Touchdown - Tulla’s Pride, by Tula Rocket. Breeder: Terence Harvey. Rider: Dermott Lennon (IRL).

    2006 - AACHEN

    Cavalor Cumano (HOLST). Cassini - Chanel II, by Landgraf I. Breeder: Willi Lührs. Rider: Jos Lansink (BEL).

    2010 - LEXINGTON

    Vigo d’Arsouilles (BWP). Nabab de Reve - Illico d’Arsouilles, by Fleuri du Manoir. Breeder: Viane Didier. Rider: Phillipe Le Jeune (BEL).

    2014 - CAEN

    Zenith SFN (KWPN). Rash R - Sascha, by Fuego du Prelet. Breeder: H. Voort. Rider: Jeroen Dubbeldam (NED).

    2018 - TRYON

    DSP Alice (DSP). Askari 173 - Landblume, by Landrebell. Breeder: Ralf Mewes. Rider: Simone Blum (GER).

    2022 - HERNING

    King Edward (BWP). Edward - Koningin de Lauzelle, by Feo de Lauzelle. Breeder: Wim Impens. Rider: Henrik von Eckermann (SWE).