PLAYBOY JT Z was ridden to victory by Rhys Williams in the highly competitive seven and eight-year-old international final in the RDS Main Arena last Sunday at the Dublin Horse Show.

The Belgian-bred seven-year-old gelding is by Presley out of Prada JT Z (by Plot Blue) and has been produced by the Williams family in Co Clare since he was a five-year-old. Seventeen-year-old Rhys, who later went on to win the RDS Young Rider Bursary in Simmonscourt, is no stranger to the winner’s enclosure having won multiple European youth medals, including a junior team bronze last month in Spain.

His parents, former international show jumper Adrian and his wife Paula, run PARC Stables near Ennis in Co Clare. Rhys and his brother Coen are trained by Denis Flannelly. Rhys’ win made it a double for the family, as Coen had won the 148cms pony championship on the Friday and the 148cm six/seven-year-old class on Saturday.

In 2021 the brothers made history by becoming the first pair of siblings to be crowned leading international horse rider and leading international pony rider at the FEI International Jumping Nations Cup Youth Finals in Peelbergen, Holland.

From 43 starters in the two qualifiers on Wednesday and Friday, a total of 23 combinations qualified for the seven and eight-year-old international final on Sunday afternoon in the main ring. Irish-based riders qualified through the RDS regional qualifiers while international riders also had the choice of bringing a horse for the class.

Tom Holden had set a challenging track which included a combination at fence four and a tricky double at seven.

The first qualifier for the final was held in Simmonscourt on Wednesday and Jason Foley riding Castlefield Farm’s Far West de Hus (Cornet Obolensky x Lefevre) were victors here.

Coen Williams took the runner-up spot with Parc Cushy Number (Quasimodo Vd Molendreef x Ars Vivendi) and Rhys and Playboy were third.

The second qualifier was held in the main arena on Friday and this time the win went to Switzerland. Martin Fuchs and Diva Van Het Cauterhof Z (Dieu Merci Van T & L x Nagano) while second place went to Holland’s Marc Dilasser and Calypso des Joanins Z (Clearway x Chellano Z).

Finale

First to go in the final on Sunday was Ireland’s Michael Roche riding MB Lorenzo R (Tolan R x Voltaire), they produced a clear round for a place in the jump-off.

The following eight horses failed to match Roche’s clear, with two, Dutchman Kars Bonhof (Poker de Mariposa TN) and Francis Connors (Carrigshawn Vendi Royal) having the final fence down, plus one time fault for five faults.

Rhys Williams posted the second clear of round one aboard Playboy JT Z which ensured a jump-off. Jason Higgins and his own Heritage MBE (Eldorado van de Zeshoek x Otangelo) also left all the fences intact to progress.

The first 13 horses were all aged seven, and the course was raised slightly for the remaining 11 eight-year-olds. The first clear here came from Switzerland’s Martin Fuchs (Diva Van Het Cauterhof Z).

He was soon joined by Denis Lynch riding Dark Chocolate (Casall x Acodetto 2) and Brazil’s Cortizo Goncalves de Azevedo Filho aboard Sierra Du Piedroux Z. American Chloe Reid and Charlotta II (Cascadello x Fighting Alpha 3) produced the final clear which meant a total of seven, three seven-year-olds and four eight-year-olds, went forward to the timed decider.

Roche was pathfinder aboard MB Lorenzo R and they set the target time to beat at 46.31. Williams was next to go with Playboy JT Z. They managed to slice over seven seconds off in 39.20 to capture the lead.

Third, and the final seven-year-old to go Jason Higgins and Heritage MBE (Eldorado van de Zeshoek x Otangelo) left all the poles in place but in a slower time of 41.69 for eventual third place.

Denis Lynch and Dark Chocolate produced a nice clear and came closest to catching the leader in 39.96 for the runner-up spot.

Cortizo Goncalves de Azevedo Filho and Sierra Du Piedroux Z had the third and the final fence down to see them out of contention. Last to go was Chloe Reid and Charlotta II for the United States. They had the second fence down to finish on four faults in 43.02, and just inside the top-six.