IT was another great weekend for Ireland’s Paul O’Shea, when he won the $215,000 MARS Equestrian CSI4* Grand Prix with Imerald van’t Voorhof on Saturday afternoon, during week four of the Winter Equestrian Festival at Wellington International in Florida.

Course builder Anderson Lima (BRA) had set a testing track, where of the 43 starters, only three managed to jump clear in the first round and two of them were Irish – namely David O’Brien riding El Balou OLD and O’Shea on Imerald van’t Voorhof – accompanied by Mimi Gochman (USA).

“I was lucky to be able to see David [O’Brien] go, and in the first line he did eight, but I could see there was a seven there,” said O’Shea. “When David had one down, it made sense to go quite fast, because, even if I had one down but was quicker than him, I could still be second, and also put pressure on Mimi [Gochman]. It worked out for us.”

When asked about the course, O’Shea said: “It was a long way around, and on the last line up the hill, maybe some of the horses were a bit tired by then.”

O’Brien and El Balou OLD, a 12-year-old Oldenburg stallion (Eldorado vd Zeshoek x Balou du Rouet) owned by Chansonette and Leap Year Farms, had one down in the jump-off to finish on four faults and take third place.

Gochman, who is only 19, kept all the fences standing to end on a double-clear riding Celina BH, a 14-year-old Holsteiner mare (Canstakko x Carthago Z), but they weren’t just as fast as O’Shea and they finished second for owner Gochman Sport Horses.

Super

O’Shea jumped clear in 39.63 seconds, more than a second faster than Gochman’s 40.7, due to Imerald van’t Voorhof’s ability to cover the ground. The horse is a 16-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding (Emerald x Bacardi Orange de Muze), which O’Shea owns together with Emerald Partners and Equestrian Farms.

“He’s been a super horse for me; he’s done amazing things over the five years we’ve been together,” said O’Shea. “We jumped double clear in the Nations Cup at Hickstead, which was a big thing for me because I always watched Hickstead growing up.

“He also won the Queen’s Cup in Spruce Meadows and he won the 5* Grand Prix at the Palm Beach Masters, so he’s done a lot of really good things and he feels as good as ever.”

Irish Olympian Shane Sweetnam was just outside the top three, as the fastest four-faulter with 10-year-old mare RR Combella (Cornet du Lys x Indoctro), owned by Voquest. This fourth-place ribbon, along with a top-five finish in the WEF Challenge Cup qualifier on Thursday, was enough to secure the Martha Jolicoeur Leading International Rider Award for Sweetnam.

O’Shea was presented as winner of the Grand Prix by Pamela Mars and Mark Ricks, representing MARS Equestrian, and was awarded with the Village of Wellington Cup by Mayor Anne Gerwig.

Paul O’Shea after winning Saturday’s $215,000 MARS Equestrian four-star Grand Prix with Imerald van’t Voorhof at the Winter Equestrian Festival at Wellington International, Florida \ Sportfot

Irish ribbons

Week four competitions got underway last Wednesday, January 31st, when Ireland’s Darragh Kenny and Diva Karef BH won the $1,000 FEI four-star 1.40m class. This was only the start of the Irish success, as the $6,000 FEI four-star 1.45m class was won by Shane Sweetnam on Irandole Du Flot, with Kenny on Diva Karef BH in seventh and Cian O’Connor on Fancy De Kergane in 10th.

The $6,000 1.40m Open Jumper saw Kevin Gallagher on I’m Here place sixth, followed by Gavin Harley on Kara J D’Alve Z in eighth, while in the $2,000 1.30m Open Jumper, Harley rode Lightning into fifth place, with David Blake on Renkum Oriana in sixth. Ronan Guckian on GVS Spice of Life secured a joint-first place in the day’s Five-year-old Young Jumper, while Gallagher on Ninja BF won the Six-year-old Young Jumper and Philip McGuane on My Lady Van De Krekel were runners-up in the Seven-year-old Young Jumper class.

Thursday saw Jordan Coyle on Ariso take second place in the $6,000 FEI two-star 1.45m class, followed by Conor O’Regan on Carmen De Bonnieres in third.

The $62,500 FEI four-star Challenge Cup class saw Shane Sweetnam and RR Combella finish fifth. Sweetnam went on to be runner-up in the $8,000 1.45m Open Jumper, with Gallagher on I’m Here in fourth and Coyle on Chaccolino in fifth. Meanwhile, Steven Moore on Colibelle Hero Z came seventh in the $6,000 1.40m Open Jumper. Blake and Renkum Oriana came fifth in the $2,500 1.35m Open Jumper, while Daniel Geaney placed sixth and eighth in the $2,000 1.30m Open Jumper with Istabraq TCS and Sade de Rialfo Z respectively. Gallagher on Ninja BF won the day’s Six-year-old Young Jumper class and Geaney on Miss Spot placed seventh in the Seven-year-old Young Jumper class.

On Friday, the $32,000 FEI two-star 1.45m Qualifier saw three Irish in the top 10; namely Tom Wachman on Lazzaro Delle Schiave in third; Jenny Rankin on Ibiza in ninth and Jordan Coyle on King Kannan GP in 10th, while Shane Sweetnam and Irandole Du Flot came second in the $32,000 FEI four-star 1.50m class.

There were three Irish in the top five of the $2,500 1.35m Open Jumper, with David Blake on Renkum Oriana in third; Daniel Geaney on Sade De Rialfo Z in fourth and Paul O’Shea on Miss Willlow T in fifth. In the $6,000 1.40m Open Jumper, Gavin Harley on Dalido 8 placed seventh, followed by Jordan Coyle on Kan Niet Mooier GR in eighth. Saturday commenced with the $10,000 FEI two-star 1.40m, where Conor O’Regan rode Carmen De Bonnieres into third.

Tom Wachman on Lazzaro Delle Schiave were second in Sunday’s $62,500 FEI two-star Grand Prix, while Sweetnam and Irandole Du Flot won in the $62,500 FEI four-star 1.50m Classic, ahead of Cian O’Connor on Eve D’Ouilly in second place.