IRELAND’S double gold medal-winner and European young rider champion, Seamus Hughes Kennedy continued his run of good form when taking the win in the €30,000 two-star 1.45m Grand Prix at Millstreet International Horse Show last Sunday.

Riding his mother Clare Hughes’ 11-year-old Eamonn Sheehan-bred mare Cuffesgrange Cavadora, the horse he rode to win the seven-year-old World Championship in Lanaken in 2019 – the young Kikennny native bested the leading time by a margin of over three seconds, as last to go in the 14-way jump-off, scooping the top prize of €9,900.

By Z Wellie 72, she is out of the pony Cuffesgrange Cavalidam, on whom Hughes Kennedy won the FEI Pony show jumping trophy in Mechelen, Belgium, in 2017. She then went on to win the 2019 European individual and team gold medals with Max Wachman in the saddle.

Broken as a 10-year-old, she coincidentally did her very first 1.30m class in Millstreet.

Tough track

“It was a very tough course, it was tough to be clear and it was a long second round too,” Hughes Kennedy commented after his win, adding: “We go to the Breeders’ Classic next in Barnadown so we look forward to that.”

Just four combinations were clear in a difficult first round, but 10% of the field returned for the jump-off, where just Hughes Kennedy and Tim MacDonagh, riding Hollypark Galloway (Castlelawn Galloway x Diamond Lad), bred by Tom McCann, produced a double clear round from the 46-strong class.

Some 10 competitors retired in the first round, while three were eliminated.

Hughes Kennedy was the fastest clear against the clock in 55.18, while MacDonagh was runner-up in 58.39.

Hughes Kennedy also accounted for third place aboard his other mount, the Clare Hughes-owned and Jim O’Neill-bred Castlefield Hera (Plot Blue x Puissance). They were the fastest four falters in what was, by far, the quickest time of the competition in 52.88.

Denmark’s Maria Schou and Sandra Duffy’s Chandler 9 (Cornet Obolensky x Polany) were fourth with four faults in 54.67, while Britain’s Faye Sutton and Lyonel D (Little Joe x Chacco-Blue) took fifth.

Sixth went to Ireland’s Lee Carey riding Niall Carey’s Luxity (O.B.O.S Quality 004 x Lux Z) bred John Mulvey, who collected four faults in round one.

The other four faulter from round one was Mark Cleary and Micheal Hayden’s CBI Kylemores Cornet (Cornet Obolensky x Diamant De Semilly), bred Aidan Carroll, who took seventh place.