LESS than a week after winning the National Grand Prix in Maryville, junior rider Francis Derwin Jnr was once again on the winner’s podium, this time taking the victory in the fourth annual €10,000 1.45m Plusvital/Friends of HHS Grand Prix at the HHS Annual Charity Horse Show in Kilkenny. This is the second time he has won this class, having taken the title in 2021.

Riding his father Francis Snr’s AHG Whiterock Cruise Down (Cruisings Micky Finn x Touchdown), bred by Ann Gannon Clancy, he bested a field of 30 riders to secure the top prize.

A competitive field of 13 earned a place in the decider. Second into the ring Jenny Rankin, riding her own Dutch-bred gelding Ibiza J.W.B, produced the first double clear and set the target in 36.26.

We would not see another double clear round until sixth to go, 2022 National Grand Prix league winner Jonathan Smyth riding Noletta Smyth and Roy Craig’s Mulvin Lights Out (Kroongraaf x Diamond Serpent), bred by James Smyth, bettered the leading time in 34.54 for eventual fifth place.

Recent Flavours of Fingal National Grand Prix winners Niamh McEvoy and GBBS Ltd’s BP Hybernia (Flex A Bill x Clover Hill), bred by the late Noel Cawley, lodged the third fault-free round as eighth to go, theirs coming in 36.22 which would put them just outside the top-six in seventh place.

Coen Williams and the Williams Sport Horses Ltd-owned French-bred Elsandro Du Bois also managed a double clear, they were slightly faster in 34.59 for sixth.

Next in was Derwin. He guided his sister Kate’s former European junior gold medal-winning mount AHG Whiterock Cruise Down to a foot-perfect round in a superb time of 33.03 to go straight to the top of the class.

Jonathan Smyth and his second mount, Ann Doherty’s home-bred Crystal Graf (Lux Z x Graf Magna) came close to catching the leader when they broke the beams at 33.96 which would earn them a third-place finish.

The penultimate pair in, Aimee Barry and her father Joe’s mare Garryndruig Limoncello (Amaretto Darco x Cruising), bred by Geri McGeoghan-Santry, left all the fences up in 34.06 which sandwiched them between Smyth’s two mounts in fourth place.

As the final rider in, Mikey Pender is always a threat in the jump-off, and on this occasion he had the added advantage of being on home turf. Riding Marion Hughes’ 10-year-old stallion Chacco Bay, the pair crossed the finish in 33.85, less than a second slower than Derwin for the runner-up spot.

Presenting the Thomas Hughes Perpetual Trophy at the prize giving, Miguel Bravo spoke about how he was delighted to be awarding the trophy for the second time to ‘Mosquito’ which is his nickname for Derwin because when he first came to Ireland he remembers seeing a boy who was “so small and so fast that he was just flying around”.

Derwin added that he was thrilled to have won here again and that he always enjoyed the fantastic show at the Hughes farm.