IRISH riders were certainly on form at the three-star Bolesworth International Equestrian Summer Festival in Harthill, England, over the weekend, with a huge number of wins and placings across the various classes.

Shane Breen brought the Irish successes to a crescendo on Sunday, when he won two classes, including the 1.55m Grand Prix, and just missed out on a third win, having to settle for a runner-up spot!

Breen was best of 48 starters in the three-star 1.55m Grand Prix riding Scarteen, followed by Seamus Hughes Kennedy on ESI Rocky (ISH) (Stakkato Gold (HANN) x Clonaslea (BWP) x For Pleasure (HANN), bred by Ennisnag Stud) in fourth.

There were only four clears in the first round, over a track built by Javier Trenor (ESP), Irishman Colm Quinn and Imogen Albrock (GBR). Kilkenny’s Hughes Kennedy did his best to beat the clock in the jump-off (47.57), but in doing so, had one down to miss out on a podium place. Breen, meanwhile, kept all the fences intact and sped round the course in 50.95 seconds to take the win, just 0.12 seconds ahead of Britain’s James Davenport on One To Watch in second (51.07), while another British rider, Tim Gredley, on Imperial Hbf placed third (54.46).

Breen said afterwards: “I’m delighted with the win. Scarteen is a home-bred, which is nice to have at this level. I thought the first round of the course was quite challenging. In the second round, I watched Tim Gredley go, with the aim of trying to beat him, and thought James (Davenport) might beat me, but today it was my day and I thought everyone did a great job around the course.”

Breen wasn’t done there, as he also won the three-star 1.35m jump-off final on board Be Golden. Here, 10 of the 48 starters got through to the jump-off, with five keeping all the poles up second time out. Again, Breen’s time could not be beaten.

It was certainly a good day for the Irish, as there was another one-two in the one-star 1.35m Grand Prix, with Alex O’Connor taking the win on Kingsborough Verdiva, with Breen just missing a hat-trick when finishing second with BP Arctic Blue.

Great start

Bolesworth International Equestrian Summer Festival 2024 commenced last Wednesday, June 12th, and saw two Irish in the top six of the first class. In the CSIYH1* 1.20m two-phase special for six-year-olds, Sven Hadley took third with Maximum Numero Too HSH (ISH), followed by Anthony Condon on SFS Valente in sixth.

The CSI Am-A 1.10m Speed competition saw Matilde Hughes Bravo finish third on Miss Belgium 111, while in the one-star 1.30m Two-phase Special, Aisling Byrne placed seventh with Cnoc Rua Chinook and Taylor Peare rode Cortina-D Z into eighth place in the CSIYH1* 1.10m Two-phase Special for five-year-olds.

Thursday’s action began with the CSI3* 1.40m Speed competition, where Sean Monaghan was runner-up with Cornet Clover Girl, with Patrick Hickey on Genepi Des Mansart in seventh and Richard Howley on Casalu-Blue PS in ninth.

It was an Irish one-two in the three-star 1.50m Jump-Off Grand Prix qualifier, with Hughes Kennedy claiming the top spot, on board ESI Rocky, ahead of Billy Twomey on Chat Botte ED in second.

From a start list of 60, only 12 jumped clear to get to the jump-off, with only six managing to remain fault-free in the second round. The fastest of these was Hughes Kennedy, who stopped the clock in 37.37 seconds, with Twomey about a second and a half behind on 38.89.

In the Eventing Grand Prix, Meghan Healy and Think It Over came second, while Fred Scala on Corriebeg Supernova finished seventh.

Meanwhile, Hadley was back on form when winning the one-star 1.25m Speed competition with Topspin and Twomey claimed a fifth place in the three-star 1.35m two-phase Special on Quelle Dame Van’T Meerhof.

Katie McEntee took the win from 46 starters in the CSIU25-A 1.35m two-phase Special riding Roundthorn Hercules, while Ella Quigley on Lui Luche Q placed seventh in the CSIYH1* 1.30m two-phase Special for seven-year-olds.

Friday began with a second place for Matilde Hughes Bravo on Miss Belgium 111 in the CSIAm-A 1.20m two-phase Special, while in the three-star 1.40m wo-phase Special, Hughes Kennedy on Echonix placed fourth and Twomey on Quelle Dame Van’T Meerhof finished seventh.

Speed win

Twomey was only getting warmed up and followed this with a win in the three-star 1.50m Speed competition Grand Prix qualifier riding Ace of Hearts, where he was the fastest of the 69 starters to claim the top prize. Twomey jumped midway through the proceedings and stopped the clock in 70.38 seconds, to beat Britain’s Graham Babes and Red Morgan, who had to settle for the minor podium places on this occasion.

Michael Pender on HHS Cyprus (ISH) (Cornet Obolensky (BWP) x HHS Acorado (ISH) x Acorado (HOLST), bred by Marion Hughes) followed in fourth, with Anthony Condon on Oviedo ‘S’ in sixth. Monaghan rode Babou Derick into joint- fourth place in the Puissance.

Condon and Kappa Play were third in the three-star 1.35m Speed competition, while Hadley (Maximum Numero Too HSH) and Annie Courtney Cadam (LCC Dunard Lady Dominator) took first and second places in the CSIYH1* 1.20m Two-phase Special class for six-year-olds and Michael Morrin on Twist van de Faunushoeve came fifth in the 1.10m Two-phase Special for five-year-olds.

Monaghan won the CSIYH1* 1.35m Jump-off for seven-year-olds final on Saturday with Tiberio Della Caccia, followed by Shane Breen on Konrad Obolensky in eighth. Hughes Kennedy was runner-up in the three-star 1.40m winning round on Echonix, while in the 1.25m Ride and Drive, Hughes Kennedy partnered with Monaghan to place fourth, followed by Sven and Nick Hadley in sixth.

Taylor Peare and Cortina-D Z came seventh in the 1.15m Jump-off for five-year-olds, while Hadley rode Maximum Numero Too HSH into second place in the 1.25m Jump-off for six-year-olds final.

The one-star 1.30m Grand Prix saw a fifth place for Byrne and Supreme Action, followed by Hadley and Uidam in eighth.

Sunday’s CSIAm-A 1.20m Grand Prix saw Hughes Bravo on Miss Belgium 111 finish third, while the CSIU25-A 1.40m Grand Prix saw a sixth place for Quigley on I. Hadley partnered Katie Burns to place second in the three-star Mini-Major.