THE Irish contingent across the Atlantic got their 2024 campaign up and running with some notable successes at the 2024 Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) Premiere Show at Wellington, Florida, over the weekend.

Perhaps the most entertaining class of the weekend and certainly a favourite with the crowd was the first of the ‘Saturday Night Lights’ events of 2024, the $75,000 Battle of the Sexes, in which a men’s team take on a women’s team across three phases of competition.

The men’s team was led by captain USA’s Charlie Jayne, and included Great Britain’s James Billington, Venezuela’s Luis Larrazabal, Germany’s Sohnke Theymann and USA’s Michael Tokaruk, along with three Irishmen, namely Christian Coyle, Jordan Coyle and Simon McCarthy.

The women’s team consisted of mainly Americans, with team captain Nicole Jayne (Amateur), Carly Anthony, Taylor Land, Kelly Soleau-Millar, Abigail McArdle and Audrey Schulze, being accompanied by Canada’s Samantha Alexis Mackenzie and Sweden’s Elin Uppling.

The first phase was a Table C faults-converted speed course, where the riders went head-to-head over the same course, after which the men’s team had a commanding lead at six to two.

In the second phase, each team had three relay groups, where a trio of riders each did a section of the course with five points up for grabs. The men dominated again, by winning both phases of the relay. After round two, the men were on 16, while the women only had two.

Match race

The final phase was a match race, where riders competed at the same time, over a course that mirrored itself in the ring. Three points were up for grabs for each race won and the fate of the evening was decided in the third round, when McCarthy beat Mackenzie. The final score was 28 to 11 in the men’s favour. The event has now been running for 14 years and the men currently have two wins in a row.

“My original plan was to go smooth and fast, but that all went out the window when I almost missed the first jump and was sitting in a chair seat over the fence,” said McCarthy of the start to his winning match-race on Mr Earl, owned by McCarthy’s student Bobby Malmrose. “When that happened, speed came to mind and I tried to go as fast as I could. When I heard Samatha had one fence down, I knew that I could take the win, as long as I finished the course.

“It’s a brilliant class,” continued McCarthy. “This is my third year doing it and we’ve won the last two, so it’s been a great experience so far. It’s good for the crowd; the format of boys versus girls is easy for everyone to understand and allows them to root for their team. I think it’s also great for us as riders to compete as a team with people we normally compete against.”

Irish placings

The show had kicked off last Wednesday, January 3rd, and saw Cian O’Connor take runner-up spot in the $8,000 1.45m Open Jumper class with Susan Magnier’s Lexington. Irish riders continued with their form in the $6,000 1.40m Open Jumper class, where Darragh Kerins placed 10th on Darius de Kerglenn, while Darragh Kenny slotted in just behind in 11th with Irwin and the $2,500 1.35m Open Jumper class saw Francis Derwin and Exase St Hermelle place ninth of the 50 starters.

The second $6,000 1.40m Open Jumper class saw more Irish placings, with Andrew Bourns and Copy Champ in fifth place, followed by Darragh Kenny on Hamrah Van Het Exelhof Z in sixth; Kenny also took ninth place with Diva Karef BH. Meanwhile, Daniel Kerins was a joint-winner in the Five-year-old Young Jumper class riding both Tic-Tac and Lisonas Gold.

On Thursday, in the $35,000 Adequan WEF Challenge Cup Premiere Round, Darragh Kenny and Eddy Blue placed third, with Cian O’Connor on Lexington in seventh – both being among the 10 clear first rounds, who made it through to the jump-off, where only five jumped clear again.

The $8,000 1.45m Open Jumper class saw Andrew Bourns steer Copy Champ into third place, while Darragh Kenny followed closely in fourth with Hamrah Van Het Exelhof Z and also placed ninth with Irwin.

In the $2,500 1.35m Open Jumper class, Francis Derwin came fifth with Elien and seventh with Exase St Hermelle, while Kevin Mealiff rode Kelstone into seventh place in the $2,000 1.30m Open Jumper class.

Friday’s $6,000 1.40m Open Jumper class saw Francis Derwin claim third place with Elien, while Darragh Kenny was sixth with Serendepety and Richie Moloney was eighth with Daisycutter. Daniel Kerins maintained his form when placing joint-first again in Friday’s Five-year-old Young Jumper class.

In the $25,000 Hermes 1.50m Championship Jumper Classic class on Saturday, Darragh Kenny and Diva Karef BH placed ninth.

The winning men's team in the $75,000 Battle of the Sexes, in blue, accompanied by (left to right) Dr. Adam Bromberg, Angel Bromberg, CEO of Wellington Regional Medical Centre Pam Tahan, Jeremy Ring, Tracee Sama and Dr Nicholas Sama \ Sportfot

Grand Prix

Sunday’s $75,000 Grand Prix saw Darragh Kenny on Eddy Blue finish seventh, followed by Cian O’Connor and Fancy De Kergane in 10th. Winner, Lebanon’s Jad Dana, had Irish connections, riding the 15-year-old bay Irish Sport Horse gelding, ABC Quantum Cruise.

The horse is now owned by Wyndmont, but was bred in Co Carlow by Patrick Kehoe and is by OBOS Quality 004 (OLD) out of Ardnehue Diamond Cruiser (ISH), by Cruising (ISH). The pair set an uncatchable pace in an eight-horse jump-off during the week’s feature event.

“I knew I went fast, but I didn’t think I was a whole second faster (than Germany’s Richard Vogel, who finished second),” said Dana. “I have a really nice string of horses and I’m very excited for the season. Hopefully it continues, but we will do our best.”

ABC Quantum Cruise joined Dana’s string last year and the pair are certainly making their mark, with both three and four-star wins in the last two months.

“He has one speed and that’s really fast,” said Dana of ABC Quantum Cruise, the former mount of Australian Olympian Matt Williams, after getting a start in the international ranks with British Olympic team gold medallist Peter Charles. “It’s part of our programme. We love to win just like everybody, but I think these days the jump-offs are so competitive, if you have a slower horse, you don’t really have a chance. Even at home, we practice going forward and working off a fast pace, so when we come to the jump-off it’s not something new to us. He fought for me today, and this win is huge for our partnership.

“He’s been successful with other riders and I’m hoping I can be as successful and even more,” concluded Dana.

Dana was presented with an X-Perience saddle from Prestige Italia for winning the class.

Sunday also saw Sarah Kerins ride Centriko Volo into fifth place in the $10,000 NAL 1.35m Amateur Jumper Classic class.