YOUNG Rider Dylan Ward and his family’s eight-year-old Dutch-bred Kruser DHH won Sunday’s feature class, the 1.35m Grand Prix, on the final day of the Portmore Winter Championships in Co Armagh last Sunday.

By Harley VDL, out of Dame Blanche, by Heartbreaker, the Wards bought him as a four-year-old and this is the pair’s first senior Grand Prix win.

“We are delighted with the win,” Ward told The Irish Field. “We bought him as a three-year-old and Luke Campbell broke him for us. Luke produced him, while I was still in ponies/juniors and then I took over the ride when he was six.

“We began competing while I was riding for the WKD Stables. We won the Young Riders’ qualifier in the RDS, and then went on to win the final in the main ring in 2021.

“We moved him up to 1.40m in Cavan recently and, although he didn’t go clear, he handled himself well. We will aim for the 1.40m next week, he has the heart, the mind and the canter, so I think he’ll definitely be competitive at 1.40m and maybe higher, we will just have to wait and see.

“In the jump-off yesterday, I took a stride out to the last, I got a nice roll back and got the four strides to the penultimate fence. I was able to make up the time there, because I didn’t come inside to the fourth fence, I went a little bit wide to it but was able to catch back up at the back end of the track and it worked out well.

“He’s very adjustable, he comes back to you when you need him too. He’s competitive and has a big stride.

“We plan to go to Cavan next. He is in good form, we’ll start with the smaller class and see how he feels, but hopefully he’ll be ready. That will finish us up for the season and then we may take him to the States with us in the New Year.

“We (Dylan and his partner Thelma Biancardi) have been offered a couple of opportunities to go to Florida, and then possibly New York in 2024, so we are just looking at all our options and trying to decide which would be best for us.

“Thelma is half-French, half-Italian and she is the brains behind the whole operation. She keeps the horses looking amazing and keeps the show on the road. She rides and jumps and competes herself, and is also so good on the ground.

“We spent a few months in the States last year and we got to know the system and made some good contacts. My dad (Hugh-Paul Ward) has a great breeding setup here using some really nice embryos. He has some good stock and foals at the minute and it would be great to be able to go over and eventually set up something ourselves and make a living there, in cooperation with Quality Sport Horses here in Ireland.”

Double clear

A start list of 32 was reduced to eight for the jump-off against the clock. First to go was Rachel Chapman aboard her own OS Pouilly Fusse (Peppermill x Perigueux), a nine-year-old mare bred by Oakingham Farm and Stud. They had one fence down to finish with four to add in a time of 37.07 seconds to finish just outside the money in seventh place.

Second to go, owner-rider Paul Caves and the CAFRE college-bred gelding CAFRE Quality Clover (OBOS Quality 004 x Lux Z) had two down for eight faults in 37.49.

Next to go, Brian McConville’s Lancer Luck (Castleforbes Lord Lancer x Coevers Diamond Boy), bred by Thomas Whelan and ridden by Shane O’Reilly, also had one fence on the ground, theirs coming in 36.76 for eventual sixth place.

Ward was fourth in riding Kruser DHH. The pair posted the first double clear, stopping the clock at 35.31 to set the target for the remaining five combinations.

Nicholas Bothwell and his mother Rosemary’s gelding Newberry Clover (Non Stop x Gold de Becourt) added their names to the list of four-faulters in time of 34.75 for fifth place.

Barry Griffin guided his own mare SBH Diamond In The Rough (Diamond Roller x Metropole), bred by John Kearney, into third place with a double clear in 36.21.

Joy Robinson’s German-bred mare Chardonnay, with Shannon Robinson in the saddle, kept a clean sheet throughout in 36.53 to slot into fourth.

Edward Doyle Jnr and his father’s home-bred gelding Quick Bill (Flex A Bill x Quick Star) also left all the fences up; they were slightly faster in 35.85, which put them into the runner-up spot.

Last to go, Suzanne Posnett and Roisin Hughes’ Roxborough Euphoria (Camiro De Haar Z x Hallowed Turf) decided to retire on course.