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Eventing was first introduced at the Olympic Games in 1912 when Sweden won the first team gold in the sport. The individual gold medal winner was also Swedish: Axel Nordlander and Lady Artist. 109 years later, another mare won individual gold for Germany: Amande de B’Neville (SF). (Oscar de Fontaines x Elan de la Cour. Rider: Julia Krajewski. Breeder: Jean-Baptiste Thiebot.) Both individual silver medallist Bella Rose (dressage) and bronze medal winner Vassilly de Lassos (eventing) are out of dams by Anglo-Arabian (AA) stallions. The AA, Holsteiner, Irish Sport Horse, Selle Français and Trakehner studbooks were the standouts in event horse breeding at Tokyo. Where were the three individual gold medal horses placed in the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses (WBFSH) pre-Olympic rankings? TSF Dalera BB (TRAK). (Easy Game x Handryk. Breeder: Silke Fass. Rider: Jessica von Bredow-Werndl (GER)) was already the top-ranked dressage horse in the June rankings; Amande de B’Neville was 28th and Explosion W was 48th. Watch this space. The country with the most horses in the show jumping team medals at Tokyo? Belgium (five), including all three of the Swedish gold medal team horses: H&M All In (sBs) Kashmir van Schuttershof x Andiamo Z. Rider: Peder Fredricson. Breeder: Bas Huybregts; H&M Indiana (BWP) Kashmir van Schuttershof x Animo’s Hallo. Rider: Malin Baryard-Johnsson. Breeder: W. Vanderlinden-van Turtelboom-Ruys; and King Edward (BWP). Edward 28 x Feo. Rider: Henrik von Eckermann. Breeder: Wim Impens. Jessica Springsteen’s Don Juan van de Donhoeve (sBs). (Bamako de Muze x Heartbreaker. Breeder: Gustaaf Quintelier) on the USA silver team and Belgium’s Pieter Devos’ Claire Z (ZANG). (Clearway x Coronad. Breeder: PGMBH Hammes) complete the home run for the BWP, sBs and Zangersheide studbooks. King Edward, the bare-footed jumping sensation with six clear rounds at Tokyo, is by the dressage stallion Edward 28 (HANN).VDL Cardento competed at the Athens Olympics and had three Tokyo show jumping progeny, including the Irish team horse Kilkenny. Casall ASK (London Olympics) had four and Chacco-Blue (London) was the most-represented sire with six, including the sensational Explosion W. Irish Olympics
The most recent individual show jumping medal won by an Irish-bred was at Barcelona in 1992 when Irish (Regular Guy x Sandyman Star. Breeder: Alo Tynan) won bronze for Norman Dello Joio (USA). Irish is a full brother to Watervalley Stud’s Loughahoe Guy. Carling King (Clover Hill (ID) x Chairlift xx. Breeder: Dr. Pat Geraghty) and Mr Springfield (Western Problem xx x Ballinahow Boy (ID). Breeder: Robert Gallagher) remain the two highest-placed Irish Sport Horses at the Olympics in this millennium. The pair finished joint-fourth at the Athens Olympics with Kevin Babington (IRL) and Robert Smith (GB).Kilkenny (VDL Cardento x Guidam. Breeder: Sinead Brennan. Rider Cian O’Connor (IRL)) placed seventh at Tokyo and the other top-10 result, from London, was eighth-placed Flexible (Cruising (ISH) [TIH] x Safari xx. Breeder: Edward & Catherine Doyle. Rider: Rich Fellers (USA)).Clover Hill still appears in Tokyo bloodlines – Pacino Amiro, Horseware Woodcourt Garrison, Tullabeg Flamenco and Boleybawn Prince all feature him in their pedigrees. Boleybawn Prince (Colin Diamond x Clover Hill. Breeder: Brian McDonnell) is the closest match to a Traditional Irish Horse [TIH] at Tokyo. (The dam sire of his Clover Hill dam Ann Brook Lass is not recorded).The King of Diamonds line is one of the most prevalent Irish bloodlines at the Olympics. His own progeny include Special Envoy (Barcelona. Breeder: Mary Hughes) and Mill Pearl (Seoul. Breeder: Noel C. Duggan) while his descendants include Diamond Exchange (Atlanta. Also bred by Mary Hughes) and Tankers Town (Hong Kong. Breeder: Mary Blundell). The King of Diamonds daughter Highlight Girl is a full sister to both Errigal Flight and Laughtons Flight and the dam of Diamond Clover, Tankers Town’s sire. Highlight Girl is also the third dam of Grovine de Reve, 11th at Tokyo for Jonelle Price (NZ). The Atkinson family were also well-represented in Tokyo bloodlines. Their stallions Errigal Flight and Rimilis xx appear in several Irish Sport Horse pedigrees, e.g., Grovine de Reve and Tullabeg Flamenco.Pacino Amiro’s grandam NC Miss Clover (Clover Hill) is a half-sister to Young Convinced, sire of the five-star eventers Ivan Gooden and Major Milestone. The half-brothers Pacino (Diamant de Semilly) and Hermes de Reve (Quito de Baussy), both stood with Clem McMahon and produced two Tokyo Olympic horses; Grovine de Reve (eventing) and Pacino Amiro (show jumping). Heike Holstein’s Sambuca (SIES) (Samarant x Limmerick) is one of the few home-bred, produced and ridden dressage horses in modern Olympics. What the breeders said
Tom Brennan, whose family bred Olympic horses Kilkenny, MHS Going Global and Imperial Cavalier:
“He [Kilkenny] showed himself to be a very good horse. Cian minded the horse and looked ahead to bigger days. Kilkenny jumped with panache, he jumped with flair. The nosebleed came against him and slowed him down but he wasn’t short of scope. We were thrilled with him.
“He’d never have beaten Explosion W anyhow after the first day, all the stars were aligned for Explosion W to win his gold and he deserved it. Ben [Maher] did a fantastic job. Pacino Amiro showed unbelievable scope, how he came out of that double!
“I think the format was flawed and they were lucky they got the result they did. The only saving grace was Explosion W was a wonder horse. Explosion W and All In deserved the gold and silver medals and won the day for the organisers because it turned out into a glorified Grand Prix and not a true Olympics.
“I would love to see the format go back to the original. Normally by the fourth and fifth round, you’ve proved you’re the best. Show jumping is one of the most original sports in the world, it came from the army and they shouldn’t have tweaked a thing that was working.”
Simon Scott, breeder of Pacino Amiro: “I thought it was a serious level, just another level of show jumping. From what I can see, for them two nine-year-olds [Kilkenny and Pacino Amiro] to do what they did and to get into the second round on Wednesday was some achievement for Ireland. They were amazing on Tuesday and on Wednesday. They were definitely the talking point of the whole horse world, that we can breed horses like that again.
“The Olympic Games is another level from the Global Champions Tour; the pressure is serious, the travel, the preparation, coping with all that, that has to be taken into account.
“We sat in the tackroom in the yard, watching the show jumping from Tokyo on the TV, my mother, my son Ben and a couple of friends. He’s the talking horse, Pacino. He’s a true jumper, his dam is and his sire too. He coped very well and Bertram Allen did a superb job at riding and schooling him.
“He’s [Bertram] the best man in the world to sit on him; he’s cool, his ability, you just couldn’t get any better. Without a doubt he will shine at Paris in 2024, this was a great warm up for Paris.”