BRITAIN’s Oliver Townend’s timely ‘big guns’ win at the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day-Event with Cooley Master Class coincided with the release of the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses (WBFSH) initial rankings this year. The Irish Sport Horse studbook starts the main WBFSH points season in third (eventing) and 16th (show jumping) places respectively, however the studbook fares considerably better in the Hippomundo rankings.

Based on prize money, instead of points, the Irish Sport Horse studbook leads in eventing and stands in 13th place in the Hippomundo rankings.

The leading WBFSH studbooks, up to March 31st, are Zangersheide (show jumping), Selle Français (eventing) and KWPN (dressage), while the current top horses in these respective sports are Ladriano Z, Just Kidding and Damsey FRH.

There is one Irish Sport Horse – Claddagh Iroko (64th) – in the WBFSH top-100 show jumping horses, followed by Penelope Cruz (338th), Luibanta H (363rd), Hallowberry Cruz (440th) and HHS Burnchurch and MHS Going Global in equal 450th place.

The top half-dozen Irish Sport Horses, based on eventing results since last October, are Woodstock Bennett (ninth), The Apprentice (24th), Fernhill By Night (29th), Capels Hollow Drift (42nd), Watts Burn (48th) and Fernhill Fortitude (69th).

Hippomundo’s rankings show a different picture, with KWPN show jumping horses having already earned a staggering €5,621,551 in prize money in 2019, followed by the Selle Français (€4,842,942) and BWP (€4,400,292).

Since January, Irish Sport Horses have won €589,184 or an average of €2,032 for each of the 290 Irish-breds on the Hippomundo database, comparing well with the KWPNs 2,749 horses (€2,045).

TOP EARNERS

The highest-earning breed in Hippomundo’s current top-20 was Germany’s Mecklenburg with just 50 horses earning an average €6,101. The top-three Irish earners were Rocksy Music (€51,630), Luibanta H (€36,010) and MHS Going Global (€27,300). Twenty-one Irish Sport Horses earned €17,080 during eventing’s off-season with Van Gough (€5,330), Boleybawn Prince (€2,250) and Fernhill By Night (€2,000) earning the lion’s share.

Though eventing prize money is still a fraction of show jumping purses, those figures will rise once the lucrative five-star events are factored in, starting with the Land Rover Kentucky event last weekend. The Irish Sport Horse studbook has, with the exception of three years, won the eventing studbook title each year since its introduction by the WBFSH. The emergence of the Hippomundo rankings is another yardstick and in both points and prize money title races, last weekend’s win by Cooley Master Class was perfect timing.