ATHLONE’S Francis Derwin has had a stellar month in Ocala, where he is based with a string of horses belonging to Cian O’Connor’s Karlswood Stables. On January 10th, he earned $24,000 when he finished second in the CSI3* 1.50m Grand Prix with the Knightfield Stud-bred Irish Sport Horse, Flexi K.
At the same venue on January 16th, he emerged the best of the 52 starters when he won the CSI2* $32,000 1.45m Grand Prix qualifier on Gospel Tame, with a time almost two seconds faster than runners-up Hunter Holloway (USA) and Koblenz. On the same day, he also finished sixth with Lambada Shake AG in the four-star $32,000 1.45m Winning Round class.
On the subject of his current base and string, 22-year-old Derwin said: “I am very happy to have a great team of horses here. Thanks to Cian for trusting me with them. It’s an unbelievable place to be. There’s no place else in the world like it and it’s a great place for horses.”
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EIYC Equivet Event Horse of the Year Annaharvey Dunowen and Maeve Deverell \ Sophie Rose Webber
ANNAHARVEY Farm’s Maeve Deverell did a double double at the first Dressage Ireland-affiliated show of 2026, when she was first and second in both FEI junior tests. Scoring 70.30% in the Junior Team test and 69.12% in Junior Individual equivalent, she won both classes with Annaharvey Dunowen, who has the distinction of having achieved podium placings internationally in both dressage and eventing with his Offaly-based rider, and was recently named as the Eventing Ireland Youth Committee’s Event Horse of the Year for 2025.
On board Annaharvey Firefly, Deverell was also second in these classes on scores of 69.55% and 68.68% respectively, which were both awarded by List I judge Vida Tansey and were personal best scores for the combination.
The 16-year-old rider has recently spent time training with Olympian Gareth Hughes in England, and has already hit the ground running in 2026.
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Deirdre Reilly and Neal Fearon \ 1 Clic Photo
NEAL Fearon has enjoyed a successful start to 2026 in Qatar, earning top-five placings in the H.H. The Father Amir’s Prix as part of the Doha Equestrian Tour. On January 4th, Fearon finished sixth in the four-star 1.55m Grand Prix riding Deirdre Reilly’s 14-year-old stallion Cocktail de Talma. He earned €10,000 for his sixth place in a class which was won by Harry Charles, and in which the well-known Irish Sport Horse ESI Rocky finished fourth with his new rider, Anastasia Nielsen.
The following week, Fearon finished third in the five-star 1.55m jump-off class, this time riding Derryglen Obsidian, who is also owned by Deirdre Reilly. Six combinations jumped double clear in the class, and only the eventual winners Max Kuhner and EIC Quantam Robin V (41.42) and runners-up Janne F Meyer Zimmerman and Cellagon Cascais (41.53) were able to surpass Fearon’s time of 42.56.
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Jessica Burke \ Susan Finnerty
GALWAY native Jessica Burke got her year off to a stellar start when she earned two top-10 placings at CSI5*-W Mechelen, both with Good Star du Bary. In the five-star 1.55m Grand Prix, Burke was one of 10 combinations to jump clear in the first round, but a pole down together with her time of 40.51 left her ninth at the finish.
In the following day’s 1.60m Longines FEI Jumping World Cup class, Burke finished ninth again, which earned her €5,000 and 19th place in the Western European League standings. Burke then travelled to Switzerland, where a four-fault-performance in the equivalent class at the Longines CHI Classics Basel saw her earn more valuable league points and move up to 14th in the standings.
Of her ride, Erica Nicholas’ Good Star du Bary, Burke said: “He is just fantastic. I think he is really making a name for himself, especially this year on the World Cup circuit. He’s so consistent. He’s like so close every day. I just feel like we need to ride the wave and it looks like our day is going to come.”