A SINGLE clear in the first round. That is what decided this year’s €500,000 Rolex Grand Prix to conclude the 2024 renewal of the Dublin Horse Show last Sunday.

The USA’s Laura Kraut (59) was the only rider, from a top-class starting field of 40, to correctly answer all the questions set by Alan Wade when she guided Cherry Knoll Farm’s 11-year-old Belgian-bred mare Bisquetta to a fault-free round.

Speaking after her win, a delighted Kraut said: “I think the Dublin Grand Prix is one of those that is on your bucket list of classes to win. There’s Aachen, there’s Dublin and there’s Rome. I cannot tell you how happy I am to win this today.

“The crowd here is second to none. They are educated, they are all horse people and they were on the edge of their seats. I enjoy a class like this because you’re watching and you’re focused, willing someone to jump clear; even I was like ‘come on, show me we can do this’.

“Winning in Dublin is as good as it gets. The highest I’ve ever finished is, I think, third with Cedric, so that was a few years ago now. So, yep, I’m going to ride on this one for a while.

“My thanks to Alan for building a course that suited my horse perfectly. He’s right. We were not settled, I was sick to my stomach watching each horse go in. But he is correct, it was not unfair, it was just very careful and it had to be done perfectly.

“I was lucky, I went late in the class and was able to study and really decide exactly what I wanted to do. Bisquetta was right there ready to do it.”

Perfect

Laura contined: “About halfway through, my partner Nick (Skelton, five-time winner of the Dublin Grand Prix) said ‘this is the perfect class. You just get in there and be the only clear. Don’t worry about it’. We had a plan from when we walked and I stuck with that. My mare is very, very careful and very brave.

“She has really stepped up a level this year and I was confident that it wasn’t going to be too much for her, but I really didn’t think she would do it as easily as she did. She rode perfectly, I cannot tell you how good she was.

“Her owner Margeret Duprey is here, so that was great for her to see it. Bisquetta has quite a unique personality. In the ring she is amazing, when you are on her she’s pretty good. She’s terrified of other horses, particularly their tails; if they swish their tails, she likes to run away.

“She’s got a lot of quirks, but thankfully none of them are when you ride her. She’s very sweet. In the stable, she’s great, she doesn’t like too many people around her or other horses.

“She’s becoming more and more of a princess; after today I can’t even imagine…”

Best in the world

In second place as the fastest four-faulter in round one was Brazil’s former Olympic champion Rodrigo Pessoa who was returning to Dublin for the first time since he was the chef d’equipe to the Irish team. He commented: “When I walked the course, it was just what you would expect from a Grand Prix like this one. Alan (Wade) is one of the best in the world, if not the best, so you always expect a tough test, but fair.

“I liked the course for my horse in particular. I was lucky to go late in the draw, so I could really study everything. The mistake was my mistake. I came a little bit hot into the triple. I was worried about the oxer. I ran out of room at B, which squeezed the distance a little bit.

“I can’t blame the horse and afterwards I thought; okay, I’ll try and be quick, go back to the wall and do seven to the plank. Take the risk at the gold oxer and do the last line, getting right to the bottom of the last oxer and do seven to finish and hope for a good time.

“In the beginning I was really bummed at having the fence down, but then I was really rooting for Laura to jump clear. When I saw my time, I thought I’d rather be second than going into the jump-off with 10 others, so yeah, I love Laura Kraut… I was really rooting for her today.

“The conditions here today were unbelievable. The horses were really jumping great. The atmosphere was incredible. This show is one of the best in the world. The footing was perfect; everything was there for a fantastic afternoon.

Sweetnam on the podium

Third, and the highest placed Irish rider, was Shane Sweetnam who picked up four faults at fence three when second into the arena with the Irish Sport Horse James Kann Cruz. He did not think then that he would be returning to the podium.

Shane Sweetnam and James Kann Cruz placed third in the Rolex Grand Prix of Ireland \ Laurence Dunne jumpinaction.net

“The breeders of my horse, the Connolly family, are here which is great; we wouldn’t be here without them,” he said of the breeders who will pick up the €1,000 prize from the IFA for breeding the highest place Irish horse.

“My day was a bit weird,” he added. “The horse jumped great but with four faults, I thought my day was over. But as the class went on, it got exciting. It felt a bit old fashioned. Like back in the day when there was a Derby or a Grand Prix and there wouldn’t be so many clears, nowadays people love their jump-offs.

“The second half of the class had everyone on the edge of their seats. Things just kept happening. Laura jumped an immaculate round, fair dues to her, she deserved her win.

“I think Alan did a fair job with the course, it was just the way the momentum went with the class.

“I was happy with my horse. I think if I had gone later, I possibly would have gone clear. I was a bit tight back to fence three and had it down. When I walked the course I thought, whatever you do don’t have a time fault; I was clear last year and had a time fault, so that was in my head and I made a mistake because of it.

“The first time I was in Dublin many years ago in the 128cm, I was eliminated at fence three, so Dublin hasn’t always gone so well for me. Now that I think about it, maybe I’ve something in my head about fence three; I made it past it today… I just hit it; we’ve come a long way,” he said with a laugh.

Course designer Alan Wade commented: “I expected a good class. I didn’t think we’d get a great class. I thought it was great show jumping. I didn’t think too many horses struggled. A good few had a couple of fences down and retired for another day. Obviously, you don’t expect one clear round to win it, although the rules do say that a jump-off is only in case of an equality of faults.

“I didn’t aim for that, we thought we’d have six to eight clear. There were 12 or 13 four-faulters and I think, if they had gotten a second chance, they would have been clear. At this level, you are building to the top end of FEI rules, you have good height and good spread, we have good materials here in Dublin.

“I don’t think I would have done anything different. The time wasn’t that tight; you couldn’t say we were forcing them into mistakes. I think if we had had one clear round early on, it would have settled everyone down, and we could have had eight or nine clear. Sometimes that’s all you need. It was good sport, top sport. I try to be fair to the horses at all stages.

Kraut took home €165,000 for the win, ahead of Pessoa who landed €100,000 and Sweetnam scooped €75,000. Next year’s Rolex Grand Prix will have a €1 million prize pot.