OFFALY’S Darragh Kenny has taken Florida by storm since his return to the competition ranks just three weeks ago and five-star success at Wellington International over the weekend has added to his growing tally of wins.

The highlight of week nine of the Winter Equestrian Festival was the five-star $500,000 Bainbridge Companies Grand Prix, which saw 39 horses and riders (including six of the top 10 riders in the world) line up to contest the very generous prize fund. Only nine of those jumped clear first time out to book their place against the clock, with five of them keeping all the fences standing second time round. Kenny and the 14-year-old Oldenburg gelding Eddy Blue, owned by Carol Sollak, were second last to go and showed both speed and accuracy when they were among the double clear rounds, clocking the fastest time of the class in 41.77 seconds to take home the $150,000 winner’s prize. This being the pair’s first five-star Grand Prix win at the venue. In an incredible finish, Australia’s Thaisa Erwin on Hialita B and the USA’s Marilyn Little on La Contessa both clocked 41.92 in the jump-off to share second place, each taking home $87,500.

“He’s been an incredible horse for me for quite a while now,” said Kenny after his win. “I’ve been riding him for three and a half years. He’s been second in a grand prix here, he’s been third in a grand prix here, he’s been placed in a lot of five-star grands prix, but to finally win one here is really deserving for the horse because he’s an incredible athlete. He tries so hard every time he goes in the ring, and I am really proud of him and how he competed tonight.”

The course designer at Wellington was Ireland’s Alan Wade, who will also be responsible for the tracks at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

Careful

“Eddy Blue is a very careful horse, so I can take a bit of risk with him. He’s a championship-type horse because he wants to leave the jumps up every day,” continued Kenny, who now has his sights on the FEI World Championships in Aachen, next August.

Shauna Murray, who is Eddy Blue’s groom, received the Double H Farm Grooms Award and a $500 cash prize for her care and preparation of the horse, which Kenny expressed his appreciation for.

“I’m really proud of my team, the team at the barn, everybody involved in Oakland. This has been quite a difficult time for me for the last six months, not being able to show, not being able to compete with my horses. It was very difficult. It was something that was really hard to deal with and hard to manage and to have them all feeling the way they feel right now and jumping the way they are, and the relief of winning tonight was quite big.”

Irish on form

The $6,150 1.40m Open Jumper class on Wednesday saw three Irish riders in the top 10, with Bertram Allen on Danger 76 in third place, just ahead of Cormac Hanley on Cornerado VDL in fourth and Kenny on Diaroubet in 10th.

Kenny and the 13-year-old Cosmos BH had recorded a win in Thursday’s five-star $32,000 Dodd Technologies 1.45m jump-off class, when they were best of the 33 starters. A total of 25 combinations jumped clear in round one for their chance to jump again, with 14 of those keeping a clean sheet second time out. Kenny and his mount jumped double clear in a second-round time of 29.74 to claim the win. Shane Sweetnam, who has risen to ninth place in the latest Longines World Rankings, rode Pegina VD Bisschop into fifth place in a time of 31.51.

The day’s five-star $116,100 Adequan WEF Challenge Round 9 saw a start list of 45, eight of whom jumped clear within the time allowed in the first round to proceed to the jump-off. Allen placed fifth with the 14-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Pacino Amiro (Pacino x Carnone Dancing Queen by NC Amiro), bred by Simon Scott in Co Donegal, followed by Kenny on Zero K in sixth. There were four double clears in the class, which was won by Ben Maher (GBR) on Enjeu De Grisien.

In Thursday’s $6,150 1.40m Open Jumper class, Michael Duffy rode Quiberon -P into fifth place and also took seventh on Joy. Sarah Kerins and Royal Du Rouet finished ninth.

Sweetnam and Pegina VD Bisschop placed ninth in Friday’s five-star $62,500 1.50m speed class, in which Rincoola Milsean (Aldatus Z x Rincoola Abu by Cruising), the 13-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding, bred by the late Harold McGahern in Co Longford and ridden by Charlotte Jacobs, finished as runner-up. The win went to Marilyn Little (USA) and Narado

Friday’s $6,150 1.40m Open Jumper class had three Irish in the top five, when Nicky Galligan rode Lougherne Kingfisher into third place, Hanley on Cornerado VDL placed fourth and Kenny on Diaroubet were fifth out of the 42 starters.

There was a close finish in Sunday’s five-star $62,500 Hermes 1.50m Classic, when Derry’s Jordan Coyle finished as runner-up on board 15-year-old gelding Ariso, with a double clear in a second-phase time of 32.8 - a mere 0.03 seconds behind the winner Mark Bluman (COL) on Ubiluc, who stopped the clock in 32.77. Kenny finished 10th in the class riding Cosmos BH.