LANAKEN once again proved a happy hunting ground for Irish horses and riders, as the country’s talented equine athletes secured two gold medals (out of the three on offer), as well as one silver and one bronze at the Belgian showcase.

The 30th annual FEI World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses (WBFSH) Jumping World Breeding Championship for Young Horses attracts the cream of equine competitors from around the globe and this year’s renewal took place from September 24th to 28th. The competition included a Belgian Championship.

A huge 195 starters lined up for the first seven-year-old qualifier on Thursday, a 1.40m two-phase class, of whom 126 jumped clear and proceeded to jump a second time. An impressive 105 combinations completed without fault and the Irish started as they meant to go on, with Kildare’s Mikey Pender securing the top spot on board the Irish Sport Horse HHS Venice (Emerald Van’t Ruythershof (KWPN) x HHS Fairy Fort (ISH), by Heritage Fortunus (HANN)), bred and owned by Bravo Hughes Ltd. Tyrone’s Niamh McEvoy placed ninth in the class riding Seguela v/d Gravenhoeve.

A staggering 253 starters took on the first six-year-old qualifier, a 1.35m two-phase, with 137 proceeding to phase two, 85 of whom completed double clear. There were no Irish combinations in the top 10, although three placed in the top 20.

Meanwhile, 226 lined up for the first five-year-old qualifier at 1.25m, with 121 of them jumping clear and sharing first place, including 15 Irish combinations.

Friday’s 193-strong second seven-year-old qualifier, a 1.40m speed class, saw three Irish pairings finishing in the top 10 - namely Kilkenny’s Eoin Brennan on Augustus Z in fifth; fellow Kilkenny man Gerard O’Neill on Chevrolet van Paemel Z in sixth and McEvoy on Boleybawn Alvaro (ISH) in eighth.

The second six-year-old qualifier, a 1.35m speed class, saw 249 going to post, with 97 remaining fault-free. Best of the Irish here was Brennan riding Fernhill SDF Five Star to a podium place in third.

Of the 214 starters in the second five-year-old qualifier at 1.25m, 76 jumped clear to share first place, including nine Irish combinations.

Boost

Consolation classes for each of the age divisions were held on Saturday, along with the final of the Belgian Championship. In another boost for Irish breeding, Jos Verlooy and FTS Killossery Konfusion (ISH) were named 2025 Belgian Champions. This 15-year-old gelding by SIEC Livello (HOLST) out of Killossery Kruisette (ISH) by Cruising (ISH)[TIH] was bred by Frank and Laura Glynn in Co Dublin.

The six-year-old consolation class, a 1.35m speed class, saw a start list of 139, 58 of whom kept all the poles intact. Eoin Brennan rode Fernhill SDF Five Star into second place, only being beaten by Belgium’s Thian van Hoydonck on Takashi, while Bas Moerings (NED) on Ovinia placed third.

There were 118 starters in the five-year-old 1.25m consolation class, 47 of whom finished without fault. It was an Irish win for Tabitha Kyle on board Ottani Z, when they jumped clear in 52.36 seconds. Italy’s Guido Franchi took second with Bijou van’t Klavertje Vier Z, with Nicole Pavitt (GBR) on Umberto II van het Geninsteinde in third.

Gold medal

Sunday’s World Championship finals in Lanaken saw 14 Irish-bred horses across the line-ups and were held in age order, with the five-year-olds up first taking on a 1.30m track with a jump-off. Of the 49 starters, 18 combinations kept a clean sheet, with 17 of them jumping again and nine completing double clear rounds. There were three Irish in the top five and, after a nail-biting jump-off, Pender claimed the gold medal with HHS Private Ryan, a KWPN gelding owned by Marta Hughes-Bravo, in a time of 38.23. Jason Foley kept his cool under pressure and took the bronze with Tysons Lady Lux (Tyson (KWPN) out of Lux Brigade (ISH) by Lux Z (HANN)), an Irish Sport Horse mare, bred by Shay Hesnan in Co Dublin and owned by Martin Egan from Co Wicklow (40.33), while Shane Dalton rode Unicum-H into fifth place (40.45).

Pender said afterwards: “I have only been riding this horse for about six weeks. Therefore, all praise goes to everyone who has helped bring Private Ryan to where he is today. He is naturally very fast and we flew through the jump-off, keeping exactly the right pace, not too much, not too little, just steady, and that worked fantastically.”

This win completes a hat-trick for Pender, as he won gold medals at the World Championship at Lanaken in the seven-year-old final in 2024 (HHS Mercedes (ISH) and in the five-year-old final in 2023 (HHS Ocala (ISH).

The 40 six-year-olds faced a 1.40m track with a jump-off, which saw just seven of them jump clear in round one. The jump-off provided a further test and only one combination remained clear; the gold medal therefore went to Max van de Poll (NED) on Ortane. McEvoy was the best of the four-faulters with BP Othello (Ganesh Hero Z (ZANG) x Adelheid (KWPN), by Tygo (KWPN)), an Irish Sport Horse gelding owned by Fiona and Michael Roche, while bronze went to Thibeau Spits (BEL) on Touch of Joy Dwerse Hagen. Jack Ryan rode Thera van Heiste into seventh place.

Polished

The concluding seven-year-old final saw a start list of 42, with 10 clear first rounds, including four Irish combinations. It was one of these who proved best, as Eoin Brennan rode a very polished round with Augustus Z (ZANG) to claim the gold medal in a time of 35.20. Niels van Rossem (BEL) settled for silver with Speedy van Klapscheut (35.76) and Thibault Thevenon (FRA) on ICI et la Courcelle took the bronze (36.61).

Ireland’s Leah Stack rode Aggie van de Start Z into fourth place, followed by McEvoy on Boleybawn Alvaro (ISH) (Dominator 2000 Z (ZANG) x Arina (BWP), by Crown Z (ZANG)), bred by Ronan Rothwell, Co Wicklow, in fifth. Pender and HHS Venice (ISH) placed eighth in the class.

“Me and my team could not be prouder of Augustus Z,” said Brennan following his win. “There is actually quite a story behind Augustus Z. We bred him ourselves at home. But when he was a three-year-old, he had an accident on the walker and suffered neurological problems. But, thankfully, he recovered and it never stopped him. His jump was always amazing and so we started to compete with him and he has always been an incredible horse for me! Augustus Z has so much scope and I could follow my plan in the jump-off and we are so glad with the result!”