OFFALY’s Darragh Kenny ended an excellent week at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida, with victory in Sunday’s three-star the $137,000 Horseware Ireland Grand Prix in the main international arena, continuing what has been an incredible circuit for Irish riders.

Michel Vaillancourt built a strong 1.50m track for the 45 entries, and 10 managed to make it through to the jump-off. 16-year-old USA rider Mimi Gochman was first to go and put in a double clear effort aboard Gigi’s Girl BH to set the standard and eventually finish on the podium in third place.

Next to go in the jump-off, USA’s Hilary McNerney and her own Lovelight gave it their best effort, opening up a big gallop for the second half of the track to shave nearly five seconds off the leading time with a double-clear round finishing in 36.53 seconds, which would hold for second place.

The only other double clear of the day proved to be the best as Kenny piloted his 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare Great-Tikila J (Carosso VDL x Nabab De Reve) to an impressive double clear effort in 35.24 seconds for the victory. She is owned by Whiterock Farm and HKC Collection.

Jumping in their first three-star Grand Prix together, Tipperary’s Max Wachman (17) and Lazzaro delle Schiave finished in seventh place (0/4 40.87).

Lucky

Speaking afterwards, he said: “I actually got very lucky in the jump-off, to be honest. I had planned to do the six [strides] like everybody did in the first line, then turned very tight back to the double, and she tried really hard. I had a hard rub on the back rail jumping out but got away with it, then I ended up doing six where Hilary had done five, so I thought, ‘Okay better run.’”

Kenny and his sponsors purchased the mare just over a year ago, and the win was even sweeter as it was also the first Grand Prix of her career. “This is her first Grand Prix ever. When we bought her, she was very green having only jumped 1.30m, but she’s extremely talented. She’s careful, scopey, brave, a little bit of a mare sometimes, but in the ring her ability is incredible. I was really happy with her because I aimed her for this week. She jumped clear in the WEF and then jumped super today and felt really good.

“We’ve developed her slowly,” Kenny continued. “She’s a little bit temperamental sometimes where you have to take everything slow, so I played around with her on the grass a few other weeks, did some stuff at home, and then thought, ‘Okay, I have her in the right spot for this week.’”

Ranked ninth in the world, Kenny continues to rack up wins at the 2021 WEF and plans to close out the winter circuit in the CSI5* during WEF 11 while stepping up with some of his newer horses to jump the CSI4* during WEF 12.

Irish one-two

Kenny’s Grand Prix victory came off the back of a win in the previous day’s feature 1.50m with Karrie Rufer’s Vertige De Galarzacs, ahead of his compatriot Shane Sweetnam in second with Ideal.

A total of 79 entries contested the first round of competition with just nine qualifying for the second round. Sweetnam was first to return in the jump-off with the nine-year-old gelding Ideal (Cardento 933 x Paskitt), owned by Sweet Oak Farm and Seabrook, LLC. They set the standard, executing the 1.50m shortened course with in a time of 36.67 seconds.

After finishing on four faults with his first horse, Kenny capitalised on having multiple mounts, making adjustments to capture the win aboard Vertige De Galarzacs, a 12-year-old Selle Français gelding by Quaprice Bois Margot x Si Tu Viens, when stopping almost one second faster in 35.69.

In the end, the only three double-clear efforts of the day reigned supreme on the podium, as Sweetnam held on for the second-place finish while Martin Fuchs landed in third with Connor (0/0 37.10).

Kenny also took fourth place with Cicomein VDL.

His partnership with Vertige De Galarzacs is fairly new, having acquired the ride from Karrie Rufer of Morning Star Sporthorses just four weeks ago.

“He’s a very talented horse,” said Kenny. “He has his own technique a little bit, but he wants to be very careful. He’s really, really scopey, and I think he’s going to be a really good horse. At the start, he didn’t know me, so we just took a week to get used to each other, but now it seems to be really good.

“Shane’s horse is also a little bit green,” continued Kenny. “His horse was a little bit difficult to turn, so I think the difference was just a matter of picking up a little bit of time here and there.”

Rufer had originally purchased the gelding to campaign herself but decided handing over the reins to Kenny, ranked ninth in the world, would be a better fit. “I bought him a little over a year ago from Enda Carroll at Ashford Farm,” said Rufer. “He’s super honest, has as a really good heart, great character, and is very, very scopey. That’s what immediately attracted me to him.

“The horse is amazing, but not necessarily my natural ride,” she continued. “He needs a little bit more of a strong, seat-driven ride, and I thought Darragh would be a good fit for him. He’s an easy choice to pick when you look at top riders who really get the horses on their side. Clearly it worked.”

Next week sees the richest class of the circuit – the $500,000 Rolex Grand Prix – take place on the Derby Field at 1pm (6pm Irish time) on Saturday. Watch the action live on www.pbiec.coth.com.