By Róisín Sheridan
IRISH riders had plenty to smile about at the five-star Dublin Horse Show where, collectively, they accumulated a remarkable seven internationals wins.
This may in some way help to ease the disappointment felt following last Friday’s Nations Cup result. When you look back on the week as a whole, Irish competitors excelled in almost every international class, missing out on just four wins; three to the USA and one to Germany.
Wednesday’s opener, the Speed Stakes, saw 93 go to post. The result saw an Irish one-two-three with Cameron Hanley and Newton du Haut Bois victorious in a time of 53.97 seconds. Thomas Ryan and Cruise On Clover were runners-up in 55.14 and Michael Duffy and Westland Ruby took third.
Darragh Kenny won the second class in the main arena on Wednesday, the Irish Sports Council Classic. Riding Picolo, the American-based rider recorded a time of 35.22 in a 14-way jump-off. Britain’s Ben Maher and Aristo Z came closest to Kenny’s time in 36.12 to claim the runner-up spot.
Thursday’s international opener was the €20,000 Speed Derby for the Paul Darragh Memorial Trophy and once again, Irish riders dominated taking the top-three places.
Michael Duffy steered Dermot Forde’s 10-year-old Irish-bred mare Westland Ruby to a decisive win when they stopped the clock at 82.63. Cameron Hanley slotted into second aboard Newton du Haut Bois in a time of 84.97 while Captain Michael Kelly and Mo Chroí made up the final part of the Irish trio in third place, less than one second slower in 85.47.
Conor Swail just missed out on a win in the second international class on Thursday the Serpentine Speed Stakes when he was beaten by America’s Kent Farrington.
Ten combinations from the original 41 starters left all the fences up, with the lead changing several times throughout the class. But it was the 26th pair in Farrington and Blue Angel who recorded the fastest time of 64.93. Swail, as the 38th rider in, made a good attempt aboard Lansdowne but was slightly slower in 66.35. Third went to Bertram Allen and Romanov in 67.10.
ANGLESEA STAKES
A total of 52 lined out for Thursday’s feature class, the Anglesea Stakes. Under the rules of this class, a winning round competition, the top 10 athletes from the first round went forward to the timed decider regardless of clear rounds. They all then revert to a score of zero. As it happened, there were eight clear rounds in round one and they went in order of their time in the first round.
First in was Germany’s Daniel Deusser and Air Pia V Z who had one fault in the first round. They were clear in a time of 38.35 to set the pace. Next in was Ben Maher and Aristo Z who also had just one fault in the first round. They produced a superb round breaking the beam in 37.21. Maher held the lead while the next seven riders failed to beat his time and it looked as though he had the win in his grasp but the final rider in put paid to that.
Jessica Springsteen and the 11-year-old Belgian-bred Davendy S were last to go. An impressive ride by the 22-year-old American saw her guide her mount to the win in a time of 36.51 and gave us a hint of what was to come the following day, when she produced a superb double clear for her team in the Nations Cup event.
Saturday morning’s Accumulator class featured a 10-fence track for which points were awarded for each obstacle cleared.
The maximum score was 65 points for a clear round including the final ‘joker’ fence. Fifteen of the 42 starters achieved a maximum score and Ireland’s Billy Twomey was the fastest of these aboard Royale du Rouet in 45.70.
Cameron Hanley continued his run of good form when he finished as runner-up with the consistent French gelding Newton du Haut Bois in 46.81.
Daniel Deusser and Fyloe V Claeyssenhof scored the only German win of the show when they came out best of the 46 starters in the JLT Dublin Stakes on Saturday afternoon.
Just five riders made it into the jump-off. Germany’s Philipp Weishaupt withdrew, leaving just four to go against the clock. Ireland’s Greg Broderick and MHS Going Global saw their hopes of victory fade early on when they had the first fence down in 38.87 for eventual fourth place.
Brazil’s Marlon Modolo Zanotelli and Extra van Essene produced a fast clear in 36.54 to take the temporary lead.
Germany’s Patrick Stuhlmeyer and Chasmo stopped the clock in 37.99 for eventual third place but last to go Deusser managed to slice 0.49 off the leading time to secure the win in 36.05.
On page 53, we take a closer look at how Captain Michael Kelly and the Irish Sport Horse mare Mo Chroi won Sunday’s international Speed Championship in a fairytale ending to her partnership with the Army Equitation School rider and her competition career.