FIVE-YEAR-OLDs
IRISH riders started out promisingly in the first five-year-old qualifier last Thursday morning at the FEI World Breeding Jumping Championships for Young Horses in Lanaken, Belgium, with all eight jumping clear from the 228 starters.
Only three of those were able to repeat that performance in Friday’s second qualifier to go through to the world final.
Forty-four combinations started over Sunday’s strong 1.30m track with seven clearing all the fences to make it to the timed round.
Kilkenny’s Vincent Byrne was the sole Irish competitor in the jump-off and produced the fastest time of the day with Pearl Roche’s five-year-old mare Pearls Princess Gervantus but two fences on the floor meant they had to settle for seventh place.
Bred near Eadestown in Co Kildare by Roche herself, Pearls Princess Gervantus is by Luidam and out of Guiness 38, by Gervantus II. With Byrne, she finished fourth in the five-year-old championship at the Dublin Horse Show and had a solid campaign in the ISH Studbook Series.
The gold medal went to Britain when Pippa Goddard guided the grey mare Chilli (Colestus x Colorit) to the fastest clear round in 36.79 seconds. Germany’s Felix Hassmann took the silver medal with the bay Holsteiner stallion Quiwitino WZ (Quiwi Dream x Caretino 2).
Germany’s Angelique Rusen filled the next two places, claiming bronze with Calvino (Castelan II x Literat 12).
SEVEN-YEAR-OLDs
In the seven-year-old division, there were just nine clear rounds over the big 1.45m track in the final. From the 189 horses that began in the first qualifier, three Irish horses, as well as Irish rider Susan Fitzpatrick with the KWPN-sired Fellow Castlefield made it to Sunday’s final.
The gold medal went to Columbia’s Dayro Arroyave with Koriano van Klapscheut (BWP) (Lord Z x Darco) with the quickest double clear in 40.62 seconds. Belgium’s Pieter Devos was runner-up with the Flash (KWPN) (Numero Uno x Indoctro) in 41.49, just fractions of a second ahead of bronze medal winner Ivan Serrano Saenz from Spain with Citizen Mezz (Chacco-Blue x Charity) in 41.86.
The highest placed Irish Sport Horse was last year’s six-year-old champion Killossery Kaiden, ridden by American Adrienne Dixon, who trains at Ballypatrick Stables in Thurles with Greg Broderick.
Although initially given four faults in the first round for a suspected foot in the water, the decision was overturned and the pair went through to the jump-off where they picked up four faults in a time of 44.31 to finish seventh.
Dixon, from California, purchased the seven-year-old gelding by Lux Z at last November’s Goresbridge Supreme Sale of Show Jumpers for €270,000. He is out of the Nations Cup performer Killossery Kruisette and was bred in Co Dublin by Laura and Frank Glynn of Killossery Lodge Stud.
Also born to the mare in the same year was Killossery Kuidam, by Luidam, who was competing in Lanaken but failed to make it to the final.
Remarkably, three of the seven-year-olds in the final – Killossery Kaiden, MHS Attraction and Fellow Castlefield – had come through the production system at Ger O’Neill’s Castlefield Sport Horses.