KILKENNY’s Richie Moloney scored a podium finish on the second week of the Winter Equestrian Festival in Florida, taking third place in last Saturday’s 1.50m Grand Prix.

The $86,000 Marshall and Sterling sponsored competition was the first of the “Saturday Night Lights” series, with fans having to brave unseasonal chilly and blustery weather at the Florida venue.

Moloney was one of 12 riders to make it into the jump-off and the Irishman held the lead at one stage after a brilliant effort with Carrabis Z. The 13-year-old Zangersheide stallion by Cannabis Z out of a dam by Grannusso, crossed the line clear in 36.57 seconds, a time that and would eventually be good enough for third position.

“I was very happy. My horse had a break for almost three months so it’s nice that he came out like this. It’s the first week back jumping bigger, and he was great,” said Moloney afterwards.

Moloney recorded two major victories with Carrabis Z in 2015. They won the four-star Grand Prix at Tryon in the USA and also took the top placing at the American Gold Cup World Cup show.

QUALITY

Victory last Saturday in Florida went to American rider Todd Minikus on the Quality Group’s Quality Girl. They finished four seconds faster than second place finishers, Samuel Parot from Chile on Atlantis.

“I watched Richie go and I thought, that looks pretty impressive, and then Samuel went and I thought, this looks too fast. But when I went to the first jump, she took a hold of the bit and dragged me on down there. It felt great,” Minikus said.

It was a gratifying win for Minikus, who had a severe groin injury in September, which put him on the sidelines.

“I just sat around for months,” Minikus recalled. “Somehow I got myself back in shape and hopefully it will stay together for the rest of the circuit. We have a big summer coming up, and I have big plans. I hope that Babalou and Quality Girl have a good circuit here.”

Co Down’s Conor Swail also made it into the jump-off with Martha Louise but one fence down left them in eighth place overall.

O’CONNOR FOURTH

Cian O’Connor finished best of the Irish in last Sunday’s $35,000 Suncast 1.50m feature class in Florida. The Meath-based Olympic bronze medallist took fourth place with Sam Du Challois, a 10-year-old stallion by Quaprice Boimargot Quincy.

Ten of the 54 starters went clear in the opening round, with O’Connor the sole Irish representative in the jump-off. He first rode Sam Du Challois at Lier in Belgium last November and the stallion looks a impressive addition to the string of horses at Karlswood Stables. They never looked like touching a pole in two classy rounds in Florida and broke the finish beam clear in 35.03 seconds to eventually finish fourth.

Third place went to the Irish Sport Horse Codarco, ridden by America’s Chloe Reid. Now a nine-year-old, the stallion Codarco (by Darco out of an Orame dam), was bred and produced by Thomas O’Brien from Galway Equestrian Centre, before Billy Twomey picked up the ride in 2014.

Victory went to Michaels-Beerbaum and Unbelievable 5, a 15-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding by Manhattan. They posted the fastest time of 34 seconds flat to push Canada’s Eric Lamaze and Check Picobello Z into second.

Getting back into form was the goal for Michaels-Beerbaum, who explained that Unbelievable 5 is just back in the ring after a two-year absence due to injury.

“This is his first big win, but also his first big track again. It took a long time after an almost two-year break to get him going again. This is really nice for him that he showed his form again and was as good as ever. It was nice for the owners because they spent a lot of time and had a lot of patience,” she shared. “A lot of people would have given up on the horse and would have thought he wouldn’t make it back, but they really gave it the time and proper veterinary care to bring him back in the sport. This is really quite a nice win for him.”