The year 2016 proved to be one of little change for the national show jumping season despite the Rio Olympic Games having an effect on the traditional fixtures on our calendar and a number of familiar faces changing at organisational level.
The main leagues remained firmly ensconced with the old guard although those familiar faces had to fight a bit harder for success in the young horse divisions and the regional leagues with several up and coming young riders leaving their mark.
January saw Ray Buchanan elected as the chairman of Showjumping Ireland, replacing Tony Hurley. Buchanan would have plenty to deal with in his first term, in a year that saw a debate over the points system, legal papers served by Millstreet and changes to the Autumn Grand Prix League.
The jumping season got underway in February with the HSI/Connolly’s Redmills Spring Tour. In a carbon copy of 2015, Liam O’Meara and John Floody emerged as frontrunners over the 16 legs and O’Meara claimed a second consecutive league victory.
The Tipperary rider was incredibly consistent to claim the €2,000 title, placing in eight legs with two outright wins and five runner-up finishes. Unsurprisingly, his mount, Mr Coolcaum, was awarded the leading horse accolade.
BATTLE
The Horseware/TRM Premier Series came down to the wire this season with Captain Geoff Curran, Francis Connors and reigning 2015 title holder Alexander Butler all in with a chance to take the €3,500 series title at the final round in the Meadows EC.
In the end, it was Curran who triumphed with a decisive win aboard Shannondale Rahona in the final and that secured the win by a single point for the Army Equitation School.
Celebrating its 90th anniversary, the Army Equitation School also saw some changes at the top this year. Commanding Officer Lt Col Brian MacSweeney retired and Tom Freyne took over the helm. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel back in May.
Francis Connors finished as runner-up in the Premier Series and as the leading rider and horse combination with Erne Ladygoldilocks, Connors was declared as 2016 National Champion.
While the final round certainly proved exciting, it was disappointing to see the Premier Series lose two of its rounds over the season. Galway County was called off on the riders request with ground conditions less than favourable after torrential rain at the green field venue.
Mullingar EC however opted not to run a leg of the Series, instead running their two-star Grand Prix as a standalone class citing confusion over title sponsorship as the reason.
The TRM/Horseware National Grand Prix League suffered only one cancellation but it was one of the more important rounds, the final. Scheduled for the Munster Region Championships on September 11th, the concluding round had only been confirmed at the beginning of August. This left no chance for second placed Ger O’Neill to mount a final challenge on Vincent Byrne, who led by nine points.
It was an unfortunate end to what had been a hard fought battle throughout the season. Vincent Byrne, however, was a worthy winner having accrued a total of 61 points over the league. It was Byrne’s second time to claim the €4,000 National Grand Prix League title having also triumphed in 2014.
James Weldon’s Mr Rockefeller was awarded the €1,000 leading horse prize having accounted for the majority of Byrne’s points. Byrne and the 12-year-old Ard VDL Douglas-sired gelding had taken four outright victories, winning in Thomastown, Charleville, Co Clare and Connell Hill EC.
Byrne and Mr Rockefeller were also the inaugural winners of the Munster Stadium Showjumping Grand Prix this season. With Jumping in the City cut to only one round the Munster Region created a new initiative to fill the gap with two rounds of Munster Stadium Showjumping running at the Limerick/Cork Racecourse. Paddy O’Donnell won the other round, coming out in front with Minority Report.
Both combinations went forward to the only round of Jumping in the City, held in Shelbourne Park at the beginning of August, but it was Olympic hopeful Greg Broderick who triumphed on that occasion with Zuidam.
Francis Connors had a remarkably successful season showing clearly why he was crowned National Champion. Finishing second and third on the overall leader boards for the Premier Series and the National Grand Prix League respectively, Connors also made his presence felt in the 1.35m regional leagues.
Connors took a clear victory in the Mervue Equine Leinster Summer Tour, ahead of second-placed John Floody, by a wide margin to claim the €3,000 leading rider prize. Paired with Capitol Cruise, Connors was the victor of the rounds at Tattersalls and Iverk, as well as taking the runners-up position on three occasions. Connors and Ian Smyth’s Ard VDL Douglas-sired gelding also made a solid attempt on the Connolly’s Red Mills Munster Grand Prix League narrowly missing out on the top spot to Paul Beecher and Danqu. Beecher had four victories throughout the league to secure the top prize of €2,000.
The TRI Ulster Region Summer Tour was awarded to Jordan Coyle and Amigo Vh Winkenshof Z. Jim Maneely’s nine-year-old Amoroso Van De Helle-sired gelding has been an exceptionally consistent performer for Coyle with nine national wins at 1.35m level this year, four of those in the Ulster Summer Tour.
Young rider Jonathan Smyth was the closest challenger, with Charlton Clio, showing a preview of the form to come later in the season when the combination emerged as winners of the Cavan International Grand Prix.
YOUNG STARS
The Connaught region was dominated by Shane Dalton, who managed to take a one-two victory in the Sunshine Windows and Doors Grand Prix League with Belfields Captain and Chimay.
Dalton was one of the young riders to feature in the young horses divisions this season, winning the five-year-old Horse Sport Ireland Irish Studbook Showjumping Series with Gabriel Slattery’s Castlelawn Captain Junior.
Two other young riders made a significant impact in the young horse championships this season, first drawing notice with impressive victories at the Dublin Horse Show. Michael Pender won the Five-Year-Old Flexing National Championships with Z Seven Canya Dance, and Darragh Ryan took the honours in the Four-Year-Old Mo Chroi National Championship with Abby V Overis Z.
Pender later went on to win the Millstreet Boomerang with Rainstown Majestic, while Ryan continued Ballypatrick Stables run of form in the Irish Breeders Classic when victorious with Ballypatrick Flamenco.
The Gain/Alltech Autumn Grand Prix League concluded the season’s jumping. Starting with a bit of controversy, riders raised concerns over the league’s downgrading to 1.35m, but the eight legs proved well supported.
The 2015 league champion John Floody retained his title, accumulating 21 points to secure the €1,000 on offer. Francis Hughes’ Ballyknock Diamond accounted for 18 of these to secure the leading horse prize, awarded at the newly revamped 2016 National Showjumping Awards Gala this month.
The year came to a close with the news of an SJI price increase affecting 13 of the 21 membership categories listed on the website. Heading into the 2017 season, members can expect an average increase of 22% across these classifications.