DARRAGH Kenny’s former top mount Balou du Reventon has moved to the stable of 19-year-old American rider Brian Moggre.

Owner Ann Thompson has announced her horses, all ridden by Kenny until September, will be spread among a number of young show jumping riders, including Britain’s Harry Charles and USA’s Lillie Kennan.

Harry Charles (21) will compete with a few of Thompson’s notable mounts, including Gelano and Romeo 88, who finished second in the Rolex Top 10 final last December and represented Ireland in the Nations Cup at Deeridge earlier this year. Lillie Keenan (24) will take over the ride on Delta de la Rasse, an up-and-coming seven-year-old Selle Français gelding who was owned by Galway show jumper Stephen Moore before being sold to Thompson almost a year ago.

When announcing the severance with Kenny in September, Thompson it was to “reorganise my level of involvement in the sport horse industry”. Commenting this week, she said: “I am looking forward to this next chapter in my support of show jumping not only in the USA but also globally. Because of my commitment to the sport of show jumping, I am honoured to welcome each of these three talented athletes from around the world to the Everlong, LLC team.”

The 14-year-old stallion Balou du Reventon is the most high profile horse of the bunch. Under Kenny, he was part of the Irish team to help Ireland to victory in the 2019 FEI Nations Cup Final in Barcelona and the pair finished runners-up in the Super Grand Prix in Prague, as well as winning two five-star Grands Prix in Chantilly and Knokke. Their total earning in the 2019 Global Champions Tour was just over €500,000.

Speaking about the horse, Moggre said: “The biggest thing is for me to represent Ann Thompson’s horses well and [Balou Du Reventon] really is a superstar, so my main goal is to show everybody that Balou is very special to Ann, and it has been a lot of fun getting to know him. Riding him for the first time was a bit surreal as he is definitely not a horse I thought I would ever get the opportunity to ride!”

Harry Charles said Romeo 88 will be aimed at the Olympic Games and the European Championships in 2021.