IRISH riders are off to a great start at the prestigious London Olympia Horse Show.

Co Antrim teenager, Christopher Megahey (18) was the toast of the top show after a brilliant win in the exciting puissance on Thursday evening which had the crowd on the edge of their seats. Riding the Irish-bred Seapatrick Cruise Cavalier (by Cruise On), Megahey pulled out all the stops to clear the final height of 2.17 metres (7ft 1’’). He finished as joint winner of the €12,500 prize with Britain’s Holly Smith who rode Quality Old Joker (by OBOS Quality OO4).

The Templepatrick rider said: “I loved it – it didn’t faze me at all. It’s just brilliant being here, being around top riders like Marcus Ehning and Scott Brash.” The young man will now be in preparation for the puissance at the Liverpool International Horse Show (December 31st - January 2nd 2017). Seapatrick Cruise Cavalier is owned by Britt Megahey and was bred by Noel Walsh from Co Carlow while Kilkenny’s Roberta Dowley bred Quality Old Joker (ISH).

Offaly international show jumper Darragh Kenny lost no time posting a win on Friday in The Snowflake Stakes 1.45m competition on board his 11-year-old bay Action Breaker mare Fixdesign Funke Van’t Heike.

Meanwhile, Kildare Rio Olympian Judy Reynolds and Vancouver K stepped up to the plate on Wednesday, taking fourth place in the FEI World Cup Grand Prix (Freestyle to Music). The top Irish dressage rider now leads the Western European dressage league on 45 points. Peforming the test with a huge level of difficulty along with aptly chosen Christmas music, the pair were a massive hit with the sell-out London audience and produced a score of 78.269%.

This weekend Bertram Allen, Cian O’Connor, Darragh Kenny, Peter Smyth and Anthony Condon, already fifth in the Christmas Pudding Stakes with Balzac, will be going all out to get more Irish wins on the board. Highlights includes the Longines World Cup and Olympia Grand Prix.

VALEGRO RETIRES

The retirement of triple Olympic gold medal-winning dressage wonder horse Valegro at Olympia dominated the equestrian headlines. Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro won hearts around the world through their extraordinary partnership which saw them collect three gold medals from two Olympic Games, become the FEI World Cup dressage champions twice and also win four individual and one team gold medal at European Championships.

“I want to retire him at the top of his game because he owes me absolutely nothing,” said Dujardin. While the Dutch warmblood is retiring from competition, the 14-year-old will still give demonstrations and occasional appearances but will mostly enjoy life back in the fields at home.