O’Reilly Hyland bags Lanaken win on BP Limitless

THE Irish Sport Horse team at the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses (WBFSH) young horse championships at Lanaken got off to a flying start on Thursday when Max O’Reilly Hyland won the opening six-year-old qualifying class with BP Limitless. Cancelled last year due to the pandemic, the championships have were back in force this year. Irish Sport Horses have recorded excellent results in these Olympics for young horses with no less than seven gold medals won at Lanaken by Irish-breds since 2010.

As The Irish Field went to press, BP Limitless stood in provisional fifth place in the second of the six-year-old qualifiers held yesterday. Bred by Austin Broderick, he is by the Diamant de Semilly son Elvis ter Putte and out of Ballypatrick Flight, a Laughtons Flight daughter of MHS Going Global’s dam Gowran Lady.

BP Limitless showed excellent form last year too, having won the Irish Breeders’ Classic five/six-year-old final last year with Kevin Gallagher and was the runner-up in the Cavan Crystal five-year-old final. His family has Lanaken form as he is a half-brother to BP First Editions (Verdi TN), the mare that competed at the 2017 WBFSH championships with another Ballypatrick stable jockey Darragh Ryan.

Four more Irish riders placed in the top-10 in Thursday’s opening classes. Jason Foley and Calvador Z (ZANG) finished fourth in the six-year-old qualifier, won by BP Limitless. Calvador Z is by the Westphalian stallion Comilfo Plus Z, who himself finished fifth in the six-year-old final in 2015 on home ground with Christian Ahlmann. Taking 10th place from a marathon 259-strong startlist was Ger O’Neill on the Cornet Obolensky son Far West de Hus.

The seven-year-old qualifier had 187 starters and Michael Pender placed fourth place on the Irish Sport Horse GCS Athena (Vigo d’Arsouilles). Another Irish rider Trevor Breen finished seventh with the Anglo European Studbook-registered Jicarla T (Caretino Gold). Germany’s Richard Vogel took the top two places here with the Hanoverian mare Looping Luna (Lord Fauntleroy) and Junior Kannan (KWPN. Kannan).

In the second 7yo qualifier on Friday, there was another top-10 result for an Irish-bred when the Mary McCann-bred Valanna (ISH. Valent – Cruisann, by Cruising) finished second for Italy’s Giampiero Garafalo. (Reports next week).