TWO out of three gold medals won at the world championships. That’s the feat recorded by Irish Sport Horses at last weekend’s World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses (WBFSH) show jumping championships, hosted at Lanaken.

Regarded as the ‘Olympics for young horses’, ABC Saving Grace and BP Goodfellas wins, plus another top-10 placing by Greenhall Mullord, were a real landmark for Irish breeders. The latest wins bring the total number of Lanaken gold medals won by Irish Sport Horses over the past dozen years to nine.

BP Goodfellas victory was also a great boost for Kevin Babington, who, like many Florida residents was waiting for Hurricane Ian to hit the state this week, and the breeding partnership set up between himself and fellow Tipperaryman, Greg Broderick.

Greg’s Ballypatrick breeding operation, ran by sister Cheryl, includes some of Kevin’s retired mares amongst its herd, including Goodwins Loyalty, the dam of the five-year-old Lanaken champion.

Pat Kehoe, from Bennekerry, Co Carlow and Tinahely’s Derry Rothwell - who both featured in the Breeders’ 10 series this summer - are full-time farmers and, interestingly, both ABC Saving Grace and Greenhall Mullord are out of Cruising dams crossed with continental sires.

Leading sires? The usual suspects - Casall, Cornet Obolensky, Diamant de Semilly and Kannan were prominent as usual. Even newcomer sires such as Aldo du Plessis and Don’t Touch Tiji Hero are by household names, such as the 2014 WEG silver medallist Orient Express HDC (Quick Star) and Diamant de Semilly (Le Tot de Semilly), respectively.

Leading studbooks? The Irish Sport Horse, Belgium’s BWP and the Netherlands’ KWPN studbooks had two medallists apiece, however with two gold medals in the bag, the ISH studbook led the way. The Holsteiner, Selle Français and host studbook, Zangersheide had one medal winner apiece.

A golden weekend for the connections and Irish Sport Horse breeding.

What the breeders said

Cheryl Broderick: “We knew BP Goodfellas had a good chance going but it’s so competitive out there and you need a lot of luck as well. Greg travels away a good bit so he saw a lot of good young horses in Europe by Stakkato Gold and he said ‘I think this is a stallion that will suit a lot of our mares’.

“So then I started to use him a lot that year and he’s been extremely lucky for us when we crossed him with our mares and they’ve all seemed to be lovely, commercial types, even the younger ones coming through. We said he’d suit Goodwins Loyalty really well so that’s why we used him.

“Kevin [Babington] has been a real supporter of Ballypatrick since day one. Greg and himself are very close and they do a lot together. Kevin is one of the easiest people you could get to work with, they’re lovely people so when he rang and said he had some mares he’d like to send back, of course we were delighted to work with him. Those mares are top quality, they’d have performance and pedigree which means a lot to any breeding farm.

“We have Shorapur back here breeding in Ireland. Kevin loved her sire Stakkato Gold as well and Kevin owns Goodwins Loyalty too, so it all fell into place that that was the sire we’d use.

“We’ll do ICSI [Equine Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection] with Goodwins Loyalty over the winter and we’re still doing embryo transfers from her, so hopefully we’ll get some more nice foals. She also has a Luidam three-year-old, he’s still in the field so we’ll have to get him in now and see what he’s like.

“It’s just so lovely for Kevin more than anyone. The Irish were so good to him, he said his phone was lighting up from half-three in the morning with people texting and then they were ringing all day. It just tells you the support the Irish have for one another. Hopefully we’ll have many more years of good news like that from Lanaken for Kevin.”

Pat Kehoe: “Yes, it was my first time in Lanaken, got my passport sorted on Tuesday and flew out on Wednesday morning at 6.30am. My adrenaline levels started rising on Thursday morning when Grace and Ethen walked into the warm-up for the first time and there was steady increase right up until the Irish national anthem was played on Sunday afternoon. It’s some buzz being there while it was all unfolding and fair dues to Ethen for getting the job done!

“I’m only touching the ground in spots, still buzzing! It is a great feeling to have bred a world champion and especially to still own her. A small breeder competing against the big boys. It’s my Olympics really!

“My only daughter Sarah is a big fan of Beyoncé and she was playing her song Halo one day in the kitchen and the lyrics ‘saving grace’ are in the chorus, so I just thought it would be a nice name for a mare. My daughter is a bit special to me and so whatever mare was going to get the name ABC Saving Grace would have to be a bit special too.

“I have Grace’s daughter, a yearling filly by Lucky Luck. I still have her dam and her older half-sisters by Mermus R and Cavalier Royale, both are broodmares. I have a four-year-old half-sister by OBOS Quality and she is going to Ethen (Ahearne) shortly for a bit of work. I also have a three-year-old half-brother, a two-year-old half-sister and a half-sister filly foal.

“Grace has four offspring on the ground already; three yearlings and a two-year-old. I didn’t do any ET with her this year or last year. The plan has always been to retire her at the end of her six-year-old season and start breeding from her. There’s a tough decision to be made in the next few days. Obviously I’d love to hold onto her but if the right offer comes in…”

Derry Rothwell: “I drove to Ballinasloe Show on Sunday and [daughter] Mary had Lanaken on the phone screen and was watching Greenhall Mullord jumping, every time he’d jump a fence, she’d jump with him! He was great over the three days, he never had a pole down and went lovely.

“It is a new field, we’ve bred quite a few this year that have done well in different fields and it’s lovely to follow them up. The prefix is a great way of keeping your name in the spotlight no matter which path a horse follows.

“In 1998, Cailin Deas, Millennium’s mother, won the Breeders’ Championship. In 2010, Millenium herself was third, she won it in 2011, in 2015 and 2016 she was second, in 2017 she was fifth and that was the year she had Mullord at foot. Millennium was 19 at that stage.

“It takes time to see a foal go on to compete on the international scene but it is very rewarding to see a Breeders Championship foal graduate to Lanaken and proves the merit of the Breeders’ Championship.”

Dr Sonja Egan, HSI Head of Breeding, Innovation and Development:“Huge congratulations to Ger O’Neill for piloting BP Goodfellas (ISH) to victory, taking expert control of a competitive jump-off in the five-year-old final. And of course, to the breeders for breeding a five-year-old World Championship winner. Very well done to Kevin Babington, Greg Broderick and Cheryl Broderick and the wider GBBS Int. team.

“It was fantastic to see Irish Sport Horses do the double and also take victory in the six-year-old final to cap a fantastic week of jumping. Ethen Ahearne did a beautiful job of balancing speed and accuracy. Pat Kehoe has done a wonderful job of breeding and retaining ABC Saving Grace (ISH) who has come up though Horse Sport Ireland’s national breeding initiatives and the HSI Studbook Series.

“These programmes, and the teams participation at Lanaken, are supported by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine. We are extremely grateful for this support for our Irish horses, breeders, and producers. A day like this demonstrates the value of these programmes in producing the best in the world. Congratulations again to all of our riders, owners and producers for a wonderful week of jumping in Lanaken.”

2022 champions

Five-year-olds

Gold - BP Goodfellas (ISH). Stakkato Gold - Goodwins Loyalty, by O.B.O.S Quality 004. Breeder: Kevin Babington & GBBS Int. Ltd.

Silver - Ristretto van de Heffinck (BWP). Aldo du Plessis - by Cooper van de Heffinck. Breeder: Van de Heffinck.

Bronze - Mindset ES (KWPN). Aganix du Seigneur - by Kannan. Breeder: E. Schep.

Eighth: Greenhall Mullord (ISH). Dignified van’t Zorgvliet - Millenium Cruise, by Cruising. Breeder: Derry Rothwell).

Six-year-olds

Gold – ABC Saving Grace (ISH). Kannan - Ardnehue Diamond Cruiser, by Cruising. Breeder: Pat Kehoe.

Silver - Garance de Vains (SF). Diamant de Semilly - Byzance de Vains, by Ogano Sitte. Breeder: Christian Bihl.

Bronze: Lacoste VDL (KWPN). VDL Zirocco Blue - Uzameika VDL, by Indoctro. Breeder: VDL Stud.

Seven-year-olds

Gold – Caillan (HOLST). Casall - Perle, by Carry. Breeder: Gerd Ohlsen.

Silver - Dourkhan Hero Z (ZANG). Don’t Touch Tiji Hero - Zinka del Kalvarie, by Zandor. Breeder: High Jumper SPRL.

Bronze - Precious Dwerse Hagen (BWP). Cornet Obolensky - Classic Touch DH, by Casall. Breeder: BV De Dwerse Hagen.

Irish Lanaken roll of honour

GOLD

2010 – NLS Coole Al Clover (Aladatus Z – Laurel Lodge, by Clover Hill. Breeder: Brian Kenny).

2013 – Arraghbeg Clover (Captain Clover – Blidsworth Lion Queen, by Bonnie Prince. Breeder: Agata Leonard).

2016 – Killossery Kaiden (Lux Z – Killossery Kruisette, by Cruising. Breeder: Frank & Laura Glynn).

2017 – Columbcille Gipsy (Toulon – Gipsy III, by Grundyman. Breeder: Eamonn Murphy).

2018 – Uppercourt Cappuccino (Pacino – Uppercourt Posh, by O.B.O.S Quality. Breeder: Paul O’Byrne).

2019 – Rockwell RC (Kannan – Urban Sea, by Guidam. Breeder: Ronan Byrne).

2019 – Cuffesgrange Cavadora (Wellie 72 – Cuffesgrange Cavalidam, by Luidam. Breeder: Eamonn Sheahan).

2022 - ABC Saving Grace.

2022 - BP Goodfellas.

SILVER

2001 – Master Ballinteskin (Master Imp– Cushinstown Glory, by Hail Titan. Breeder: Simon McCarthy).

2009 – Drumiller Lough (Heartbreaker – Pearl Diver, by Mountain Pearl. Breeder: Paul Dillon).

2014 – Ard Ginger Pop (Luidam – Derrylea Grey Lady, by Cruising. Breeder: Heather Dean-Wright).

2015 – MHS Washington (O.B.O.S Quality 004 – Mill Royale, by Cavalier Royale. Breeder: Ita Brennan).

2016 – Z Seven Caretina (Coltaire Z – Caretina, by Caretino. Breeder: Marion Hughes).

2018 – CSF Sir George (Sir Shutterfly – Norrira, by Cavalier Royale. Breeder: Shane Connolly).

2019 - MHS Cardenta (Cardento – Willow Point, by Diamond Serpent. Breeder: Tom Brennan).

BRONZE

2010 – Ballypatrick Mystique (Heritage Fortunus – Lady Ligustra, by Cavalier Royale. Breeder: Ita Brennan).

2016 – Z Seven Canya Dance (Canya Makan – HHS Chantilly Lace, by Cavalier Royale. Breeder: Anne Hughes).

2018 – HHS Vancouver (Indoctro – La Juanita, by Don Juan de la Bouverie. Breeder: Marion Hughes).

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